Permanency Tip of the Week:
When working to support a Foster Youth’s attachment with a Permanent Connection, be alert to the possible unresolved grief and loss issues of the Permanent Connection. If these issues exist, they may be triggered by the challenges of the Foster Youth with their own issues of grief and loss. Ensuring that both the Foster Youth and the Permanent Connection are individually and collectively ready, willing and able to attach is critically important. This is where fully integrated child welfare and mental health services can be most impactful.
Story of the Week:
Are We There Yetis an entertaining story which also imparts nuggets of parenting wisdom for any parent or grandparent. It is packed with spiritual truths and life lessons for teachers, social workers, pastors and others. Sue is a nationally known speaker on child and family topics, Hector works with homeless adults. They live in Philadelphia and are active in Summit Presbyterian Church. They have served as foster parents and as a refugee host family. Learn more about the Badeau family here and about Sue’s speaking and writing ministry.
Current Permanency related articles:
Length of time from foster care to adoption
The Chronicle of Social Change features one key indicator from Kidsdata.org, which offers comprehensive data about the health and well-being of children across California. The majority of foster children are reunified with their parents after removal from them, but across the United States about 50,000 youth each year are adopted from foster care, according to the federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
Protecting Foster children Online
Dr. John DeGarmo – Foster care children are more likely than children from traditional homes to engage in inappropriate, risky, and even dangerous activities while online. Read how foster parents and care takers can best protect children in foster care from these dangers.
GRACE Conference – Improving Outcomes for Foster Youth in California
The goal of “Improving Outcomes for Foster Youth in California”, the conference GRACE co-convened last summer with the National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI) in coordination with Rep. Karen Bass was to identify and discuss recommendations to improve the child welfare system in California, reach consensus among stakeholders, and implement key recommendations.
Each of the recommendations made at the Conference were thoughtful, well informed and important. But in order to be the most effective, GRACE, working with the NFYI and Rep. Karen Bass, needed to prioritize implementation of the recommendations that will have the most immediate impact.
| Review of National Foster Care Month |
| May was National Foster Care Month. CWLA has resources to help you improve the situation of children in youth in foster care. See our review of the family finding model, which consists of search and engagement techniques to identify family members and other adults close to children in foster care. We also recently did a survey of state child welfare policies and initiatives, with ZERO TO THREE. In our Databank, you’ll find indicators about children in foster care-how many kids, for how long, differences by race, and more. |
Child Welfare Evaluation Virtual Summit Series
The Children’s Bureau is pleased to announce the release of two new videos in continuation of the Child Welfare Evaluation Virtual Summit Series.
Measurement Matters: How Should My Program Measure Changes in Child Well-Being?
National expert Dr. Heather Ringeisen presents guidance about issues to consider when attempting to measure changes in well-being outcomes over time.
The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW): Implications for Child Welfare Evaluations
This video illustrates the ways the NSCAW can provide a meaningful comparison group for those interested in assessing child and adolescent well-being outcomes in their jurisdictions.
Access all videos currently available from the Virtual Summit Series on the Children’s Bureau website.
Are We Misdiagnosing Childhood Traumas as ADHD?
A new study shows that a child with an ADHD diagnosis is more likely to have also experienced stress and trauma early in life. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) receive a diagnosis based on their behavior: age-inappropriate fidgeting, inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and trouble sitting still and concentrating. However, according to new research presented today at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, these behaviors may also be linked to childhood trauma.
Severity, Not Frequency, of Abuse May Predict Mental Health Outcomes of Children in Foster Care
How severely children are abused, rather than how frequently, appears to predict which children will suffer serious mental health outcomes, according to the first study from one of the most in-depth analyses of the mental health of foster children ever undertaken.