Conducting the Exit Interview

If they hope to retain parents, agencies need to understand what makes their program successful and where they should continue to improve. Use the following questions to conduct an exit interview whenever a family leaves the program. A supervisor or administrator who can act on the information received should conduct the interview. A neutral party-such as a social work student-could also be used, especially in conflictive situations. Interviews are best completed by telephone, although they can be mailed if staff time is an issue.

About you:

* How long did you foster parent?
* How many children did you have at a time?
* How many children did you have total?
* What were the children's ages?

About your preparation:

* How were agency policies explained to you?
Were expectations addressed (both yours and the agency's)
* Was your training adequate for the children you had?

About placement:

* Were you fully informed (as much as the worker knew) about the child prior to placement?
* Did you feel free to make a decision to accept or decline the child's placement without fear of negative repercussions if you decided to decline?
* If a child left your care, were you given ample time to help prepare that child? And yourself?
* Did you have an opportunity to contact the child's birth parents?
* Was the child able to maintain contact with siblings?

About support:

* How often did your worker visit?
* When was the most recent phone call? The most recent visit?
* Did you connect with a "buddy" or mentor through the agency?
* Did you have some flexible funding for incidentals?

About communication:

* Could you talk with a supervisor if you encountered difficulties?
* Did you participate in the preparation of the case plan?
* Did you help with any revisions?
* Were you encouraged to attend all hearings?

Other comments:

* What is the primary reason you decided to stop fostering?
* What might the agency have done differently that would have kept you from leaving?
How would you describe your overall experience with the agency?