Permanency Tip of the Week: Do we address Grief and Loss or Behavior in Therapy? YES
In working with our youth in care, the focus of much attention inside and outside of therapy is on the youth’s behavior. This is understandable as it is often the most visible signal that youth provide about how they are doing and because it is most clearly linked to the requirements for funding the therapy. However, if the core issues of grief and loss are not concurrently addressed, all that we may end up with is a better behaved youth with limited willingness and ability to form healthy new attachments to possible sources of Permanency. Therefore, let’s be sure to address both the grief and loss issues as well as behavioral challenges in order to improve the potential for our Youth to secure and sustain Permanency.
Permanency Story of the Week: Why would anyone Adopt a 33 year old? Ask Denise Royal
Tonight’s Adopting Teens and Tweens Radio Show guest is adoptive mom and You Gotta Believe LGBT Recruiter Denise Royal. Denise speaks about activities You Gotta Believe participated this Gay Pride weekend in New York City, and then she shares the story of adopting her 33 year old son earlier this month. Denise answers the question, “why would anyone adopt a 33 year old?” Definitely worth a listen. Pat O’Brien and Chester Jackson host
Current Permanency Related Articles:
We Need to Understand How to Provide Trauma-Informed Care
The philosophy of trauma-informed care is becoming more and more embedded in the philosophies and practices of child-serving agencies. When a child experiences a single traumatic event and is fortunate enough to be surrounded by supportive and nurturing adults, that trauma can generally be assessed and usually treated effectively with the help of parental support. When a traumatized child responds with internalized distress such as sadness, depression or anxiety, our systems appear to understand what that child needs to help in their healing and recovery.
Most children behave or wish to behave well. Most children want adult respect, love and guidance. Most of those who do not behave well have not yet learned how to behave well and will need lots of time and practice with our guidance. Our negative responses to disruptive behavior can and do reinforce the misbehavior. In turn, most child-serving professionals like and want to work with children, even if we sometimes do not know how to do so.
Young People Who Have Been in Care Release Recommendations for System Reform
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) Foster Youth Interns have released their annual recommendations for improvements in the child welfare system. Through this program, 12 individuals who had been in foster care interned on Capitol and wrote a policy report on how to better the foster care system, using inspiration from their own lives. On July 12, they held a briefing on Capitol Hill where they released the report —Powerful Voices: Sharing Our Stories to Reform Child Welfare — to members of Congress, congressional staff, and the child welfare community.
Developing a Robust Continuum of Care to Support Foster Youth in Family-Based Settings
Child welfare systems in California and across the country have undergone dramatic transformations in the past decade as states have successfully reduced the number of children in foster care by focusing on alternatives to removing children from their homes and shortening the lengths of stay for children who do enter foster care. Despite these efforts, hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. continue to require some time in foster care to ensure their safety… As states strive to further reduce utilization of congregate care, they must invest in recruiting, retaining, and supporting caregivers capable of meeting the needs of foster children and youth with varying special needs and trauma histories.
Tackling Foster Youth College Completion with Behavioral Science
The American higher education system is facing a completion crisis and foster youth are more likely than other students to drop out before completing their degree. Foster youth who begin but don’t finish college often must bear the costs of tuition and time without reaping the many rewards a degree offers. A new report from Ideas42, titled Nudging for Success, demonstrates the promise of using behavioral science to improve college persistence and other student outcomes from pre-admission to post-graduation…The research further found that it is possible to make real, cost-effective changes that meaningfully impact students’ well-being and persistence using behavioral science.
2016 Adoption Excellence Awards – Now Accepting Nominations
Each year, the Children’s Bureau honors leadership and innovation in the commitment toward rebuilding the lives of children in foster care and those who are waiting for adoption with the Adoption Excellence Awards (AEA). These annual awards recognize States, Tribes, agencies, organizations, businesses, and individuals that have demonstrated excellence in providing stable, permanent homes for children in foster care. This year a newcategory has been added for youth and young adults, specifically recognizing the individual contributions of a youth/young adult to promote permanency for children in foster care. Nominations are now being accepted for the 2016 Adoption Excellence Awards through July 29, 2016.
CBX – Spotlight on Secondary Trauma and Professionals’ Well-Being
Children’s Bureau Express – This month features a series of guest articles addressing the topic of secondary traumatic stress at three different levels of child welfare, as well as other resources focusing on secondary trauma and the well-being of child welfare professionals.