Dr. Greg Manning

A Professional Trainer, Keynote Speaker and Consultant

You are here: Home / Permanency in the News – Week of 09/11/17

Permanency in the News – Week of 09/11/17

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Greetings Permanency Champions,

Permanency Tip of the Week:  Good Ideas AND Great Ideas

I like the idea that we should never allow a good idea to get in the way of a great idea.  When working to secure Permanency for our Youth, I think we need both good ideas AND great ideas.  Securing Permanency for our Youth is a GREAT idea!  However, we should be aware of GOOD ideas that are important to pursue while we are on the journey towards Permanency. Some of these good ideas can include: Securing mentors, placing a child in the home of well-skilled temporary foster parents while continuing to reach out to extended family members and community members.  Let’s seek out both Good AND Great ideas for our Youth!

 

Permanency Success Story of the Week:  A View of Openness: Erica’s Adoption Story

Birth Parents – The beauty of adoption is that it can come in many different forms, and blossom in many different ways. Every adoption story is unique.  This is one birth mother’s inspirational story. Erica came to Adoptions With Love six months into her pregnancy, unsure of her choice, but seeking more information about the adoption process. She soon discovered that an open adoption plan was the answer to her prayers.  Read Erica’s heartfelt story as she takes us on an emotional journey through her open adoption experience. Learn how she came to the courageous decision to place her baby for adoption, and how the most challenging event in her life turned into the greatest blessing of all: becoming Mère.

 

Permanency Related Articles:

 

Signs of Safety and Family Finding as Sister Approaches

YouTube Video – Andrew Turnell is the co-creator of the Signs of Safety approach to child protection. Signs of Safety is all about putting the children, parents and everyone who has a natural connection to the family back into the center of the work. Andrew says that Family Finding is quite simply the best method we’ve got in child protection to find the naturally connected people around a child and get them involved in the process of safety and healing and that Signs of Safety brings the tools and methods to work with that network. Both approaches are all about giving the parents, children and the naturally connected network every opportunity to be fully involved when child protection professionals get involved in their life…

 

7 Things You Should Never Say To A Foster Parent

Huffington Post – Dr. John DeGarmo – They are meant as words of comfort and words of support. However, so many times, the words are hurtful, instead…With that in mind, here are 7 things one should never say to a foster parent; 7 statements that might be offensive to those who have given their lives to helping children in need. More importantly, these comments hurt the children that are living with us, causing them further grief, anxiety, and emotional trauma.

  1. Which child belongs to you?; 2. I couldn’t do what you do. I would get too attached. 3. They sure are lucky to have you. 4. How much do you get paid? 5. I can’t do it. I’m just too busy. 6. You can’t help every child, you know. 7. You are a superhero…Yet, the need is so very strong. With over 450,000 children in foster care on any given day, and not enough homes or families open to caring for these children, there is a very strong need for foster parents today. It is a call I simply cannot ignore. There are children suffering, as you read this, who need someone to say, “I will help you. I will love you.”

 

Adoption Through Foster Care on the Rise: ‘Every Child Deserves a Childhood’

Yahoo News – As of 2015, about 450,000 children were living in foster care in the United States, and more than 110,000 others were waiting to be placed in foster care, according to a report from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). About 20,000 will age out by 21 (plus others in states where the age is 18) and leave the foster care system without being adopted, putting them at about a 50 percent greater risk of homelessness and a 25 percent greater risk of addiction when compared with children who grew up in stable homes. Men are also at a 40 percent greater risk of incarceration when they’ve aged out of the foster care system, according to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

 

Blueprint For Success Conference – Los Angeles 10/16 – 10/17

California College Pathways – Registration is now open for the 2017 Blueprint for Success Conference. This unique professional development opportunity will feature dynamic plenary sessions, networking opportunities, and workshops designed to provide concrete strategies for campus staff, policy makers, child welfare professionals, K-12 systems, caregivers, community‐based providers and other stakeholders who support foster youth to prepare for, enroll and succeed in college. All the event details, including information regarding overnight accommodations, can be found at the conference website. The conference will also feature a robust youth engagement component and youth wishing to apply for a full scholarship to attend to conference can apply on the conference website before August 31.

 

Why Taking Care of My Own Mental Health Is Difficult as a Foster Care Caseworker

Mighty – I am a foster care caseworker. I am responsible for putting families back together, for helping parents do programs which would enable their children to return to their custody and for helping ensure the safety of the children, both in their foster homes and with their parents. I work with a litany of service providers including but not limited to substance abuse treatment professionals, therapists, psychiatrists, parenting instructors, attorneys, relatives, advocates, schools, foster families, Early Intervention and gazillions more. What everyone tends to forget is I am also a human being.

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Greg Manning

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