Permanency Tip of the Week: Planning and Debriefing the First Meeting
When we prepare for the initial contact between a youth and possible Permanent connection, we want to focus on the how to maximize the potential for both parties being able to display and receive lots of Attachment Friendly signals. Here are some ideas to help: Validate the courage and strength that they are showing by being willing to meet each other. Create a mutually agreeable time, place, situation and activity for the meeting. Encourage them to plan ahead what they would like to say to each other. Afterwards, be sure to debrief with both parties in terms of what they thought, heard and FELT about the meeting along with plans to meet again.
Permanency Story of the Week: Their Wait is Over: See the Smiles on the Faces of these Recently Adopted Kids
Current Permanency Related Articles:
Bipartisan House, Senate Leaders Announce Proposed Child Welfare Legislation
Proposed Bill Would Keep More Children Safely at Home and Out of Unnecessary Foster Care. In the coming days, the Family First Prevention Services Act will be introduced in the House by Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee Chairman Vern Buchanan, R-Fl., and in the Senate by Hatch and Wyden. The legislation will redirect federal funding to support evidence-based, upfront prevention services.
Trauma in Childhood Linked to Drug Use in Adolescence
Latest research from a national sample of almost 10,000 U.S. adolescents found psychological trauma, especially abuse and domestic violence before age 11, can increase the likelihood of experimentation with drugs in adolescence, independent of a history of mental illness. Results of the study conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health are published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. This is the first study to document these associations in a national sample of adolescents.
Fostering Policy: Introducing CCAI’s 2016 Foster Youth Interns
Every summer, one of Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI)’s great honors is to host 12 extraordinary young people on Capitol Hill in our Foster Youth Internship Program®. This unique program offers current and former foster youth from across the nation (now college students and recent graduates) the opportunity to participate in a prestigious congressional office internship assignment, and in addition, to use their own life experiences to inform the U.S. Congress about ways to improve the U.S. foster care system through the annual Foster Youth Internship Program® Report and Congressional Briefing.
There’s a long road ahead for young adults who ‘age out’ of the foster care system in America
More than 400,000 children are living in foster care in the US. and 20,000 of those kids will ‘age out’ each year. Having grown up in the foster care system, magnetic street poet Brieanna is about to age out and be forced to fend for herself.
Child Trends – Father’s Day is a time to pause and think about the many ways that dads make a difference in their children’s lives. Research shows that father’s positive engagement can improve child well-being whether they live full-time with their children or not. Fatherhood is a complex and evolving concept, but there are some things we know for sure about its value for kids.
Using Harry Potter to Tell An Adoptee The Harder Parts of Her Story
Next weekend, I am taking my almost-twelve-year-old daughter to visit her birthmother, brother and sister. Up until now, the annual reunions have had a single goal: spend time together in a fun environment. We eat at casual family restaurants, swim in the hotel pool, attend museums and movies, and generally hang out.
In the past year, our daughter has shown signs of distress. It appears that she has started to construct her own narrative as to why her adoption happened, and it is an inaccurate story that is grounded in the erroneous belief that she was flawed…So, it is time for her to learn more.