Greetings Permanency Champions,
Permanency Tip of the Week: Helping the Youth Develop Trust in the Concept of Permanency
Along with welcoming and developing a belief in the concept of Permanency, another component in our Youth’s journey is to develop a sense of trust in Permanency. When someone has been disappointed by Permanency figures in the past, the concept of trusting anyone on any level can represent a seemingly insurmountable hurdle to overcome. This can be especially true for our Youth in out of home care who have been promised and/or believed that they finally had secured life-long Permanency. In working with our Youth to address this concept, we cannot say “trust me …,” rather we must show them we are trustworthy by our actions. It is okay to say to them that you do not expect them to trust you, but that you hope that through your actions, that you can begin to EARN their trust. This “earning” process will take time and involve mistakes on our part. When we make these mistakes, it is critical that we hold ourselves accountable, apologize for our actions and begin to make amends.
Permanency Success Story of the Week: The Stories of These 6 Foster Kids Finding Their Forever Home Will Melt Your Heart
Readers Digest – With over 100,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, organizations like The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption can play a crucial role in placing kids, especially considering 20,000 children in foster care will never be adopted. These families below took the extra step to adopt children who were considered unadoptable.
Permanency Related Articles:
Treehouse Intergenerational Communities: The Village in Action
Since 2006, the first intergenerational Treehouse Community has been supporting families adopting children from foster care. The Treehouse Foundation promotes public investment in our most vulnerable children. Our vision – “Every child rooted in family and community.”
Treehouse promotes public investment in our most vulnerable children. We inspire, implement and support innovative child welfare practices to ensure children who experience foster care find forever families and supportive communities, empowering them to lead fulfilling, productive lives.
How this Familiar Story is True about what YOU do!
Dr. John DeGarmo – I understand that we can’t save all the children in foster care out there who need help. To be sure, there seems to be more children being placed into foster care. From opioids, to migration, to human trafficking, to homelessness; the number of children being placed into foster care continues to grow. For you and I, we want to save each one of them. But, we can’t. Friends and family have told me this, as they question why I continue to bring children into my home, and into my family…
Making Reunification Possible for Older Youth
Juvenile Law Center – This month (June) is Reunification Month—a good time to celebrate family and redouble our efforts to make it possible for more families to be supported in achieving permanency through reunification. As an organization that focuses on older youth, Juvenile Law Center is interested in supporting and expanding ways that safe and sustainable reunification can occur for older youth, including youth who are just entering or at risk of entering the foster care system and young people who have been in care for some period of time, even years. This is the right thing to do because we know achieving permanency will improve transition outcomes, but it is also urgent given the demographics of the child welfare system: in 2016, for example, 22% of youth who entered foster care were age 13 or older…
What must happen for us to prioritize family relationships and give youth the best chance of navigating adulthood and achieving sustainable permanency through reunification? Below are some initial thoughts on actions we can take:
1) Be Flexible, Creative, and Honest About What Practices to Support Relationships with Parents May Mean; 2) Inventory the Array of Reunification Services Available and Explore if Specialization is Needed for Reunification with Older Youth; 3) Make the Goal Lifelong, Unconditional, Stable Relationships Not Case Closure
Life as a Foster Youth Intern: Amber Lindamood
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) – I’m sitting in a middle row in my Social Work 506 Research Methods class, feeling like I’m about to throw up, hands sweating, heart racing. My phone rings. As it vibrates on my desk, I stare at it in wonder—not knowing if I should answer it or not, knowing it holds information that will change my summer….and life.
A month prior, I had just started my second quarter of grad school. I was feeling fresh, excited to be taking a different set of classes, and eager for new opportunities. Researching TedTalks for an assignment late one night, I came across an opportunity of a lifetime: a D.C. internship designed specifically for foster youth. This summer-long internship allows foster care alumni the opportunity to write a child welfare policy report that reflects personal experience and best practices. The interns present this report to Members of Congress at the end of the summer. I Googled it to see if it was legit (it was) and found out I had a little over a week to complete all of the required application materials…
National Reunification Month and 5 Foster Parent Support Strategies
AdoptUSKids and American Bar Association – June is National Reunification Month, offering an opportunity to highlight the importance of supporting all forms of permanency for children and youth in foster care. AdoptUSKids seeks to partner with child welfare systems to help ensure that children’s stays in foster care are temporary, recognizing that every child needs the care and support of a permanent, loving family, whether through reunification, adoption, or guardianship.
Reunification is the most common goal and outcome for children in out-of-home care, and safe and timely family reunification is the preferred permanency outcome. It is important for child welfare systems to recruit, develop, and support resource parents who can actively support reunification when it is the best permanency option…
Five strategies for supporting foster parents around reunification: 1) Provide foster parents with resources that offer strategies for connecting with families and supporting reunification. 2) Use clear, consistent messaging about the importance of supporting reunification. 3) Incorporate concurrent planning concepts into core training for all prospective foster parents. 4) Provide peer support for foster parents. 5) Provide foster families with support around grief and loss during training, throughout the reunification process, and after reunification takes place.
-
Please forward this blog, via email and/or social media, to other Permanency Champions and those that could use a healthy dose of Permanency.
-
If this Blog has been forwarded to you, please sign up to receive it directly by going to my websiteor emailing me: drgregmanning@gmail.com.
-
If you are interested in my keynote speaking, professional training or consulting services, please contact me through my website, call me: 949-683-0753 or email: drgregmanning@gmail.com
-
Take care and keep up the Permanency work – Our children, youth, young adults, families, and communities are depending on it!