Permanency Tip of the Week:
Viewing our Youth in Foster Care through a single lens may sound appealing and simple; however it misses the point in terms of the complexity and interwoven nature of their lives. The topics of Permanency, Loss, Attachment and Trauma all impact our Youth and need to be taken into account in framing how we serve them. Our services must not only be coordinated between providers, they must also dynamic enough to address these 4 foundational principles.
Story of the Week:
Birth mom, adoptive family mark daughter’s graduation
When Centennial High School senior Olivia Cleveland graduates Saturday, both her moms will be there. Cleveland, 17, was adopted at birth by Tammy and David Cleveland of Franklin, both of whom have made a point to maintain a relationship with Olivia’s birth mom, Haley Gibbs. Gibbs, 32, now married with two children of her own, flew in from Texas to be a part of the graduation festivities. “It’s been our lives for 18 years. I was included in everything,” Gibbs said, getting misty-eyed. “Just to be included in this pivotal moment in her life, I’m so utterly grateful.” The Clevelands and Gibbs say it may be unusual for adoptive families to remain as open as they have been over the years. But both say the experience has been natural and they encourage more families to approach adoptions this way.
Current Permanency related articles:
Child Trends – Youth, Parent, and Relative Perspectives on Family Finding
The family finding model provides child welfare practitioners intensive search and engagement techniques to identify family and other adults close to a child in foster care, and to involve these adults in developing and carrying out a plan for the emotional and legal permanency of the child. This brief examines client perspectives on family finding efforts and identifies ways agencies can improve services. Child Trends’ researchers conducted nine focus groups, with a total of 57 youth, 18 parents, and 10 relatives in three family finding sites. While expressing concerns with challenges faced, clients reported that overall, the family finding services they received were beneficial.
By Rita Soronen – Foster Focus Columnist – I am so pleased to begin a regular column in Foster Focus Magazine. Chris and I have had many conversations over the past couple of years, and I am tremendously moved by his personal story of aging out of foster care. If you haven’t read Chris’ story, please do so. It’s because of people like Chris, and the tens of thousands of children each year who turn 18 and age out of care, that I do the work that I do. As the president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, we have lofty goals – to find loving adoptive homes for all children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted. And we place special focus on those children who are most at risk of aging out of care.
Attachment & Trauma Network announces NATA Day
Attachment & Trauma Network, Inc. (ATN), the oldest parent-led organization to help traumatized children and those impacted by attachment disorders, is raising awareness of these disorders, by recognizing Thursday, June 19, 2014 as the first National Attachment Trauma Awareness Day (NATA Day). Recognition and awareness of these disorders is incredibly important, particularly for adoptees: It is estimated that between 15 percent and 40 percent of adopted children in the United States and around the world suffer from attachment trauma disorders. In many cases, families have little support and few services to aid them in understanding attachment trauma and reactive attachment disorder.
Postcards from the Edge: Foster Care and Health Issues
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) defines children in foster care as children with special health care needs because of the very high prevalence of physical, mental, developmental, educational, dental and family relationship problems. Children in foster care have many of the same health problems as other children-they just seem to have more of them more often, according to the AAP.
Where foster kids live affects school performance, report says
Foster youth perform worse in school depending on where they are placed, such as group homes, and how long they stay there, according to a new report that reveals the impact of living conditions and other factors on the academic achievement of foster children.
Foster care: US moves to phase out group care for foster kids
Multiple states are making strides to cut down the use of residential facilities for foster care youth. There has been significant progress in finding placements for foster care youth with extended families. Can the US end the use of group homes entirely?
Wolf Connection – We rescue and train wolves and wolf-dogs to become programanimals for at-risk populations.
The specific purpose of Wolf Connection is three-fold: 1) To provide youth from all social backgrounds the education and skill-building alternatives that will promote the emotionally, mentally, and physically safe and supportive environments that will allow them to grow, thrive and become contributing community members; 2) To improve the quality of life of large canines by providing rescue, sanctuary, and behavioral enrichment in order to strengthen the bond and collaboration between humans and animals; 3) To integrate the animal and nature experience in education, skill-building workshops, and other program experiences that build youth self-esteem, encourage personal growth and spiritual awareness, and help prepare them for the future with positive values, realistic goals, and the powerful life skills needed to achieve those goals.