Ohio, Missouri and Washington are key examples of collaboration and demonstrated ability to overcome challenges in care delivery. A key feature of all three states is partnership with their state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Engaging AAP chapters in the HOCP development process offers agencies health expertise and the perspective of professionals currently caring for children in foster care. Missouri’s HOCP emphasizes trauma-informed care, data collection and sharing, and ongoing quality improvement. Ohio’s HOCP also adopts a trauma-informed approach and incorporates responses to parental opioid use and FASD. The Ohio HOCP outlines partnering with school health systems, medical homes, Medicaid managed care plans, and the Fostering Connections Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The Washington state HOCP reflects strengths in data and information sharing, upcoming integration of physical and behavioral health systems, and formal psychotropic medication utilization review.

The Washington State Foster Care Funding Collaborative (FCFC) is a public/private partnership in which a consortium of foundations is funding 14 private provider agencies to work with the Washington state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to recruit, train and license new foster families in three years, beginning. The project is coordinated by the Washington Association for Children and Families (WACF), the state’s private agency membership organization, and consists of three components: (1) market research and segmentation; (2) a centralized portal for prospective foster parents; and (3) data collection.

In Washington, Recruitment, Development and Support teams in each region bring together community agencies, tribes, faith communities and other stakeholders to plan and implement recruitment and retention strategies. Washington is also piloting a Foster Care Funding Collaborative, described in the CHAMPS Policy Playbook, that uses a recruitment tool developed by the Washington Association for Children and Families to match the skills and preferences of prospective foster families with at least three private agencies. The state Department of Children, Youth and Families also collaborates with Northwest Resource Associates, the Northwest Adoption Exchange and the Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence, a training consortium consisting of the University of Washington, Eastern Washington University and Partners for Our Children.