Permanency Tip of the Week: Permanency in the Community
The past two weeks, we have discussed the importance and experience of securing Permanency for our Youth in the Classroom and in the Workplace. This week, we will discuss the role that Permanency in the Community plays for our Youth. When we look at our own neighborhoods and communities, we can often refer to specific people (ex. friendly neighbor or store owner), places (ex. corner market or swimming pool) and things (ex. chirping or birds or tall trees) that help us feel connected. For our Youth, many of whom have moved around a great deal, this may be a foreign experience to truly call one place Home. As our Youth transition into Permanent connections, let us pay attention to helping them to identify specific people, places and things that can help them feel connected to their community.
Permanency Story of the Week: WWK recruiter ‘willing to climb the fence’ to find children forever families
A Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Adoption – The Foundation’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids (WWK) recruiters work with children who have previously been thought of as “hard to place:” Children who are older, part of sibling groups, or have emotional or developmental challenges. But these labels do not stop our recruiters from finding families. Not even a defiant foster parent will deter them.
Current Permanency related articles:
‘Three Little Words’ A Must-Read for Child Welfare Professionals
Chronicle of Social Change – I just discovered this book, which is surprisingly classified as Young Adult. But Three Little Words should be required reading for any child welfare professional. Ashley Rhodes-Courter’s story illustrates some ways that things have improved and some ways they haven’t, and casts light on debates that are still raging.
Foster Care: There’s an App for That – FOCUS on Foster Families
“Community” is not a word typically used to describe the outcomes of today’s technology-obsessed world. Despite new forms of communication, hours spent staring at screen are generally not conducive to forming bonds with one’s neighbor.
However, one Los Angeles organization has channeled this energy into the creation of something with the potential for real impact within the foster care community. This summer, the Nathanson Family Resilience Center at UCLA launched the FOCUS on Foster Families app with the intent to foster connections in a system than can be isolating for the children, parents and professionals involved.
What the Media Doesn’t Tell You About Foster Parents Like Me
Dr. John DeGarmo – Perhaps you read in the news recently about the foster parent who abused their foster child. You might have even read in the news about the infant who died in foster care, under the supervision of the little child’s foster parents. Tragic and heart-wrenching!
It should come as no surprise that our media is focusing on these stories. Of course they are. The media likes to shine the light on those stories that garner attention; those stories that disturb; those stories that readers are interested in. You know, those stories that are often focused on the horrible and the shocking. You might think that all foster parents are bad people. You might think that all foster parents are in it for the money. You might think that all foster parents don’t care about the children in their homes.
I am not that kind of foster parent.
Where is Your Family? – Leslie Brownlee
I was having casual conversation with an acquaintance at my boxing gym, when she asked me a simple question: “Where is your family?” The conversation had gone somewhat smoothly to that point, with equal give and take. Though both mildly distracted by the hubbub in the gym, we were committed to asking the ritual getting-to-know-you questions. She sat against the ringside ropes, massaging her calves. Her words hung in front of me like stale air: Where is your family?
Before I entered the foster care system, the answer to any question about family ran deep in my bones. It flowed through and from me as air. My family: Eight children. Four boys, four girls. Apostolic. We women wear dresses. We cover our heads. We believe in one God. Potomac, MD. The same house for some twenty years. I knew me. I knew every detail about where I came from and where I would indeed be going. For sixteen years I sang, ate, and shunned the rest of the sinning world with same people.
Ask me who my family is now. I no longer feel as if I am telling a made up story when I list my closest friends. I am part of a heart exchange that runs as deep as the one between the Virgin, her son, Gabriel, and John. My family, my friends, love and me.
Child Trends: Family Finding Evaluations; A Summary of Recent Findings
Published in January 2015, this brief, authored by Sharon Vandivere and Karin Malm, summarizes the recent family finding research literature and integrates the learning derived from the Family Finding Forum held at the Child Trends office in 2014.
Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement
NIPFC is proud to be an official sponsor of the International Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 27–30, 2015.The full conference brochure and registration will be available in May, 2015 at
For almost two decades, the current Kempe Center faculty has been at the forefront of supporting communities with the implementation of FGDM and differential response, two strategies that innovate child welfare systems. We have also conducted research and served as a dissemination center. In addition, we have hosted annual conferences on both innovations. Beginning in 2015, these annual conferences will be combined into one event: International Conference on Innovations in Family Engagement.