La Cuna Care Model
La Cuna programs and services prevent the adverse effects of multiple foster care
placements by linking infants and toddlers with one and only one
foster family until reunification with their biological family or permanent placement
- i.e. adoption. Our individualized, culturally-sensitive approach has written a
story of success.
La Cuna services are as follows:
Outreach
First, we recruit loving Hispanic, or culturally competent parents who will embrace
the challenges of successfully caring for infants and toddlers to become foster
parents. We outreach through our board and staff community connections and through
Hispanic media. Despite San Diego's large Latino population, very few of the county's
foster care homes are Latino.
Foster parent requirements »
Screening
Second, we have a unique screening process to ensure that each family has the stability
and emotional preparation needed to provide a quality, loving home for our foster
children. The screening includes a written application, a Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI) and psychological screening test interviews with La
Cuna staff and a home study.
Training
Third, La Cuna staff has created a foster parent training curriculum that we developed
in-house that is tailored to specifically address developmental needs of infants
and toddlers and the cultural needs of Latino children. Our model employs material
from three programs including the Child Welfare League of America's PRIDE curriculum,
the First 5 of California Parent tool kit, and the evidence-based parent training
model called Incredibly Years. La Cuna foster families receive 24 hours of training
in Spanish or English (that addresses developmental milestones, attachment and bonding,
positive discipline, cultural considerations, and the foster care system) on nine
topics including:
- Cultural sensitivity
- The foster care system and foster parent qualifications
- Foster parents' role within the "team" of caregivers
- Developmental needs
- Coping with loss when a foster child is returned to a biological parent
- Strengthening family relationships while respecting children's existing familial
connections
- Parenting and discipline
- Practical "do's" and "don'ts" in responsible foster parenting
- Accountability and responsibility.
- Childhood Trauma and Abuse
Placement
Fourth, we partner with the County's Child Welfare Services in order to make great
matches between infants and toddlers who have no home and loving foster families
who are ready to experience the gift of a small child, or children, in the case
of siblings.
On-Going Follow Up
As part of our child support, La Cuna recently created a parent-to-parent mentoring
program whereby La Cuna foster parents and social workers work with biological parents
on a voluntary basis to provide immediate and constructive parent coaching during
supervised visits in La Cuna's play room, which has a one-way mirror. This mentoring
may help biological families develop the skills they often lack around parenting.