Permanency Tip of the Week: Taking a Second Look at Past Sources of Permanency and Risk
When we are seeking Permanency, especially for our older youth in foster care, a challenging paradigm shift that we must face is taking a second look at individuals who have substantiated histories of harmful behavior towards children. It is important to distinguish between several factors including: 1) Risk to the child when the child now versus in the past; 2) Coping strategies and resources available to the individual now versus in the past; 3) Changes and growth in the individual now versus in the past. These, and other factors, can help us discern whether a past source of Permanency and risk can now be considered a source of Permanency and safety.
Permanency Story of the Week: We Need More Families Like The Aldrich Family
“Thank you so much for all you do for kiddos in Foster Care!! I’m so happy to have found your page. My husband & I are parents to five amazing kiddos – four we have adopted through Foster Care and one who we are now in the process of adopting who is also through the Foster Care. All of them have equally heartbreaking stories and challenges. We are so grateful to organizations like you who help give these kiddos some dignity and happiness during such difficult times. It meant so much to our older children when they received an actual bag to hold their clothes. My son said he felt like trash when what few belongings he did have were treated like trash. He is a Boy Scout and plans to have his troop help provide bags for foster kiddos her in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thank you so much!! This video is from our twins adoption day back in January. The following month we added our 2 year old sweet little girl Adopting through foster care was the best decision we ever made!” – Shirley Aldrich
Current Permanency related articles:
Marriage and Foster Parenting: Making it Work-Foster Care Blog for April – Dr. John DeGarmoe
Sadly, many marriages suffer during the foster process. When you are putting much of your energies and time into your foster child, you may be so drained and exhausted that you soon neglect your spouse. Further complicating this, some foster children are skilled at pitting one parent against the other, bringing some heated and very unproductive arguments to your home. Without a doubt, there are many obstacles that can challenge a healthy marriage when becoming a foster parent. To be sure, being a foster parent will change your life, in so many ways. Therefore, it will be absolutely necessary that you take steps to protect your marriage from any of the slings and arrows that might threaten your foster parenting, and your marriage.
Madly, Deeply Understanding Your Foster & Adopted Child with Jeanette Yoffe, MFT
Training opportunity in Los Angeles – May 22, 2015 – Understanding a child’s internal life experience, especially if they have experienced trauma, helps families build a stronger parent-child connection. This strong emotional bond is the hallmark of resilient, happy, well-adjusted families. It’s also the soundest way to a better society.
Join Jeanette – (Executive Director of the Celia Center) for a parenting training which will define and recognize behavioral signs of trauma, understanding the effects on children/youth as well as for the parent/caregiver and its implications for a trauma informed approach. And expect to be inspired, moved and have greater empathy for your child/teen’s experience and know you will get through this….together.
How to stimulate rejuvenation in the adult brain is one of the key questions facing neuroscientists. Whether physical or emotional, benign or malicious, neglect alters the developing brain’s architecture and circuitry in profound ways that often lead to physical and behavioral problems throughout life. In Part 3 of our series on The Neglected Brain we look at the surprising capacity of the adult brain to overcome childhood neglect. Read Part 1, Part 2. Part 3 and Part 4.
Variance of sexual orientation and gender identity among young people in residential facilities.
The paper, released by the American Association of Children’s Residential Centers, provides ten strategies to improve outcomes for LGBTQ youth in residential care, as well as considerations to assist agencies’ efforts to provide affirming and inclusive programming for all youth, including those who identify as LGBTQ.
Common adoption myths you should stop believing – Nicole Witt
In my line of work as an adoption expert, I hear a lot of misconceptions about adoption. Reluctant couples will share their worries about adoption based on things they have heard. Based on my experience, here are three of the biggest adoption myths I continually hear and what the reality is. 1) All birth moms are either homeless drug addicts or high school girls; 2) It takes years to adopt a healthy newborn; 3) I won’t love the child the same way.
Online Tool Addresses Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma Informed Care: Perspectives and Resources is designed to help parents, professionals, youth, advocates, policymakers, and others to become more trauma informed. Created by Georgetown University’s National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health and other partners, the site includes up-to-date resources and research on this critical issue.