FRANKFORT — Citizen Foster Care Review Boards in 67 counties – more than half of Kentucky’s 120 counties – need volunteers to review the cases of local children in foster care and make recommendations. The Administrative Office of the Courts says in a press release that volunteers have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these children who are in care due to dependency, neglect or abuse.
The counties in need are Anderson, Bath, Bell, Bourbon, Boyd, Bracken, Breathitt, Bullitt, Butler, Calloway, Campbell, Carroll, Carter, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Estill, Fleming, Floyd, Fulton, Grayson, Greenup, Hancock, Hardin, Harlan, Harrison, Hart, Hickman, Jackson, Jefferson, Jessamine, Johnson, Kenton, Knott, Knox, Larue, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Magoffin, Marshall, Martin, Mason, McCreary, McLean, Menifee, Muhlenberg, Nicholas, Ohio, Owen, Owsley, Pendleton, Perry, Pike, Powell, Robertson, Trigg, Warren, Wayne, Webster and Wolfe.
Thousands of children are placed in foster and other out-of-home care each year in the commonwealth. CFCRBs are teams of court-appointed volunteers who review the Cabinet for Health and Family Services files on the children and make recommendations to the cabinet and state courts on each child’s behalf. CFCRBs help ensure children receive necessary services while in care and are placed in safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible.
Volunteers generally review cases one day a month, with time of day/evening varying by board.
Potential volunteers must apply, consent to criminal record and Central Registry checks and complete six hours of initial training. Training takes place via two Zoom meetings and a self-paced program. Those interested are encouraged to apply as soon as possible so they can be screened and, if approved, scheduled for training.
Once a potential volunteer has completed training, a recommendation is made to the chief judge of the local Family Court or District Court for appointment to the CFCRB.
To apply and get more information, visit kcoj.info/CFCRB.
Citizen Foster Care Review Board
The Kentucky General Assembly created the state CFCRB in 1982 to decrease the time children spend in out-of-home care.
More than 700 volunteers across the state serve as members of the Kentucky CFCRB.
CFCRBs review the case of each child in foster care at least once every six months, as required by statute. In Fiscal Year 2022, volunteers reviewed 21,376 cases involving 12,947 children in out-of-home care. View the latest CFCRB annual report at kcoj.info/CFCRBannualreport2022.
The Administrative Office of the Courts administers the CFCRB program. The AOC is the operations arm for the state court system and supports the activities of nearly 3,300 employees and 413 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. The AOC also executes the Judicial Branch budget.