Discharge & Emancipation

Study the four types of discharge or emancipation that we face when working with kids in foster care:

Planned:  The youth is moving on either because they are emancipating or because they are going to a less restrictive level of care.

Planned: You are leaving the agency and saying good-bye to all of the kids you work with.

Unplanned: Your agency is requesting that the youth leave, usually due to difficulty in meeting their treatment needs and often recommending that the youth move to a more restrictive level of care.

Unplanned: The placing county is moving the youth.

Discuss specific challenges regarding discharge,  what it means to emancipate from foster care, the role of the family/community in this process, as well as general issues. 

Instructor Pamela Parkinson, PhD, LCSW, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a licensed clinical social worker with over 26 years in the field of providing services to children and families. Dr. Parkinson been trained in two disciplines (psychology and social work) and has worked as a residential counselor, a teaching assistant for special education, and a recreation specialist in residential treatment. Additionally, she has worked in the full continuum of services from residential and non-public school to community-based services such as outpatient clinics, school-based programs, diversion, kinship, etc.