Permanency Tip of the Week: Emotional Safety and Permanency before Trauma / Grief & Loss
Many of our Youth often struggle to address issues of Trauma / Grief & Loss not because they are not willing and / or able to address them, but rather because they are not in a place of emotional safety and Permanency. Until the Youth feels emotionally safe, their ability to focus on anything other than their survival, is severely compromised. When we first focus on how to help the Youth begin to feel more emotionally safe, their ability to focus on things other than their survival, such as attachment to others and addressing their trauma / grief and loss histories slowly starts to increase. It is important that we view struggles they have in addressing this issues through the lens of emotional safety as opposed to them being seen as resistant or oppositional.
Permanency Story of the Week: From Hopeless to Hopeful: Finding a Family for Paul
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – Wendy’s Wonderful Kids – Reading through “Paul’s” file I started to panic. He had more than 15 placements and was only nine years old. He was residing at a group home for children with significant behavioral issues. Paul had a horrific early childhood experience filled with neglect, physical and sexual abuse. As a result, he came into care and began physically and sexually acting out himself. How on Earth would I ever find a family for him?
But then I met Paul for the first time and all those fears started to melt away. He was just a boy. He was a boy with hopes and dreams, who loved video games and just wanted a family to call his own. I began spending time with him and getting to know the “real” him, not what was written down on paper… I was able to find a family who matched what Paul needed. His adoptive father’s patience, unconditional love and ability to depersonalize Paul’s testing made his transition to adoption almost seamless. Paul was able to stop taking some of his medications, make great academic improvements and start building friendships. He was a completely different child from the one who I met years ago and the child described in his initial paperwork.
Paul’s foster care journey is a reminder of the faith we need to have in others to overcome adversity and grow. Paul’s adoptive father inspired me to never give up hope that the right family is out there for my Wendy’s Wonderful Kids youth.
Current Permanency Related Articles:
Nation’s Opioid Epidemic may be Boosting Foster Care Numbers
As Children’s Home Society of North Carolina launched a $25 million public fundraising initiative on Aug. 23, state and national family-services groups said one big reason foster-care needs are growing is the nation’s burgeoning problem of opioid abuse. “It’s unknowable how big a factor that is, but it’s very clear that the epidemic is sweeping our country in much bigger ways than people realize and the impact is much bigger than people realize,” said Adam Pertman, president of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency and author of Adoption Nation.
Webinar – A Youth-Informed Permanency Guide and Discussion
On September 7 at 1 pm eastern (noon central, 11 am mountain, 10 am pacific), Voice for Adoption, in partnership with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, presents A Youth-Informed Permanency Guide and Discussion for Court Professionals and Child Welfare Workers. This session is intended to help youth in foster care find permanent connections into adulthood. Court professionals, CASAs, and other child welfare workers are on the front lines of helping a foster youth achieve permanency. Join this presentation for a discussion and introduction to the Permanency Guide for Courtroom Professionals. Explore the current permanency laws, discover what youth are saying, and understand where you can make an impact. If you cannot attend the live webinar, you can still register to access a recorded version.
Understanding Grief and Loss in Children
When a child enters your home, whether through adoption or foster care, they come with a tremendous amount of grief and loss. Losses that include birth parents, extended family, home, pets, neighborhoods, schools, friends, treasured belongings, and in some cases culture. Don’t discount the loss of “the little things” like a favorite climbing tree. I’ve had children talk about their favorite toys, friends, or even the lunch lady at school. People and things make a big impression on us, this is the same for our children. As parents we hurt when our children hurt.If we want to help the child grieve we must first better our understanding of grief and loss.
How US Welfare Compares Around the Globe
“Most of the money went directly to cash benefit for families,” says Liz Schott, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “Now states can spend in all kinds of ways,” including job programs and childcare, but also transfers to other state programs, like foster care payments and child protection services. States now get the same amount of money they did in 1996.
Judy Cockerton: Transforming Foster Care in America, One Community at a Time
Judy Cockerton greets me with a big grin, arms open wide. Cockerton is the founder of the Treehouse Foundation, an organization seeking to impact child welfare practice and promote investment in the nation’s foster and adopted youth through the development of effective programs and practices.
The Treehouse Community opened in 2006 and is a multigenerational, planned neighborhood where adoptive families, their children and elders age 55 and older invest in one another’s lives. Cockerton has been the inspirational force behind the Treehouse Community, and the model has proven so successful that Treehouse communities are now expanding to other states, including New York and California.
Cockerton fueled her energies into the foster youth population, leading to the creation of the Treehouse Foundation in 2002. The Treehouse Foundation currently has two major initiatives: the Treehouse Community and the Re-envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) initiative.
How Disney Therapy Helps Children in Need
She was laughing. Laughing ! For the first time since the five year old had come to live with us, and perhaps for the first time in her life, the five year old was laughing. And what a laugh it was.
I did not laugh. Instead, I cried. The emotion of the moment had overwhelmed me, and the tears freely came forth. As I looked over at my wife, I was not surprised to see her crying, as well. Placing my hand upon her shoulder, I wiped my own tears from my eyes. We both knew what was happening. Disney Therapy.
It is essential for children in foster care to find a way to leave behind their pain and trauma; to leave the horrors that they are faced with each morning they wake up. It is vital for children in care to find a way to get the therapy they so dearly need in order to face the future, and survive as an adult. Sadly, many of the children in foster care will never have these moments, and will never receive this therapy. For our family, this Disney Therapy is our way to bring the foster children in our home the opportunity of a life time to escape their pain and traumas, and instead allow them to simply be a child, free from pain.