Permanency Tip of the Week: We Find What We Focus On
When we look for strengths in a person, we will find them. Conversely, when we look for challenges in a person, we will find them. We cannot approach our work with a naivety that we can only look on the bright side; however, if we engage with an individual with a problem-focused mindset, we will never be able to see the strengths in that individual. We also will contaminate our relationship with the Youth. Our Youth will sense our negativity and likely engage in a fight/flight/freeze response. Before you engage with a youth and/or family, try saying to yourself “I will find strengths in this Youth that we can use to address any challenges.”
Permanency Success Story of the Week: Adopting a Teen Rocks Your World – In Wonderful and Unexpected Ways
AdoptUSKids – What made you decide to adopt a teen from foster care? My husband, Brandon, and I thought we’d have birth kids and then adopt. But we were 30 and still childless, so the plan changed. We were committed to adopting a teen because in my work, I see that teens are often overlooked. We got licensed through an agency that specifically works with teens and matched with our daughter soon after…
What did that matching process look like? As you were learning about your future daughter, was she learning about you? Your work is licensing foster homes for the county. How did that inform your approach to adoption? You mentioned wanting to maintain a child’s birth family connections. Why is that important—and what does it look like for your family? What has the last year been like for your family? What is your advice to people who are thinking about adopting a teen?…
And remember: There will be good days, and there will be bad days. But the good ones will far outweigh the bad.
Permanency Related Articles:
Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) CEO: Field Must Confront Its Racist Roots
CWLA – In the nearly two months since the police killing of George Floyd launched a global protest movement against systemic racism, the American child welfare system has experienced its own reckoning. In June, parents marched through Manhattan, waving signs charging child welfare authorities with “stealing Black babies.” More than 1,700 people tuned in to an online forum comparing the foster care system’s treatment of low-income families of color to the government’s war on drugs. The leader of one national child welfare agency, Bethany Christian Services, recently argued that foster care service providers “have a critical role to play in addressing systemic racism in child welfare…”
Social Services Are Broken. How We Can Fix Them – Hilary Cottam
When a family falls into crisis — and it sometimes happens, thanks to unemployment, drugs, bad relationships, and bad luck — the social services system is supposed to step in and help them get back on track. As Hilary Cottam shows, in the UK a typical family in crisis can be eligible for services from more than 70 different agencies, but it’s unlikely that any one of them can really make a difference. Cottam, a social worker herself, asks us to think about the ways we solve deep and complex social problems. How can we build supportive, enthusiastic relationships between those in need and those that provide help?
Parent Support Programme Keeps 116 Kids with Families
Radio New Zealand – There are calls to expand a family support programme that has stopped 116 children from going into state care. Mana Whānau says it is successfully supporting parents to learn better skills for caring for their children. Mana Whānau runs in Auckland and Porirua, where it provides intensive support for parents who come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki. An Auckland mother of three, who does not want to be named, said she hit rock bottom last year when Oranga Tamariki came knocking. “My partner and I, we got ourselves addicted to a few different drugs, marijuana and methamphetamine,” she said.
“It spiraled into some violence between my partner and myself, and our children were the unfortunate bearers of having to see and deal with things they should not have at all. “When OT came in, Mana Whānau was pretty much the be all end all to us.” Mana Whānau offers families intensive support in their own homes for up to 65 hours per week, for six months. “We just grew and it went from running a chaotic home and a chaotic family, and just chaotic all the time, to being efficient and effective and closer as a family unit and as a parent,” the mother said. “We have been clean for a year which is like the most amazing feeling in the world – our children are thriving…”
Jury of Their Peers: Youth Court Aims to Keep Students Out of Criminal Justice System
NBC News – A unique court by and for young people age 10 to 18 aims to shut down the school-to-prison pipeline that puts thousands of teenagers behind bars. Police send first-time offenders guilty of minor crimes to face a judge and jury their age, given real sentences like community service or decision-making classes.
The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain – Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Why do teenagers seem so much more impulsive, so much less self-aware than grown-ups? Cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore compares the prefrontal cortex in adolescents to that of adults, to show us how typically “teenage” behavior is caused by the growing and developing brain.
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