Permanency Tip of the Week: Blending Trauma and Public Health Informed Interventions
Last week, we talked about the importance of seeking the impact of both Trauma and COVID-19 when seeking answers about challenges our clients may be dealing with at this time. The public health officials have understandably taken a lead role in the messaging and planning of the response to COVID-19. Our participation in this effort is critical because we have both the RELATIONSHIPS with the clients, and we have the critical knowledge of the role and impact of trauma in the lives of our clients. Our local, regional, and national public health leaders may not be very familiar with our child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice clients. Therefore, we must assertively engage in the conversations occurring at all levels in order to maximize our potential for a positive and lasting impact.
Permanency Success Story of the Week: For a Longtime Host of Wednesday’s Child, a Personal Tie to Adoption
Chronicle of Social Change – At a recent meeting of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, television newscaster Christine Devine and her team at KTTV were recognized for the 25th anniversary of Wednesday’s Child, a weekly segment featuring Los Angeles County foster children seeking a permanent home. That program has led to 455 adoptions of children from the county’s Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family, with 75 more in the process.
“The reach of a television station into the community is more than we could ever hope to accomplish as a government organization,” said DCFS Director Bobby Cagle at Tuesday’s meeting. “And without them, there are many children that I am convinced would never have achieved a loving adoptive home and would never be able to enjoy the joys of being a part of a family-like these children here today.” …
Permanency Related Articles:
Youth Law Center – In a public health emergency, youth in congregate care facilities face an increased risk of harm compared to youth who live in family homes. In congregate-care facilities, youth live in close proximity to one another and are cared for by constantly changing staff who may have been exposed outside of the facility, creating a risk of disease transmission and outbreak. Youth in congregate care may also experience increased isolation, anxiety, and fear as they face restrictions on in-person contact, external activities, and access to school- and health-based support systems. Compounding the potential harm, state licensing agencies that are responsible for ensuring every facility’s health and safety, including investigating complaints, may not be able to perform these monitoring functions while also responding to the current public health needs of senior care facilities. We do not know when the COVID-19 pandemic will end or how much the virus will spread. Now is the time to engage in robust planning with youth in congregate care to ameliorate the risks they face. As the daily functions of agencies and support systems involved in a youth’s case become more limited, resulting in fewer and different types of contact with the youth, the role of attorneys and advocates is critical to ensuring that youth who can exit congregate care do so now, that facility conditions are monitored and reported, and that the full scope of the youth’s needs are met. This toolkit is intended as a resource in support of those goals.
Foster Kids Who Can’t Visit Parents are Struggling Under Coronavirus Isolation, Advocates Say
NBC News – A typical morning for Arnie Eby begins at 6 a.m. He and his wife, Donna, fix breakfast for their four adopted kids and three foster children, then check their backpacks and pack lunch boxes. Once his wife heads to work as the health manager of a local Head Start program, he sees the children onto five different school buses and then sits down for a cup of coffee.
“Monday morning, that recovery cup of coffee might take an extra hour,” said Eby, 56, who lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, and works part-time helping support other foster families in the state. Since the threat of COVID-19 closed schools in Maryland nearly three weeks ago, life in Eby’s home has changed dramatically.
Local nonprofits that provide mental health services and programs for children with disabilities — which Eby and his wife rely on to support their seven children, who range in age from 5 to 18 and have differing levels of special needs and histories of trauma — closed shortly after. (The couple also have two biological daughters who have grown up and moved away from home.) Now, with their seven younger children home all day, the Ebys’ only support comes from emails and calls with state caseworkers…
Child welfare advocates say that America’s foster care system, which relies on in-person contact and human connection, is struggling under the weight of this unprecedented period of isolation, which is risking the well-being of children, foster parents, and biological parents…
Coronavirus Leaves Foster Children with Nowhere to Go
The Marshall Project – The foster care system, built on frequent movements of children from one home to another and regular in-person supervision, has been especially wracked with confusion and dread by the coronavirus crisis.
In some states, investigators of child abuse have told The Marshall Project they are so fearful of spreading the illness from home to home that some are trying to do their investigating from the front door, or even over video-chat, instead of going inside. Afraid of bringing the virus into their families, some foster parents are also refusing to accept new children, even if there is no indication they have the virus. Two youth advocates said in interviews that in this climate, they fear foster children are at risk of becoming “the new lepers.”
And across the nation, most visits between birth parents and their children in foster care have been suspended or switched to phone calls, at a time when youth are more in need of reassurance and love than ever. In a handful of places, face-to-face family time is still allowed—but with no touching, even when the visit is with a baby…
Federal Child Welfare – Guidance on COVID-19 Response
DHHS – ACF – “Dear Child Welfare Leaders: In light of the extraordinary circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide public health emergency, we are writing to advise you of some adjustments that we hope will allow you to continue to serve the children and families with whom you work while being mindful of and adhering to current public health guidelines. We recognize that the current situation presents significant challenges, and appreciate your continued commitment to the safety, health, and welfare of the children and families within your states and tribes.
1) Caseworker Visits; 2) Child and Family Services Review Program Improvement Plans; 3) Title IV-E Eligibility Reviews; 4) Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations; 5) Other Legislative and Regulatory Flexibility;
Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
ACES Connection – Center for Youth Wellness – Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing.
At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the CDC-Kaiser ACE study was published 20 years ago, research has shown that traumatic events in childhood can change our rapidly developing brains and bodies. When we’re exposed to ACEs at a young age, we encounter the risk of developing an overactive stress response — what the American Academy of Pediatrics now calls, “the toxic stress response.” …
7 Domains of Wellness – Whether we’re sheltering in place with others or by ourselves, the self-quarantine provides an opportunity for us to reflect on these healing practices and to challenge the people we care about to practice with us. 1) Supportive relationships; 2) Sleep; 3) Nutrition; 4) Exercise; 5) Mental healthcare; 6) Mindfulness; 7) Nature
Self-Compassion – We tie all of these practices together with the most crucial practice of all: self-compassion. Many of us have been feeling scared, powerless, and ashamed of some of our natural responses to sheltering in place. Now more than ever, we must learn to be kind to ourselves and accepting of our feelings, as we navigate this uncertain time together…
-
Please forward this blog, via email and/or social media, to other Permanency Champions and those that could use a healthy dose of Permanency.
-
If this Blog has been forwarded to you, please sign up to receive it directly by going to my website or emailing me: drgregmanning@gmail.com.
-
If you are interested in my keynote speaking, professional training or consulting services, please contact me through my website, call me: 949-683-0753 or email: drgregmanning@gmail.com
-
Take care and keep up the Permanency work – Our children, youth, young adults, families, and communities are depending on it!