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By Joanna Lack, Alan Dettlaff, and Kristen Weber, UpEND, April 7, 2022 Language is powerful. The words we use signal how we make sense of the world – and people – around us. When we use the term “people of color,” it signals that we have defined diversity against a standard of Whiteness. When we describe people as “disadvantaged,” we diminish the fullness of their humanity and de-emphasize the unjust systems that shape those words. And when we call a system that surveils, regulates,...

By Jeremy Loudenback, Photo: Jeremy Loudenback, The Imprint, May 17, 2022 H oisting signs that read “Fund Families, Not Systems” and “Poverty Is Not Neglect,” protesters in downtown Los Angeles today chanted “Black Families Matter!” and shared their wrenching experiences of family separation through the foster care system. “If you are outraged that the Supreme Court may soon allow the government to reach into your womb and control whether you have children, you should be deeply outraged that...

Please join us on June 28 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. ET for a virtual conversation with best-selling author Bruce Perry. Ingrid Cockhren , CEO of PACEs Connection; Mathew Portell , PACEs Connections’ director of communities, and Perry, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, will engage in a conversation concerning historical trauma and Perry’s best-selling book " What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing, " which he co-authored with Oprah Winfrey. Please share this blog...

Written by the Capacity Building Center for States "Reconnecting with and strengthening my relationships with family has always been an important part of finding my identity and sense of belonging. However, this power comes with a different set of unexpected challenges. Family events can often be stressful as we struggle with how to treat one another. It is difficult to have healthy relationships because we did not have the opportunity to learn how to do this when we were younger."— Aleks...

Key Facts and Statistics from Childwelfare.gov Include these key points in your messaging to demonstrate the important role relative and kinship caregivers play in supporting family connections that are essential to a child’s health and well-being. There are over 407,000 children and youth in foster care , and 34 percent were placed with relatives or kin. The term kin encompasses both relatives (those related by blood or marriage) and fictive kin (those who are unrelated but have such a...

Original article can be found on Children's Bureau Express here . A report from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explores how self-regulation can be applied as a framework for promoting youth health and well-being through coregulation. It reviews which developmental skills and competencies are addressed in the current literature, how coregulation is presented, and what...

Original article can be found on Children's Bureau Express here . Youth in foster care continue to have poorer education outcomes compared with their peers. For example, the high school graduation rate in California for youth in foster care is 58 percent while the general population graduation rate is 84 percent. Best Practices Guide for Developing a District System to Improve Education Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care from the Alliance for Children's Rights seeks to build on its Foster...

Original article can be found on Children's Bureau Express here . A recent working paper by Child Trends, Integrating Positive Youth Development and Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Approaches Across the Child Welfare and Justice Systems , focuses on the importance of positive youth development (PYD) approaches in child welfare. Specifically, the working paper explores the need for PYD approaches that incorporate racial equity and inclusion, why it is important to focus on young...

An infographic for parents and parent groups from the Children's Trust Fund Alliance highlights the importance of protective factors in strengthening families. It provides a colorful and engaging look at how parents and families can thrive by building protective factors through everyday actions. It also introduces two of the parent groups with whom the Alliance works and outlines some of the available resources focused on building protective factors and developing effective parent...

Original article can be found on Children's Bureau Express here . Family Voices United published a report featuring a summary of responses from youth with lived foster care experience to the question "What supports should be provided to maintain stable foster care placements for expectant and parenting youth, or to support them in achieving safe reunification with relatives/loved ones?" Policymakers can use this report to better understand constituents and tailor programs and systems to...

Child Welfare Information Gateway released a three-part podcast series dedicated to the importance of engaging fathers in child welfare services. The podcasts share strategies implemented in three of the five state or county agencies that participated in the Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare project (Los Angeles County, CA; Hartford, CT; and Prowers County, CO), which aimed to improve placement stability and permanency outcomes for children by engaging their fathers and...

By The Imprint Staff Reports, Photo: Unsplash, The Imprint, May 2, 2022 Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) signed a bill last week that will provide free college and technical school tuition for Mississippi foster youth through a scholarship fund. “We have a responsibility to ensure those children growing up in foster care have the opportunity to turn their struggles into strengths,” Reeves said in a press release. House Bill 1313 will establish the State Representative Bill Kinkade Fostering...