The state network of Citizen Foster Care Review Boards needs volunteers in 67 Kentucky counties, including Bath, Fleming, Nicholas, Robertson, and Wolfe counties. CFCRBs secure necessary services for children in foster care and work to quickly place them in safe residences, and eventually permanent homes.
Steven Farr is State Chair for the Kentucky CFCRB. He said the review board is a part of the administrative office of the court, and volunteers play a different role than social workers. Farr said the CFCRB provides information and recommendations about cases to a judge.
“We are an extra set of eyes on the cases of children in out of home care, so when we have our board meetings, we do what we call interested party reviews. We invite the parents of the child, the child if they’re old enough, any foster parents, if the child is in a residential facility, representatives of that facility; the state social worker is there. Anybody that’s an interested party,” said Farr.
According to the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services, 8,421 children were in active out-of-home care, or foster care, placements across the Commonwealth in April 2023; about 25% of these children entered the foster care system between 12 and 18 years old.
Farr said anyone 18 years or older can apply to become a volunteer, no matter their credentials, as diversity in the decision-making process is key.
“You might have one person who is a retired school teacher, so they have a perspective on meeting the educational needs of a child that someone else might not have. You might have someone else who’s worked in social services and has a perspective from that. You might have an attorney who looks at it from a legal angle, and you might have someone else who might not work in any field related to this, but just a local citizen and from their own life experiences, has a perspective,” said Farr.
Volunteers generally review cases one day every month, and the meetings are virtual, so Kentuckians can serve on any review board in need, regardless of their county of residence.
