Permanency Tip of the Week: Adoption Series – Week 2 – How Did I Feel About Adoption?
When we think of Adoption, we often focus on the positive aspects such as a new family being created and of a Youth securing Permanency. These are important aspects of Adoption to celebrate. We must realize that Youth cannot be considered for Adoption unless they have experienced the profound loss of the parents that brought them into this world. This loss may have happened through a range of different paths and may or may not have ever been addressed. However, it happened, we must openly acknowledge this loss and encourage both the Youth and the prospective adoptive family to continue to process and support the Youth’s journey through the grieving process. This loss may often lead to a wide range of feelings on behalf of the Youth from positive, to indifferent, to negative. We must be prepared to embrace and honor all these feelings if we hope to provide the Youth and the family the greatest chance of lasting Permanency.
Next week, we will address the ambivalence that our Youth may experience between the prospective adoptive family and their family of origin.
Permanency Success Story of the Week: Single Man Who Always Wanted Kids, Adopts Teenager in Foster Care
CBS News – As a single man, Peter Mutabazi, didn’t know if he could become a foster parent. When he found out he was eligible, he signed up right away. He always wanted to have a child, and he ended up adopting a teen out of foster care who needed a forever home.
Permanency Related Articles:
Connections and Supports During COVID-19: New Findings from the AIFS Families in Australia Survey
Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) – AIFS’ first Families in Australia Survey, Life during COVID-19, captured insights about family life in May to early June 2020, when impacts of COVID-19 were being keenly felt across the country.
In this webinar presents some new analysis from the survey, looking at how families stayed connected, supported each other, and occupied their time during this period of the pandemic. These analyses highlight some of the real challenges faced by families at this time, but also provide insights on the important ways connections to family and community have been instrumental in helping us to get by. Some of the varied experiences of people, by age, remoteness, and household composition are also described. A question and answer discussion will follow the presentation with Kelly and AIFS Director Anne Hollonds.
Heroes Do Work in Detention Centers
Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (JJIE) – I’m a licensed clinical social worker providing behavioral health service in a juvenile detention center in a large urban area. My team is subcontracted to provide these services, so when the time came for organizations to scale back to essential services or essential employees only, we ended up shifting to remote work to limit the number of people going in and out of the detention center. With some trial and error and leaders coming together, we were able to adopt a telehealth platform in order to continue services to the best of our ability and to try to meet the needs of the detention center…
Maybe there was no sign put up at all. Regardless, the point of this post is that heroes do work in these places. Heroes do work in detention centers. As much as people may think that the system is unjust, which is definitely true, the people in these systems are not necessarily unjust. Think about it in terms of a war zone. You may disagree with the war, but that doesn’t lessen the job that health care workers are doing tending to people wounded in battle. The fact it’s in a war zone doesn’t make their jobs any less respected or less needed.
While there may be no external sign, I’m sure folks on the inside expressed their appreciation in their own way. I want to end this by saying thank you to all the people who are doing this work who are on the front lines because they care about something bigger than themselves. And I want to thank them for making my job easier and ultimately allowing me to keep my family safe during a pandemic. So this might not be the sign outside of the center, but at least in our virtual space, it can say “Heroes Work Here Too.”
Young Adults Report Rising Levels of Anxiety and Depression in Pandemic
New York Times – The collateral damage from the pandemic continues: Young adults, as well as Black and Latino people of all ages, describe rising levels of anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts, and increased substance abuse, according to findings reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a research survey, U.S. residents reported signs of eroding mental health in reaction to the toll of coronavirus illnesses and deaths, and to the life-altering restrictions imposed by lockdowns.
The researchers argue that the results point to an urgent need for expanded and culturally sensitive services for mental health and substance abuse, including telehealth counseling. In the online survey completed by some 5,400 people in late June, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was three times as high as those reported in the second quarter of 2019, and depression was four times as high.
Thought It Was Just Your Attachment Style? You May Actually Have Attachment Trauma
Medium.com – Dr. Aimie Apigian – Many walk around having no idea they have trauma from childhood wired into their brain and body. They can’t remember any major traumas in childhood. Nor do they realize much of what they experience as an adult are chronic effects of childhood trauma. (Here is a short video summarizing the long-term health effects of trauma on the body.)
Well, what you thought was just an insecure attachment style is actually a trauma. Call it developmental trauma, attachment trauma, or still an insecure attachment style. No matter the name, it is a trauma and it leaves lasting effects on the brain and the body. I am going to prove it to you in this article…
There is so much more to life and health when a person becomes aware of their trauma patterns and does the work to rewire. They achieve the next level of health and aliveness! This is why I have dedicated my work to helping rewire, reorganize, and optimize the nervous system for an earned secure attachment. I see changes every day in the people I get to work with…
COVID-19 Guidance for Youth Homelessness Service Providers
National Clearinghouse on Homeless Youth and Families – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers guidance on how COVID-19 spreads and what symptoms look like, which is essential to prevention and safety. There are several ways that youth homelessness service providers can prepare and protect both staff and youth. 1) Cleaning and Sanitizing; 2) Protecting Staff; 3) Testing Information; 4) Emphasize the Importance of Hand Hygiene; 5) Highlight the Importance of Lowering Risk; 6) Screening for Symptoms
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Take care and keep up the Permanency work – Our children, youth, young adults, families, and communities are depending on it!