A Child and Family Team (CFT) refers to a group of individuals who collaborate with one another to support and serve the child/youth and family to ensure that the child’s/youth’s needs are being met. The CFT must include the child/youth, family and representatives from the placing agency, mental health as well as any other formal or informal supports they would like to be members of the team. This team is responsible for determining and using a variety of team-based processes to identify the strengths and needs of the child or youth and his or her family. The CFT is also committed to helping achieve positive outcomes for the child’s/youth’s safety, permanency, and well-being. Participation in the CFT may include children and youth with an open child welfare case and those foster youth on formal and informal probation.
Critical to the success of the CFT is the participants’ attendance in structured meetings, where the initial meeting is conducted as soon as the child/youth comes into the system.
For more information, click here: Child and Family Team
