Permanency Tip of the Week: Why Cannot We Just Get and Give a Straight Answer?
With the ongoing pandemic, our ability to effectively connect with and serve our Youth and Families continues to be challenged. Our Youth and Families often have histories that are full of uncertainty, sudden changes, misinformation and lies, and limited instructions/answers. With public health guidance, activity restrictions, and all of the statistics seemingly changing daily, we need to first be honest with ourselves that the level of certainty and predictability that we strive to experience may not be achievable for a while. We then need to be open and honest about this new reality with the Youth and Families that we serve. When we approach ourselves as well as the Youth and Families that we serve, we can forge stronger bonds that will help all of us whether these incredibly challenging times.
Permanency Success Story of the Week: 5 Siblings Adopted Together After Being Separated in Foster Care
ABC News – A group of siblings have been adopted together after living separately in foster care. Proud parents Andi and Thomas Bonura of Texas made it official on May 6 by adopting Thomas, 8, Carter, 8, David, 6, Gabrielle, 4, and Bryson, 2, over a Zoom call. The children join the Bonura’s biological children Joey, 11, Sadie, 10, and Daphne, 8 — completing their family of 10. “These are their brothers and sisters and there’s no argument,” Andi Bonura told “Good Morning America.” “The kids have been through a lot but they’re the sweetest. They’re amazing — and resilient.”
Bonura said she and her husband always wanted to adopt. For years the couple had trouble conceiving and underwent fertility treatments. Bonura lost one pregnancy, then became pregnant with twins…
After the adoption, which was facilitated by DePelchin Children’s Center, neighbors organized a car parade with the Bonuras’ family and friends. The eight Bonura siblings enjoy bike riding, playing volleyball, card games, Mindcraft, and “the floor is lava.” “They’re fun to be around and they’re the greatest kids,” Bonura said. “God’s hand was in it,” she added. “Our family is complete.”
Permanency Related Articles:
Pandemic Is Opportunity to Reshape Family Courts, Probation, Experts Say
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange – The past five months are a window into what several juvenile justice experts say could be next: a long-overdue remodeling of the juvenile justice system that could include reforms in youth detention centers and family courts. Those experts are calling for a smaller juvenile justice system and a shift in the role of probation officers from punishment toward mentorship. Avik Das, director, and chief probation officer in Cook County, Illinois’ juvenile justice system, said the youth justice system should be a “last-resort” option for high-risk youth…
With the sudden national decrease in incarcerated youth and the financial savings that follow, resources can be funneled into community-based programs, said David Muhammad, executive director of the NICJR – NICJR. His three-step plan for the country — reducing the size of the juvenile system, improving what’s left and reinvesting the savings from the reduced system into community engagement — would continue this trend.
The focus of youth detention centers would shift away from punishment and toward support services including rehabilitation and education, he said. “We should rewrite the position of a probation officer,” Muhammad said. Their main responsibility would be to connect with high-risk incarcerated youth who are left in the juvenile system once the “low-risk” population is reduced. He described it as a “transformative mentoring” approach, where probation officers would focus on education and rehabilitation…
Advancing Trauma-informed Care Within and Across Child-Serving Systems
Chapin Hall – Trauma is a widespread, harmful, and costly public health problem. Children and adolescents are particularly affected by trauma. The majority of youth in the United States will be exposed to at least one traumatic event before the age of 18; many will be exposed to multiple forms of trauma. Unaddressed childhood trauma can have significant negative consequences on future health and well-being.
Every system—child welfare, juvenile justice, education, early childhood, healthcare—has a role to play in preventing and mitigating the effects of adversity and trauma. A multi-system trauma-informed approach refers to a coordinated, cross-system strategy that has aligned policies, practices, and services for supporting healing and resilience.
With the American Institutes for Research, Chapin Hall formed the Multi-System Trauma-Informed Collaborative (MSTIC), an effort supported by the Home | Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The collaborative provided training and technical assistance (TTA) to state-level leaders of child-serving agencies from Illinois, Connecticut, and Washington. It guided state teams through a comprehensive planning process to develop strategic plans to improve screening, assessment, and treatment of youth, and to maximize opportunities to leverage state and federal funds
Let’s Measure What We Really Value
Chronicle of Social Change – The Family First Prevention Services Act, which became law in 2018, has set off a flurry of conversations between child welfare agencies and multiple public and private organizations as they envision a bold new world that includes supporting families and preventing child maltreatment. But under the new law, these key players are still hampered by requirements to measure success in a way that subjugates the stories of cause and effect into the narrow parameters of success or failure.
What if instead the federal government, states, and foundations in unison committed to examining indicators relevant to the traditional child welfare goals of protecting kids, but then went farther to include child and family well-being? They would be asking how well are we doing in relation to improving the experience before and after a family finds their way at the doorstep of the public child welfare agency. That might lead to information vital to determining which strategies and interventions are working, and at what scale to actually move the needle of progress and whether we should limit ourselves to evidence based-approaches.
A Healing Journey: The Road to Reunification – Video
About — EPIC ‘Ohana, Inc. – A Healing Journey: The Road to Reunification outlines the stages parents go through when their family enters Child Welfare Services (CWS). In this short film three parents, who have successfully reunified with their children, share their stories, insights, and words of encouragement. Key service providers further clarify the stages so that parents entering CWS, as well as their supporters, can better understand the healing potential of the road that lies ahead.
How Do You Know if a Child Is Traumatized?
PsychCentral – While working at a mental health clinic in Harlem years ago, I got used to hearing the most traumatic stories I could have ever imagined. They were the normal way to live for many of my clients…
A child develops trauma if they get exposed to developmentally-adverse traumatic events, most often of an interpersonal nature. These are some ways to find out whether or not the circumstances have affected the nervous system of the child enough as to assume traumatization: 1) One of the most important indicators of trauma in a child is the way he/she manages his/her emotions. 2) One good tool to measure traumatization is something called the Window of Tolerance. 3) When emotions are either too intense that they make the child act in extreme ways, or when the tolerance to emotions is so narrow that the child feels overwhelmed easily, you can say that the child has little tolerance to affect and that that may be an indicator of the sequela of traumatization. 4) Another indicator is how fearful the kid is. If you notice that the reactions are not congruent with the level of risk, you may also consider the possibility of trauma. 5) Most children who suffer from trauma will have the tendency to shut down. They may be extremely quiet and disconnected…
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