Greetings Permanency Champions,
Story of the Week:
Yesenia and Carla: A Quinceanera Wish for A Forever Home
This week on Wednesday’s Child, we watch as a community of caring individuals and businesses come together in support of two sisters in foster care to help turn back the hands of time and give older sister Yesenia (1997) a Quinceañera. And serving as the dama was younger sister Carla (2000).
Current Permanency related articles:
Burger King Baby finds birth mom, feels ‘pure joy’
A woman who, as a newborn, was abandoned in the bathroom of a Pennsylvania fast-food restaurant said she has found her birth mother just three weeks after launching a search that garnered worldwide attention, and as her mother prepared to look for her.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
The US Dept. of Health and Human Services – Administration of Children and Families – Children’s Bureau highlights the importance of make meaningful connections with children.
Presidential Proclamation — National Child Abuse Prevention Month, 2014
In the United States of America, every child should have every chance in life, every chance at happiness, and every chance at success. Yet tragically, hundreds of thousands of young Americans shoulder the burden of abuse or neglect. As a Nation, we must do better. During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we strengthen our resolve to give every young person the security, opportunity, and bright future they deserve.
CASA helps struggling teen get her life turned around
She claimed she used to be a “rebel child.” The now-poised 17-year-old credits her Court Appointed Special Advocate for helping her get her life together. “I never would’ve pictured my life the way it is now,” said Savanna Sewell, a foster child. “When I was 13, I was so depressed.” It was then she was placed in foster care and met her CASA. Her life changed dramatically. “I felt like I did a 180,” she said. She went from writing sad poetry and acting out to shopping and hanging out with friends, she said.
New Wellness Curricula for Transition Age Foster Youth Available
The Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCC) and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) has created a publicly available resource guide, curriculum and toolkit focused on mental health and wellness education for transition age foster youth. These tools were made possible through funding from the California Mental Health Services Administration (CalMHSA), under the Mental Health Services Act.
Improving Placements for Children in Foster Care
“It’s really important for providers to understand what’s happening with brain development, especially for kids that have been maltreated, and how to use that information to develop individually based interventions,” says social work professor Jessica Strolin-Goltzman. For decades, the focus for children in foster care was on safety and permanency. Although those goals remain, the Federal Administration on Children, Youth and Families has shifted the national focus to the mental, physical, social and emotional well-being of children, and is backing it up with federal funds for those with a plan to execute it. Enter Strolin-Goltzman, an expert in the implementation and evaluation of evidence-supported child welfare interventions.