Raising Adrian – My Own Experience with FASD in America
The Chronicle of Social Change concludes five-part series on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) from Helen Ramaglia, an advocate for foster youth and a member of our Blogger Co-Op. Click here to read Part 1, here to read Part 2, here to read Part 3, and here to read Part 4.
The need for better understanding goes double for everyone working with our foster children and adopted children should be educated and informed. Adrian displayed many of the signs of FAS from birth. After receiving his diagnosis, I went back over his file and it was all there in black and white. My baby suffered because I was uninformed and uneducated on this unfortunate and prevalent birth defect. For further information and education about FAS/FASD please read: Adopting and Fostering Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
What Barriers Remain: Areas of Adoption and Foster Care Reform in the 113th Congress:
Saturday, November 23rd, we celebrated National Adoption Day and the approximately 4,500 adoptions of children in foster care took place in courthouses across the nation. It was a day of celebration as well as a poignant reminder of the nearly 100,000 children in foster care still awaiting their own adoption day.
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute exists because we not only believe that every child needs a family, but also that they can find that family – no matter what their age or circumstances. Toward that goal, we continue to raise awareness of the policy barriers that prevent children in the U.S. and around the word from finding their forever families. We will work daily with policymakers to address these barriers until every last one is removed.
We are pleased to announce the release of our report, What Barriers Remain: Areas of Needed Adoption and Foster Care Reform in the 113th Congress. This report highlights several areas where the U.S. Congress might work to reduce the number of children living without families in the U.S. and abroad. It is our hope that all who read this new report, from Members of Congress to adoptive parents, Members of the Administration to foster youth, will work in partnership with us until every child in need of a family finds permanency.
Sex trafficking and Current / Former Foster Youth (Includes video)
Law enforcement officials and child advocates say it is unfair to call these children “prostitutes”, that it is more accurate to call them victims. Many of them have come from broken homes and are veterans of the county’s foster care system.
Fostering Connections: Psychotropic and Prescription Medications
The NRCPFC has developed a new webpage on Psychotropic and Prescription Medications as part of the Fostering Connections micro-website. This webpage offers resources from ACF, the Children’s Bureau, and the T/TA Network, as well as resources from collaborating organizations. It includes evidence-base practice, research, and reports; publications and other resources; webinars, webcasts, and videos; and links to related websites. It also offers a variety of resources developed by states, including guides, reports, policies and procedures, and training materials addressing psychotropic medications for children in foster care. The webpage will be updated regularly as new information and resources become available.
Children’s Bureau Express: November 2013
This month’s CBX features a spotlight on National Adoption Month. The November 2013 issue highlights studies that track attitudes about foster care adoption, a publication regarding family medical leave laws and adoption, an article on social media and post-adoption connections, and more. Children’s Bureau Express includes the following sections: News from the Children’s Bureau; Training and Technical Assistance Network Updates; Children’s Bureau Grantee News; Child Welfare News; Strategies and Tools for Practice; Resources; and, Trainings and Conferences.
Ten Things that Youth Want Child Welfare Professionals to Know
Project LIFE, a partnership of United Methodist Family Services with and funded by Virginia Department of Social Services, held a state-wide conference on permanency in October 2013. During the conference, adopted youth and youth in foster care shared their experiences and developed their ideas into tips for child welfare workers. These resources from the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections highlight their recommendations for workers (1) when engaging youth in foster care, and (2) for talking to youth in foster care about permanency. (November 2013)
(1) Ten Things that Youth Want Child Professionals to Know: Engaging Youth in Foster Care