A brief overview of four parent engagement/mentoring models currently being implemented in Washington State is provided by this report. The four models summarized are:
- the Icebreaker meeting, a facilitated meeting held shortly after a child is removed so birth and foster parents can meet each other and share information about the needs of the child;
- the Parent to Parent Program, designed to increase early engagement of birth parents newly entering the dependency process;
- the Parent Mentoring Program, in which skillful, experienced foster parent mentors and social workers partner to mentor parents; and
- the Parent Partners Program, in which previously mentored parents help other parents through informative sharing and other forms of assistance.