Tagged With "international adoption"
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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, and/or Gender Nonconforming and Transgender Girls and Boys in the California Juvenile Justice System: A Practice Guide [nclrights.org]
If you are a child welfare professional working with youth in California, chances are this practice guide may be a useful resource! Developed by Impact Justice and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and published in January 2017, this practice guide is designed to provide probation department practice guidelines, and policy recommendations for working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, and/or gender nonconforming and transgender girls and boys who interface with the California...
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Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8 (The National Academies Press 2016)
A study published by The National Academies of Sciences in 2016 resulting in 10 Recommendations to build support for parents... "Over the past several decades, researchers have identified parenting- related knowledge, attitudes, and practices that are associated with improved developmental outcomes for children and around which parenting- related programs, policies, and messaging initiatives can be designed. However, consensus is lacking on the elements of parenting that are most important...
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Foster Care From the Youth Perspective [fosteradopt.org]
Foster Adopt Connect is a non-profit foster care support agency serving Missouri and Eastern Kansas. Their mission: To provide foster and adoptive children a stable, loving and nurturing family environment by support and advocacy for abused and neglected children and the families caring for them. One of the services they provide to the families they serve is the Fostering Hope Radio Show. This episode from May 28 th explores Foster Care from the Youth Perspective - “three incredible foster...
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How Self-Compassion Can Help Teens De-stress [mindful.org]
Teen stress is on the rise. According to a new study, learning mindfulness and self-compassion can help a teen cope. In a 2014 national survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 31 percent of adolescents aged 13 to 17 said that their stress increased in the previous year, and 42 percent said they were not doing enough to manage their stress. Adolescents who experience frequent stress are more prone to depression and perform worse in school Many teens turn to external...
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HOWEVER KINDLY INTENTIONED: STRUCTURAL RACISM AND VOLUNTEER CASA PROGRAMS [cunylawreview.org]
When we talk about child welfare reform, we shouldn’t shy away from issues of disproportionality and institutionalized oppression, as both are prevalent, present, and deserving of dialogue. One area of conversation I’ve noted of late is with CASA programs. CASA’s are Court Appointed Special Advocates who make recommendations to the court on behalf of the child’s best interest. More often than not, CASA volunteers are well-meaning individuals who give their time to help children. But, many...
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HRC to Host Webinar Series for Adoption and Foster Care Professionals [hrc.org]
What a great training resource for adoption and foster care professionals! HRC’s All Children - All Families is launching a new webinar series for adoption and foster care professionals. Starting this month through November, HRC will host five FREE webinars to aid social service providers who are working to improve their practice with LGBTQ children, youth and families. Here’s a preview of the first two webinars: Strategies for Recruiting LGBTQ Foster & Adoptive Families: Thursday, June...
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2017 Kids Count Data Book [aecf.org]
Wednesday June 14th the Annie E. Casey Foundation released the 2017 Kids Count Data Book - State Trends in Child Well-Being. This comprehensive report is " a premier source of data on children and families." You can download the report from this post, as well as on the Kids Count website , where you can also access an interactive data map in their Data Center . This is an invaluable amount of data available to the public, relevant to anyone working with children and families - with the...
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A Federal Thumbs Up for Co-Parenting in Foster Care [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
By John Kelly, The Chronicle of Social Change, May 5, 2020. In 2019 , Nebraska announced plans for a pilot project in which foster parents would play a starring role in the reunification process, going beyond the traditional role of a caregiver for kids. These specialized resource families, through a strategy known as shared or co-parenting, support and mentor birth parents in hopes that children can more quickly and safely be returned home. Just before the coronavirus hit, New York City’s...
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Balancing Adverse Childhood Experiences with Hope [alliance1.org]
This report presents evidence for HOPE (Health Outcomes of Positive Experiences) based on newly released, compelling data that reinforce the need to promote positive experiences for children and families in order to foster healthy childhood development despite the adversity common in so many families. These data: Establish a spirit of hope and optimism and make the case that positive experiences have lasting impact on human development and functioning, without ignoring well-documented...
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Brief Aims to Better Understand How Positive Factors Change Child Trauma [socialjusticesolutions.org]
According to a leading group of children’s advocates, it’s not enough to just study the impact of childhood trauma and how we can lessen its toll on children and adults later in life. Armed with new data, researchers from Center for the Study of Social Policy, Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, Prevent Child Abuse America, Casey Family Programs and the Montana Institute say that positive childhood experiences are more important...
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PsychDrugs Action Campaign - National Center for Youth Law
An Invitation to Action The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) invites you to participate in a campaign to end the inappropriate and harmful sedation of tens of thousands of foster children. High doses of psychotropic...
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Sharing Data to Benefit Kids: A Guide for Child Welfare and Education Systems [aecf.org]
Re-sharing this blog post from the Annie E. Casey Foundation where they shared a guide for data sharing linkages between child welfare and education - the Roadmap for Foster Care and K-12 Data Linkages . ...Successful data linkages mean agencies are able to draw on all the publicly collected information to create a more complete picture of individual students in foster care, helping inform interventions that are more effective. “Data sharing between foster care and educational agencies is...
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Shortage of foster families for teens, older kids
There are enough foster parents in Shasta County for the county’s children, and more. So why are some children and youths housed in other care programs waiting for a foster family? The answer is in the age group most foster parents want to foster. “Shasta County is a receiving county because we have more foster youth coming… from other counties for placement than we send out…,” said Dianna Wagner, branch director of children’s services at Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency...
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Trauma-Informed Care as a Universal Precaution: Beyond the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire [jamanetwork.com]
By Nicole Racine, Teresa Killam, and Sheri Madigan, JAMA Pediatrics, November 4, 2019 Experiences of childhood adversity are common, with more than 50% of adults reporting having experienced at least 1 adversity as children and more than 6% exposed to 4 or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). There is currently a controversial debate in the medical field as to whether the ACEs questionnaire, which asks about abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction before age 18 years, should be...
Ask the Community
Are Foster Care Children Excessively Medicated?
I thought I'd bring this important Denver Post series, " Prescription Kids ," to the group's attention. The articles focus on the rate at which antipsychotic and antidepressant medications are prescribed to foster children in Colorado. The...
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Partnering with Local Mental Health Providers to Support Foster Youth in College [cccstudentmentalhealth.org]
LAST YEAR, NEARLY 18,000 CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WERE CURRENTLY OR FORMERLY IN FOSTER CARE. These students, and students from other vulnerable or underserved groups, are motivated and resilient. However, many face higher rates of trauma and unmet mental health needs, coupled with systemic barriers that prevent them from accessing services. Without support, these challenges can contribute to lower college completion rates. BACKGROUND In 2018-2020, John Burton Advocates for Youth...
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How to help an older child or teen adjust to your home [blog.adoptuskids.org]
By Kris Kittle and Kelly Reed, AdoptUSKids, January 16, 2021 When you adopt a child, it’s easy to focus on their immediate needs: home, food, routine, education, people, etc. These are all important, and your child certainly experiences significant changes that require patience, love, and understanding from you as they adjust to their unfamiliar life. But there are other areas of focus that can help an older child adjust as well. Be trustworthy. Your child may not have experienced...
Member
Pamela Burrus
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How to Advocate for Child Abuse Prevention in Your Community?
The foster care system is designed to temporarily shelter children who have been removed from their homes due to maltreatment. Each year, the United States has more than 400,000 children living in foster care (1) . Placing children in foster homes can help to provide them a safe environment. Foster parents are dedicated to giving the best care for children living in their homes. Their care can provide children with a safe and stable environment to thrive and survive (2) . Effective child...
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Keeping children you foster and adopt safe online (AdoptUSKids.org)
By AdoptUSKids, June 15, 2021 Long before COVID, children’s lives were increasingly spent online. Researchers estimate that 70 percent of us spend more than two hours a day on social media alone. If you’re a parent, you might be thinking: “Only two hours! My son is on his phone a lot more than that!” There are many well documented dangers created by children’s spending excessive amounts of time online. Children in foster care are often at a greater risk because they may have less impulse...
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Educational Video for Professionals to better understand the Traumas (ACEs) in Adoption
Video resource for teachers, doctors, and mental health professionals to better understand the complexities in intercountry and transracial adoption.
Member
Kimberly von Atzigen
Blog Post
Supreme Court hears case challenging who can adopt Indigenous children [pbs.org]
PBS News Hour, November 4, 2020 As the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of the Indigenous Child Welfare Act, many Native Americans anxiously await the outcome. The law governs the removal of Native American children from their homes and where they are subsequently placed. It's an effort to keep them with other family members and their tribes. Stephanie Sy reports on the challenge that could dismantle it entirely. Read the Full Transcript
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Race Question in Supreme Court Adoption Case Unnerves Tribes [nytimes.com]
By Jan Hoffman, Photo: Allison V. Smith/The New York Times, The New York Times, November 7, 2022 The little girl who will soon be known by the nine justices of the United States Supreme Court as Y.R.J. is now 4 years old. For much of her short life she has been living with Dr. Jennifer Brackeen and Chad Brackeen, a suburban Texas couple fighting with the Navajo Nation to adopt her. Y.R.J.’s birth mother is Navajo. The Brackeens are white. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments...
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Texas case could change adoption rules for Native American children, and undercut tribal rights [texastribune.org]
By Roxanna Asgarian, Photo by Shuran Huang, The Texas Tribune, November 10, 2022 Jennifer and Chad Brackeen, an anesthesiologist and a stay-at-home dad, already had two biological children when they decided to foster a child. “God started to speak to our hearts about opening our home for more,” Jennifer explained in a now-defunct blog. The Evangelical Christian couple in Fort Worth began caring for a 10-month-old boy in 2016, and the next year, decided they wanted to adopt him. But the boy...
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Teachers Help 'Incredible' Student Who Braved Amputations — and Decide to Adopt Him: 'Our Family Is Complete' (people.com)
Jenna, Nate, Tim and Julien Riccio. PHOTO: COURTESY JENNA RICCIO To read more of Wendy Grossman Kantor and KC Baker 's article, please click here. Connecticut teachers and spouses Jenna and Tim Riccio say their "family is complete" after they adopted one of their students, 10-year-old Nate Innocent Riccio. "He taught me how to be a mother," Jenna — a 37-year-old reading teacher at Walsh Elementary School in Waterbury, Conn. — tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "He's a perfect example of how...
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How much would the NAS poverty reduction packages reduce referrals to CPS and foster care placements? Would they reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare? (nasonline.org).
Because of a collaboration with Columbia University and UW-Madison, we have answers to these questions. By Peter Peter Pecora, Casey Family Programs, March 17, 2023 - Overview The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently released a “ roadmap ” to reduce child poverty by as much as half through the implementation of a series of social policy packages. The aim of this study was to simulate the reductions in Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement and foster care placements that are...
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4 Ways Outdoor Play Helps Develop Resilience In Children
Outdoor play is key to the health and well-being of children. Getting muddy and staying out till sunset is great for children’s development and can help them refine their motor coordination skills. Kids who play outdoors have improved cognitive skills, too. A recent systematic review found that children who have regular access to green spaces show improved “mental well-being, overall health, and cognitive development.” Children who play outside also had better self-discipline and showed...
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Man Has Fostered 34 Children, Adopted 1 and Hopes to Adopt More: 'It's Giving Me Joy' (Exclusive) (people.com)
Peter Mutabazi and family. PHOTO: COURTESY OF PETER MUTABAZI To read Wendy Grossman Kantor's article, please click here. Peter Mutabazi is a single foster parent who shares his journey on social media to show others that families don't need to be the same race — and to encourage other men to be active dads. "I really want to inspire others," he tells PEOPLE before Father's Day . "Men, we have the responsibility of being in the kids' lives. It's not a job for just moms." To date, 49-year-old...
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Introducing a practical and hands-on guide for clinicians working to improve emotion regulation of trauma-affected children
In Trauma-Informed Parenting Program: TIPs for Clinicians to Train Parents of Children Impacted by Trauma & Adversity , distinguished psychologist and renowned expert, Dr. Carryl P. Navalta, presents a practical and hands-on guide for clinicians working to improve emotion regulation of trauma-affected children. Readers will discover how to assess, conceptualize, and treat children dealing with the effects of exposure to various forms of trauma and adversity and to provide their clients'...
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Review of “First 60 Days” booklet: Leveraging author’s work and movement could spark revolution to prevent and heal trauma, one precious baby, child, and caregiver at a time.
(This is a review of what I believe is an important new resource for the PACEs [for positive and adverse childhood experiences] science movement. Opinions expressed are my own, and are shared as a parent, advocate, author, and longtime student of trauma, healing, and prevention. Thoughts are also shared through my lens as someone who believes, deeply, in the incredible importance of and value in building healthier, more compassionate communities to support and nurture pregnant and new...
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Building Resilience is a Team Effort that Starts Early
“YES!” was the response of Gaile Osborne, executive director of Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina (FFANC), when asked for input on a new program to help foster and kinship care families learn how to support the brain development of young children. “I love these Brain Insights materials. How soon can we start?” said Osborne upon receiving the "The First 60 Days ” booklet on myths about newborns and their caregivers and the eight “ Neuro-Nurturing ” ringed books. The materials delivered...