Permanency Tip of the Week: Unpacking the No to Permanency
In working with Youth on their journey towards Permanency, especially those for whom the journey has been long and / or difficult, we can reasonably expect some degree of opposition to the pursuit of Permanency. Many of our Youth have been “fired” from multiple relationships in their life. The only 100% way for someone to avoid ever being fired again is to never be hired again. When we validate the Youth’s concern from a Trauma / Grief and Loss lens, the care and compassion we express can go a long way to helping to unpack and heal the initial No to Permanency.
Permanency Story of the Week: Own Your Own Greatness
I (Derek Clark) just finished a short inspirational video titled “Own Your Greatness” about never giving up and being your best self. It turned out amazing! When I was a child in foster care, I could never control my environment but I learned one thing, that I had the ability to control my attitude. Now as an adult and a parent, I have the power to find meaning in my life verses misery in my life. It is all about a shift in perspective. I am always working on myself so that I can pass onto my children generational blessings and not curses. I hope you enjoy my latest video. It might fill you up with some inspiration to never give up! I love it!
Current Permanency related articles:
A Declaration of Hope – Casey Family Programs
Please take a moment to read Casey Family Programs’ new signature report, A Declaration of Hope. Learn about how strong local leadership, data-driven decisions, effective public investments and aligning private giving can forge the building blocks of hope in America; and how communities, governments, philanthropies, businesses and child welfare systems are working together to help more children grow up in safe, stable families and supportive communities.
Tapestry Books has become the complete literary source for adoptive families, birth families, adoptees and adoption professionals. From the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption – November is National Adoption Month. Also follow Tapestry Books on Facebook. Michele F. – Founder and Chair at Adoption STAR, Inc. (michele@adoptionstar.com)
The Invisible Achievement Gap: Students in Foster Care
Every year too many children don’t get the respect and extra help they need to reach their full potential. Children of color, poor children, English learners, and children with disabilities are especially likely to be left behind. And there is another group of children — those in foster care — whose special needs too often are ignored. I am grateful that in California findings about educational outcomes for public school students in foster care have been well documented in a 2013 study by The Center for the Future of Teaching & Learning at West Ed commissioned by the Stuart Foundation and a 2014 follow-up report by The Center and the California Child Welfare Indicators Project linking student outcomes to their foster care experiences. They found the odds against foster student success are worse than we thought and call this “The Invisible Achievement Gap.”
Between 1990 and last October, more than 34,000 children were adopted from foster care in Ohio. Most of the adoptions succeeded but 2,368 — about 7 percent — didn’t work out. Some of the children who were returned to foster care had been abused or neglected, before or after their adoptions. Others had medical or emotional problems too severe for their parents to handle.
In many of the cases, the parents remained the parents, sometimes regaining custody. But in other cases, the legal bond was broken, leaving the child — once again — with a government agency to assume the role of family. The rejection a child suffers from a failed adoption can be nearly unbearable, adoption experts and advocates say.
FFTA Focus: Special Issue on Migration and Child Welfare
This special edition of the FFTA (Foster Family-based Treatment Association) newsletter, FOCUS, addresses migration in child welfare. This is a very relevant topic, especially now, and treatment foster care professionals need to be well prepared to serve immigrant children, youth, and families that may encounter the child welfare system. There is also a resource list if you’d like to learn more about this important topic.
How My Son Has Adapted to Stability
One of the first things I heard as I entered in adoption of an older child was, “You’ll need to advocate for your child in school.” Little did I know, this would become my part time job…For now, we will cheer on RD’s school football team, and I’ll let him explore just how badly he wants to be on the team. If he wants it, he needs to practice. Maybe he’ll try for the soccer team, or join the drama club. Maybe he will pick up his trombone, or practice singing the 50 different songs he says he wants to learn. Maybe this will be the year that he takes a step forward in math and learns how to combat his LD with the help of tools and a very focused and tailored education, just for him. Any way it turns out, I’m here for him; always advocating, always helping him through life’s tough lessons.
One day, RD is going to change the world and I’ll be somewhere on the sideline yelling “THAT’S MY BABY!”