Abstract
The child welfare system has struggled to create stable placements for children. In 1992, the Family to Family Initiative created funding to child welfare agencies to address the needs of children in foster care through the use of Team Decision Making (TDM). A total of 18 birth parents were interviewed about their perceptions of the program. Results of this study found that 94.4% of the participants felt they were treated with respect and would attend another TDM in the future if needed. There was a significant association between parents feeling respected and efforts of the facilitator to include their participation in the meeting. Among the female participants, there was a strong correlation between level of involvement in the case plan after the TDM and level of involvement in decisions regarding the care of their children ( r = .998, p < .000).