Please note that this is the final edition for 2016. The blog will resume the week of 01/02/2017. Thank you.
Permanency Tip of the Week: Continuum of Readiness for Permanency
How do we assess a Youth being ready, willing and able to pursue Permanency? For our Youth, with their varied and possibly limited / painful experience with Permanency, they often will look very different on those 3 variables at any given time. The seemingly random and inconsistent levels of readiness can be very confusing not only for those serving the Youth, but even more importantly, to the Youth themselves. Throughout the journey towards Permanency, it is crucial that we validate the Youth and help normalize their experience wherever they are on the continuum of readiness.
Permanency Success Story of the Week: Phoenix Elementary School Teacher Adopts Student from Her Reading Class
MSN.com – “I used to always tell my husband, ‘There’s a kid at school and if I could adopt, I would adopt a kid just like him,’ ” Jodi Kacz told KGW8. The elementary school teacher was talking about Orlando, a fourth grader at Manuel Pena Jr. School in Phoenix, Arizona. Kacz, 45, has a heart condition that’s prevented her from having children with her husband for the past 16 years, but she took a shine to Orlando when he first appeared in her reading-intervention classes in 2014.
It was Orlando’s best friend who made the decisive move, pulling the teacher aside during her lunch hour and telling her that Orlando was a foster child. “I had no idea this beautiful child I fell in love with was up for adoption,” Jodi told KGW8. “Eventually I said, ‘This is meant to be. This connection I feel is from above.’ ” For two years, Jodi and her husband Scott, also a teacher, worked to adopt Orlando, who was born in Tucson but spent years living in an orphanage in Mexico, before winding up in foster care in Phoenix. Now 11, Orlando was officially adopted by Jodi and Scott on November 19 — National Adoption Day. And his good fortune extended to his sister, as well: She’s been adopted by a local family. Orlando “is so overjoyed he’s with my husband and I that he finally found his forever home,” Jodi said. “He tells me I’m the mom he always wished for.”
Current Permanency Related Articles:
Get Inspired When Miranda Lambert Headlines ‘A Home For The Holidays’
CBS – Are you ready to be inspired? Mark your calendars for the 18th annual A Home For The Holidays on Friday, Dec. 23 at 8/7c on CBS and CBS All Access.
Over the course of this one hour special, you’ll meet four sets of adopted children whose dreams were fulfilled with a “Forever Family” in towns from Tennessee to California. These are powerful stories of siblings kept together, military heroes, and children who thrived thanks to the power of love. Along with their uplifting tales, you’ll also be treated to musical performances by Miranda Lambert, Alessia Cara, and Rachel Platten.
Across the United States, there are more than 420,000 children currently in foster care. The show will reveal their hopes and dreams, and how you can help through the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (established in 1992 by the iconic founder of Wendy’s) and the Children’s Action Network (created in 1990 to increase adoptions from foster care).
Let’s Adopt Reform Report: Adoption in America Today
Since 1996, The Donaldson Adoption Institute (DAI) has worked to improve the lives of children and families through research, education and advocacy. DAI has investigated the issues of greatest concern to first/birth parents, adopted people, adoptive families, the people who love them and the professionals who serve them. DAI’s pioneering work has ranged from how to eliminate barriers to adoptions from foster care, to the impact of the Internet on adoption, to perceptions and policies surrounding expectant and first/birth parents. So, why do members of the adoption community still face countless challenges? With all of this in mind, DAI launched Let’s Adopt Reform, an initiative to strengthen all families by igniting a national conversation about adoption and foster care adoption in the 21st century.
Promoting Normalcy for Children and Youth in Foster Care
Juvenile Law Center has created this guide, Promoting Normalcy for Children and Youth in Foster Care, to help states embed the new “normalcy” requirements of the law into their own state laws and regulations. The deadline for states to implement the normalcy provisions of the federal law is September 2015. The guide includes a detailed overview of why “normalcy” is crucial to healthy child and adolescent development and the federal requirements prioritizing normalcy for foster youth. A list of key recommendations for state legislation and regulations are also included. You can view the recommendations in an executive summary here. Click here to download the guide.
Why Inside Out Is A Must-See Movie for Adoptive Families
Chicago Now – Sometimes parents are the ones that teach kids to squash their emotions. The parents don’t want to see the fear, the pain, or the uncertainty that is clamoring for a voice. So they keep urging the children to “just be good” and “just smile” and “go along with things” and “don’t make trouble” until . . . BAM!!! The poor kid explodes like a f*^king bomb and obliterates everything in his or her path. The sheer exhaustion of suppressing uncomfortable emotions creates a pressure cooker effect. What kids really need is a chance to let their less pleasant emotions out in a safe, trusted environment. Whereas this is tough for many kids, it can be particularly elusive for adoptees…Disney Pixar’s Inside Out, provides a very clear illustration for how emotions behave, and it can provide a key jumping off point for talks about feelings. (After the movie, my 5-year-old said, “Are there little guys in my head?”).
The Impact of Trauma and Neglect on Young Children
National Council for Behavioral Health – Dr. Bruce Perry / Child Trauma Academy – An individual’s experience of trauma impacts every area of human functioning — physical, mental, behavioral, social, and spiritual. TheAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study revealed that the economic costs of untreated trauma-related alcohol and drug abuse alone were estimated at $161 billion in 2000. The human costs are incalculable.
Trauma is shrouded in secrecy and denial and is often ignored. But when we don’t ask about trauma in behavioral healthcare, harm is done or abuse is unintentionally recreated by the use of forced medication, seclusion, or restraints. The good news is that trauma is treatable — there are many evidence-based models and promising practices designed for specific populations, types of trauma, and behavioral health manifestations.
What is Adoption? Hear From a Birth Mom, Adoptive Mom, and Adoptee
Adoption.Com – There are similarities and differences in each perspective. a / dop / tion, noun – the action or fact of adopting or being adopted. Middle English: from Latin adoptio(n-), from ad- ‘to’ + optio(n-) ‘choosing’. That’s adoption according to Google.
But what is adoption? What does it mean? How does it impact one’s life? How does it define those who participate in it? I can answer that for myself, an adoptive mom. But what about the other triad members? Fortunately, I have almost 24/7 access to an adoptee—my son, Jackson, age 9 (and almost 1/2). I also asked his birth mother, Saundra, these questions. Since we’re all one family, I thought it would be interesting to see how our ideas matched, or not.