Policies in Louisiana

Quality Parenting Initiative

Louisiana's state plan for diligent recruitment of foster families discusses the state's Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI).  QPI is an approach that envisions an entire team – birth parents, foster parents, case workers, state and local child services agency officials, doctors, therapists and judicial workers – all working to create the most stability, the best environment and most of all, the best possible parenting, for the children.  QPI recognizes that no one-size-fits-all parent exists.  QPI embraces five principles.

Principle 1: Excellent parenting is the most important service to provide to children and youth in care.  Children need families, not beds.

Principle 2: Child development and trauma research indicates that children need constant, consistent, effective parenting to grow and reach their full potential.

Principle 3: Each community must define excellent parenting for itself. 

Principle 4: Policy and practice must be changed to align with the community definition of excellent parenting.

Principle 5: Participants in the system are in the best position to recommend and implement that change.

See this CHAMPS blog for more information.