Permanency Tip of the Week: Fear of Intimacy ~ Avoidance of Permanency ~ CSEC
For some of our Youth, there experience with physical and relational intimacy has been impacted by early and sometimes repeated experiences of abuse, neglect and trauma. This can be especially challenging when we are working with youth who have suffered through life as a Commercial Sexually Exploited Child (CSEC). Our work with them must be strongly grounded in trauma informed principles supplemented by specialized training for everyone involved (social workers, caregivers, probation officers, mental health providers, family finders, etc.). If this process is handled properly, the journey towards Permanency can play a crucial and powerful role in the healing process.
Permanency Success Story of the Week: The Value of Family…Priceless
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – In my 18 years as a social worker, the placement that has impacted me the most is a 17-year-old youth. This child came into foster care at the age of three with his two siblings. There was a history of physical, sexual abuse and neglect by the hands of his parents. By the age of five he was adopted and separated from his siblings. He remained with his adoptive mother until age 12. At that age, his adoptive mother surrendered her parental rights, stating that his behaviors were intolerable. He was once again placed in the foster care system and felt that no one would want to adopt him.
He was referred to the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program at the age 15 as a “hard to place” child. Through my child-focused recruitment efforts, he was matched with an adoptive family and he was adopted right before his 17th birthday. On his adoption day, he thanked me tremendously and stated that if it weren’t for me he would be lost and probably would’ve aged out of the foster care system without a family or support. This child asked if I could remain in his life and be his Godmother. This shows what profound impact Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters have on the children they serve. This is what makes me rich in spirit and famous in heart!
Permanency Related Articles:
Handling the Attachment Issues for Foster Youths
Chronicle of Social Change – Primary treatment for attachment disorders does not take place in an office between a therapist and the child. Healing occurs best in a permanent home. Seven principles should guide the basis for any attachment therapy: 1) Permanence is critical. 2) Understand Bonding. 3) Work with the parents. 4) Structure connecting. 5) Model emotions and compassion.6) Accentuate the positive. In summary, the therapist might say to the parent: Open your eyes to the obvious. Healing of attachment disorders takes place not in a therapist’s office, but in a permanent home. Parents need to be patient. Pass the tests. And just be there.
An Alaska Airlines flight attendant’s instincts and quick thinking helped save a teenage victim from human trafficking on a plane headed to San Francisco in 2011, according to a new report from television station WTSP in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Flight attendant Shelia Frederick, 49, first thought something was off during a flight from Seattle when she noticed a teenage girl with greasy blonde hair. The teen “looked like she had been through pure hell,” Frederick said in an interview with the TV station that aired over the weekend. The girl, who was about 14 years old, was traveling with an older, well-dressed man, according to Frederick…Human trafficking jumped 35.7 percent in the United States in 2016, according to a new report from the National Human Trafficking Hotline. “If you see something, say something,” Frederick said.
What’s Behind the Three-Year Rise in Federal Child Abuse Numbers?
Deseret News – The Child Maltreatment 2015 report by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families noted 683,000 victims of child maltreatment or 9.2 victims per 1,000 children. The slight increase from 2014’s 9.1 victims per 1,000 is concerning, experts said, because not all maltreatment is reported and in some cases abuse or neglect exists but there’s not enough evidence to substantiate it, leading to the suspicion that the count is actually under-counted.
What Does It Mean To Have An Open Adoption? An Interview With Lori Holden
ChicagoNow.com – Portrait of an Adoption is very excited to present this fantastic interview about open adoption with critically-acclaimed adoption author Lori Holden: Q: Things seem to be opening up in adoption in many ways — ongoing contact with birth parents and opening birth records come to mind. Why do you think this is? LH: Just as the Berlin Wall fell in favor of freedom over oppression, I believe that the human spirit strives for openness and light over closedness and fear…Q: You’re fond of saying that contact isn’t the same as openness when it comes to an “open adoption.” Can you explain more? LH: Contact comes from decisions made among the adults in the triad, and the degree of contact depends on each of them choosing to participate — or not. Openness, on the other hand, is what happens within each parent — a solo within – and between the parent and the child (a duet between you and your child, so to speak)…As I alluded to earlier, a desire for openness and connection and wholeness comes from our core. And something rooted in the core — the center of the Venn diagram — tends to resonate for many.
Five Reasons to Support Youth in Care (By a Youth from Care in Canada)
Children’s Aid Foundation – The Buzz – The following points were written by a former young person in care to reflect why it is important for us to support vulnerable youth in child welfare. 1. Overcame Adversity – For many youth in care there are countless reasons that they have become acquainted with the child welfare system. 2. Act as a surrogate Parent – For many young people currently involved with child welfare there is often a lack of consistency in regards to presence of ‘permanent’ parental figures.3. Gap in financial resource – Social service funding has decreased drastically over the years resulting in substantial budget cuts within the child welfare system. 4. Help change the statistic and end the stigma – In society there are many statistics surrounding youth in care and people who are part of the child welfare system. There are underlying societal beliefs that youth in care are deviant; have little to no value; are a drain on resources but most importantly, will never amount to much. 5. All children have value – Whatever people think about children in child welfare, especially people who have children, they generally use a ‘us’ versus ‘them’ dichotomy.
Accessing Post-Adoption Support
AdoptUSKids – Adoption is a life-changing event that takes much preparation and the use of supports before, during, and after the process. Providing families with services and support tailored to meet their needs contributes to successful adoption of children and youth. Also, as the new AdoptUSKids Support Matters resource guide emphasizes, educating families about support programs can reassure families that they will not be alone in the future as they seek to meet their children’s needs.
The following are a few resources that you can share with foster and adoptive parents:1) A list of resources for adoptive parents found on the AdoptUSKids website; 2) The website of Together as Adoptive Parents (TAP), an organization that provides links to resources for families who have adopted; 3) The Child Welfare Information Gateway publication, Finding and Using Postadoption Services, (PDF – 523 KB) includes support groups, therapy, counseling, respite care, and educational and information resources; 4) Support Groups –You can search for parent support groups in your state at adoptuskids.org; 5) The North American Council on Adoptable Children also has a database of parent groups.