Permanency Tip of the Week: Clarifying the Permanency message with the Youth
The concept of Permanency is one that many people use within Mental Health and Child Welfare to describe the critically important role that permanent and lifelong connections play in the life of the Youth that we serve. An important task in the pursuit of Permanency is to have open, honest and ongoing conversations with the Youth. Questions that we need to address with the Youth include what they know about Permanency, what have they been told, what do they want. Other questions include: What are their hopes, fears and dreams related to Permanency. Be sure that the answers to these questions are integrated into the Permanency process.
Permanency Story of the Week: Adoption Recruiter Helps Find Homes for Older Children
In the last two years, when Clermont County Job and Family Services began devoting a full-time person to recruiting adoptive families for older children, five children have found “forever families” – including three siblings who were placed with one family. Five more are awaiting adoption finalization. Since October 2012, Sharon Wiesenhahn has been Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter for Clermont County.
“Dave Thomas once said, ‘These children are not someone else’s responsibility. They are our responsibility.’ I believe that too. They come into the system through no fault of their own,” said Wiesenhahn. “There are so many myths about adopting older children in foster care, and part of my job is to help dispel that.” The most insidious myth, she said, is that children are in foster care because of something they did, or that they are “bad kids.”
Current Permanency related articles:
Katie A, Web Seminar to Focus on Participation in the Child and Family Team
On Friday, October 25 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. the California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions will host a web seminar on the implementation of Katie A, which challenged California’s failure to provide home-based and community-based mental health services to children who are in the foster care system or at risk of removal from their families.
According to CIBHS, a key value and principle of the implementation of Katie A. is that youth and parents are meaningfully engaged in the Child and Family Team process. The webinar focuses on how to prepare youth and parents to participate fully in both the Child and Family Team and any meetings that occur as part of that team.
Childhood psychological abuse as harmful as sexual or physical abuse
Children who are emotionally abused and neglected face similar and sometimes worse mental health problems as children who are physically or sexually abused, yet psychological abuse is rarely addressed in prevention programs or in treating victims, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.
Five Year Look at Educational Stability Improvement Efforts
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) recently released a report on educational stability for foster youth. The report documents AECF’s five years of work to ensure that the school stability policies for foster youth brought forth by the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 were well-implemented nationally.
The report provides a comprehensive look at AECF’s process collecting data on the impacts of educational instability and their work providing states with the technical assistance to pass legislation and utilize best practices to promote educational stability. The report highlights states’ successes and also outlines a road map of remaining obstacles to help guide funders and advocates who will continue to tackle this issue as AECF prepares to close out on their time-limited investment.
According to AECF, key challenges to educational stability for foster youth include a lack of transportation support to make staying in their school of origin a feasible option for foster youth and a lack of mechanisms to ensure collaboration between child welfare agencies and local educational systems. While many laws create directives for child welfare agencies to improve educational stability for foster youth, the report states that those same policies were often not replicated for educational agencies, which diluted the educational agencies’ role in improving the issue. The report also noted a deficit of data on child outcomes in states where school stability laws have been put into effect.
Are We Preparing Young Adults Who Age Out of Foster Care for Adulthood?
Partners for our Children – Imagine taking the leap into adulthood without any parental support. No parent to help out if you can’t pay rent or buy groceries. No parent to help you navigate all of the curveballs that life throws your way. For some young adults, this is a reality – each year, more than 20,000 young adults age out of the foster care system across the United States; their transition into adulthood is as tough as it can get.
Talking with Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers about Adoption
Creating A Family – Infancy and early toddlerhood is a gift to adoptive parents –a gift of time to practice talking about adoption. Most adoptive parents think they shouldn’t feel awkward talking about adoption, but the reality is that most of us do, and it helps to practice before your child has a clue what you are saying. Toddlers and preschoolers are curious and observant little beings. They notice differences, including skin color, and they are beginning to put the pieces of their world together. They have figured out that babies grow in mommy’s tummy (or uterus). They need their parents to help them begin to make sense of how of this relates to them.
Housing for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R),– This report summarizes findings of a series of research activities designed to address knowledge gaps related to the housing options available to youth who have aged out of foster care. Programs and policies to support their housing needs are discussed and findings are presented from an assessment of one housing resource, the Family Unification Program (FUP). The report includes the following sections: Housing Needs of Youth Aging Out of Foster Care and the Policies and Programs to Address them; Using FUP to Address Youths’ Needs for Supportive Housing: Findings from Surveys and Site Visits; and Implications for Policy and Research. (May 2014)