Permanency Tip of the Week: Resiliency with Permanency – The Powerful Combination
Resiliency is a personal trait that many of our Youth develop in response to their life experiences before and during their time in foster care. If we fail to assist them in securing Permanency, the incredible potential for what can come out of this resiliency is greatly diminished. Without Permanency, our Youth are forced to channel that resiliency into trying to survive. With Permanency, our Youth can channel their resiliency into thriving. Let us provide them with the opportunity not just to survive, but to THRIVE!
Permanency Success Story of the Week: Foster Care Adoption Granted Virtually – “Laila and Aurora Clark, A Forever Family”
WKBW – HAMBURG, NY — A Hamburg family is making history. They appeared Thursday in a virtual foster family adoption. “Laila and Aurora Clark – a forever family,” declared Hon. Sharon LoVallo, judge, Erie County Family Court. Judge LoVallo provided a drum roll and balloon drop as she oversaw the proceeding through Skype as the family adopted two young girls. The judge said this was her first-ever virtual foster care adoption conducted from her home as Family Court remains closed because of the pandemic. But the judge says the Hamburg family waited through a long progress to adopt the girls.
“They’ve gone through a long process of supporting and loving these children,” stated Judge LoVallo. “They’ve been a family for a long time. Today we make it official and we make it forever and the ability to do that — is incredibly special.”
Maria and John Clark already had four boys. Now the boys have two new little sisters, three-year-old Laila and two-year-old Aurora. “Our sons — have the capacity to love back. It’s really amazing to welcome these little girls into the family and love them from day one,” Maria Clark said tearfully…
Permanency Related Articles:
FosterStrong Virtual Launch – May 29, 2020 – 11 am EST
FosterStrong – We exist to empower current and former foster youth to reclaim their narratives by authentically sharing our own journeys of moving from trauma to triumph. We embrace resilience as our collective identity.
We are FosterStrong.
What Happens When You Age Out of Foster Care During a Pandemic?
The Nation – Advocates say state governors can instruct their state child welfare systems to keep kids in their care, even if they age out during this time—but will they? Bianca Bennett entered the New York foster care system as a 2-year-old, then again as a 13-year-old. She aged out as a 21-year-old. Like many young adults when they age out of the system, she spent several months after this couch-surfing. She moved to Florida to attend college, eventually living in a student dorm. Then, this March, the coronavirus shut down her campus.
Unable to stay in the dorm, she returned to New York City. Her depression and anxiety made a brutal comeback, and she started sleeping 16 hours a day. Now, she’s living with a couple in upstate New York while working part-time for the foster care nonprofit You Gotta Believe, unsure what will happen in the fall—her senior year. Even so, Bennett considers herself lucky. She was able to find a place to stay. Others who faced the same obstacles haven’t been as fortunate…
FosterClub – A second in a series of polls of young people from foster care has been conducted by FosterClub, the national network for young people from foster care, revealing troubling insights about how the COVID-19 crisis continues to negatively affect some of the nation’s most vulnerable youth. 613 respondents from 44 states between the ages of 18 and 24 shared their experiences in the poll, which was conducted through social media and across FosterClub’s network. A full report of the poll is available on the FosterClub website.
“This crisis hit young people from foster care fast and hard. These new poll results indicate the situation continues to become more desperate by the day, particularly for young people who have already aged out of foster care and are without family to rely on,” said Celeste Bodner, Executive Director at FosterClub. “Youth from foster care are falling through the cracks. They aren’t eligible or able to access the unemployment or stimulus checks the rest of America is counting on to get by.”
Breaking Down the FFPSA – The Future Effect
What’s even better than reunifying children with their families? Addressing concerns in the home BEFORE a crisis occurs so they don’t enter the child welfare system in the first place. In this episode, hosts Danielle and Joe sit down with Becky Shipp, the woman behind the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), to discuss the need for change and break down what this means for the future of child welfare.
‘I Can’t Turn My Brain Off’: PTSD and Burnout Threaten Medical Workers
New York Times – Before Covid-19, health care workers were already vulnerable to depression and suicide. Mental health experts now fear even more will be prone to trauma-related disorders. The coronavirus patient, a 75-year-old man, was dying. No family member was allowed in the room with him, only a young nurse. In full protective gear, she dimmed the lights and put on quiet music. She freshened his pillows, dabbed his lips with moistened swabs, held his hand, spoke softly to him. He wasn’t even her patient, but everyone else was slammed. Finally, she held an iPad close to him, so he could see the face and hear the voice of a grief-stricken relative Skyping from the hospital corridor…
Medical workers like the young nurse have been celebrated as heroes for their commitment to treating desperately ill coronavirus patients. But the heroes are hurting, badly. Even as applause to honor them swells nightly from city windows, and cookies and thank-you notes arrive at hospitals, the doctors, nurses, and emergency responders on the front lines of a pandemic they cannot control are battling a crushing sense of inadequacy and anxiety.
Every day they become more susceptible to post-traumatic stress, mental health experts say. And their psychological struggles could impede their ability to keep working with the intensity and focus their jobs require…
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Take care and keep up the Permanency work – Our children, youth, young adults, families, and communities are depending on it!