Permanency Tip of the Week: ‘Cold Feet’ in the Potential Permanent Connection
Whenever we approach a significant life decision, it is natural to have some second thoughts or doubts enter our mind. This can and often does happen when we seek, find and engage potential permanent connections for our Youth in foster care. Part of our role in the Permanency process is to validate, normalize and help support these connections to address their experience of ‘Cold Feet.’ If we ignore it or challenge this natural human experience, we run the risk of chasing off the Permanent connection or causing them to feel guilty, deny these feelings and potentially end up accepting the youth into their heart and home on an unstable foundation. Either outcome is poor and unacceptable for the Youth and the Permanent connection. Let’s take a moment when we come across ‘Cold Feet’ and respond with patience and compassion – the Permanency outcomes will surely improve!
Permanency Story of the Week: Families Share: “Why We Chose Foster Adoption”
Foster adoption was right for these three families. Read their stories to find out why: 1) Helping Children Close to Home; 2) Trust Your Gut; 3) My Heart Was with These Children
Current Permanency related articles:
Successfully age out of foster care and begin life on your own – 4 Do’s and Don’ts
John DeGarmo – Each year, between 20,000 to 25,000 foster children age out of the system and attempt to begin life on their own. For many foster children, foster care is a temporary service before returning home to a parent, moving in with a biological family member, or even beginning a new life in an adopted home. Yet, for thousands who do not find reunification with family in their lives, reaching 18-21 years of age (depending on their state) and finding themselves no longer part of the foster care system, can be a tremendously frightening experience.
Start of school year often reveals child abuse, neglect
The end of summer and the start of a new school year is an exciting time for most children. But for some, the beginning of school could reveal a dark secret when signs of abuse and neglect these children have suffered over the summer are noticed by teachers, staff and other parents.
Memo from CalYOUTH: Early Findings on Extended Foster Care and Legal Permanency
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago – Some states, such as California, have extended foster care to age 21 to provide continuing support to young people who find themselves in out-of-home care during the transition to adulthood. Recently, concern has been raised about the potentially negative effect that the policy of extended care might have on older youths’ exits from care via family reunification, adoption, and guardianship, commonly referred to as “legal permanency.” Examining trends in exits from shortly before to immediately after the implementation of extended care, we find some evidence that, in the extended care era, fewer older adolescents are exiting care before their 18th birthday than before the law was implemented. However, rather than being the result of a reduction in exits to legal permanency, this shift has more to do with an increase in the likelihood that youth will remain in care rather than emancipate prior to age 18, run away from care, or experience other unwanted exits.
Stemming the Tide of Toxic Stress – For Kids’ Sake
A growing number of pediatricians across the country going beyond the typical well-child visit and delving deeper into the history of families. The goal is to prevent children from experiencing traumatic events that can interfere with their brain development and increase their risk of physical and emotional problems in adulthood. A growing body of research shows that children who experience abuse, neglect or other “toxic stress” have a greater likelihood of developing chronic diseases when they get older. In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics is urging doctors to intervene by identifying and offering assistance to parents and young patients they believe to be at risk. The academy has not endorsed a specific screening tool, and doctors around the country, including in California, Massachusetts and Maryland, are trying different approaches.
KVC Institute Shares a Big Idea for Transforming Foster Care in America
The KVC Institute for Health Systems Innovation, a new initiative of nonprofit child welfare leader KVC Health Systems, today released its “Big Idea” campaign describing the values and practices that it uses to achieve strong outcomes for children and families. The approach described can be used by public child welfare agencies, private child and family service providers, other stakeholders and communities as a whole to transform foster care in America.
Investing in Prevention: Avoiding the Individual and Societal Costs of Child Maltreatment
Preventing maltreatment reaps large dividends in terms of child and adult well-being. Children exposed to maltreatment face increased risks of developmental delays, mental health and substance abuse problems, criminality, risky sexual behavior, and a host of other negative outcomes. Studies also find that being a victim of maltreatment as a child increases an individual’s risk of becoming a perpetrator of maltreatment with his or her own children. Preventing a child from being maltreated can reduce the risk of experiencing these negative outcomes. Beyond promoting child well-being, the prevention of child abuse and neglect also offers measurable societal benefits.