Casey Family Programs and the University of Tennessee - College of Social Work have developed two standardized measures to assess foster family applicants. These tools are the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory (CFAI) and the Casey Home Assessment Protocol (CHAP).

The tools complement each other. They assess a broad range of characteristics of foster parents in order to:

The ultimate goal of both assessments: to help foster parents and agency workers provide quality care for foster children.

Both tools are used during the foster family application and selection process.

THESE TOOLS SHOULD NOT BE USED AS THE SOLE PIECE OF INFORMATION TO APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE AN APPLICANT FAMILY WITHOUT CONSIDERING OTHER INFORMATION YOU HAVE ALREADY COLLECTED ABOUT THEM.

There are two versions of the CFAI: one for foster parent applicants (CFAI-A) and one for agency workers (CFAI-W). It takes about 20 minutes to complete the CFAI.

The CHAP has two parts: the applicant completes a set of self-report questionnaires, and the agency worker presents and rates the Fostering Challenge interview.

CFFA Self-Tutorial Learning Modules

Please select from the following self-tutorial, interactive modules to learn more about the tools:

• Introduction to the Casey Foster Family Assessments (CFFA) (1.8 MB)
• Completing the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory (CFAI) (2.2 MB)
  • Handout 1: Delaney Comparison Report
• Completing the Casey Home Assessment Protocol (CHAP)  (1 MB) 
  
  • Handout 1: CHAP at a Glance
  • Handout 2: CFAI and the CHAP
  • Handout 3: Tips from the Pilot Study
• Sharing Information About the CFFA with Caregivers (3.2 MB)
  • Handout 1: Telling Applicants About the CFFA Measures
  • Handout 2: CHAP Measures in the Home Study