BCFS Policy, Foster Children, and Boundaries Exercise

Some of your choices in the Boundaries Exercise may need to be limited based on BCFS policy and individual experience of the foster child. For instance, the need to respect cultural/religious heritage of the child or adhere to rules about confidentiality or discipline.

So, areas that may need to change include:

• Families used to privacy may need to adjust to enable caseworkers and BCFS staff access to home with little or no notice.
  
• Families may need to teach the concept of private and confidential information to children used to sharing everything on the school bus.
  
• Families may need to change habits around physical contact (in sports, wrestling, etc.); “inside jokes,” jumping into bed with Mom and Dad on weekend mornings to snuggle, or other family traits.
  
• Some rules may need to become inflexible such as no matches, lighters, burning candles for safety reasons. Or, children who have been used to chaos or no rules may need strict or inflexible rules at first, then later on more relaxed rules as the child develops greater control and judgment.

If you find you need more space or you don't have access to a printer, remember that you can use your Resource Guide or plain paper to complete these questions.

	Think about your family. Is it an open and easily adaptable family or a family that is more closed or private and not used to sharing its personal life with the outside world. Do you usually solve problems with or without outside help/support?
Be sure to share the boundry exercise and the worksheet from this section with your trainers at the next session. Or, if you didn't have access to a printer, email this page. Type your name in the blank below and then hit the email button.