Tagged With "social workers"
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Is There A Foster-Care-To-Prison Pipeline? If So, This New LA-Based Program Aims To Break It (witnessla.com)
“Everyone talks about the school-to-prison pipeline,” said Loyola Law School professor Sean Kennedy. “But doing this work you see that there’s a group-home-to-prison. Kennedy is the Director of Loyola’s respected Center for Juvenile Law and Policy (CJLP), which was founded in 2004 to “tackle the injustices of the Los Angeles County juvenile court system” by providing pro bono advocacy for youth who find themselves caught up in that system. Thanks to a highly competitive $1 million grant from...
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New Resource! Secondary Traumatic Stress in Child Welfare Practice: Trauma-Informed Guidelines for Organizations
The Chadwick Center for Children & Families at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego has just released a set of trauma-informed guidelines with concrete strategies for approaching secondary traumatic stress (STS). While these guidelines were created for intended use within child welfare systems, they may be easily adapted into other child-and family-serving organizations. These guidelines were created as part of the Chadwick Trauma-Informed Systems Dissemination and Implementation Project...
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Oregon foster youths seek $8.5M to help those aging out of foster care [Street Roots News]
Expansion proposed of Child Welfare’s Independent Living Program and other transition services Whitney Rodgers has spent nearly half her life moving from placement to placement in the foster care system, but it wasn’t until she turned 17 that she began to worry about what came next – after foster care. “I was always expecting there to be another step or two before I turned 18,” she said. “But then, at 17, I thought, the clock’s running out.” Rodgers admitted she had always been a flight risk...
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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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Partners in Planning – When parents are supported to participate in planning, we can make better decisions [risemagazine.org]
This story is part of Rise's series by frontline staff at foster care agencies about their experiences working with parents. Recently, I facilitated a Family Team Meeting with a mother who was going through tremendous stress. (To protect her privacy, I’ll just call her “Mom.”) Her partner had recently died and she’d been diagnosed with a serious illness. She also suffered from anxiety and depression. Up until the series of crises in her life, she’d worked, had an apartment, cared for her...
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Can We Please Fix the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care? [ChronicleOfSocialChange.org]
Consider, for a moment , this story I recently discovered in court transcripts. A paternal grandmother living in New York City learns that her 1-year-old grandson is in Michigan’s foster care system. Days after the child’s removal, she immediately contacts the child’s foster care worker, travels to Michigan, attends the court hearing and requests that the child be placed with her, instead of strangers. It turns out that she raised the child for the first few months of his life, and the...
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Dewayne ‘The Foster Care Rock’ Johnson [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
Dewayne Johnson might not have the worldwide fan following of the similarly named pro wrestler-turned-movie star. But, in his way, he has become a true rock for kids in need. Johnson, 48, is a social worker with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), home to the largest local population of foster kids in the nation. He’s also a bit of a unicorn. Born into foster care himself, Johnson spent his childhood moving from house to house, relative to relative. One...
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Finding Resilience in Broken Promises [socialjusticesolutions.org]
I remember the day very clearly; just after finishing dinner several cop cars that were escorting an emergency child protective services worker pulled up to the house. The worker had gotten the go ahead for removal about a half hour earlier based on a complaint that was later found to be unsubstantiated. But due to our household falling in the highest risk category from prior complaints, the state is required by law to visit immediately. And while that specific complaint wasn’t...
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Fostering care for others [clintonnc.com]
This article provides a nice example of how communities can support children and families through donations to their local child welfare agencies. In my opinion, child welfare systems can’t run effectively without caring and compassionate support from the communities these systems serve. There are many organizations in communities across the country who provide hygiene supplies, bags and suitcases, pajamas, clothing, comfort items and other essentials to be provided to children entering the...
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He was about to age out of the foster care system. Then an Anchorage woman read a Facebook post that changed their lives. [Anchorage Daily News]
In a downtown Anchorage courtroom last Tuesday afternoon, a judge declared Andrea Conter and Mitchell Hershey mother and son. It was an unusual adoption: Hershey was a week away from turning 21, and has been in Alaska’s foster care system for more than half his life. Conter is a 53-year-old bookstore manager who had barely considered motherhood until two years ago, when a Facebook post about a college-aged boy who needed a home changed both of their lives. In the fall of 2017, Conter, who is...
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Healing ACE's
Healing Childhood Trauma I’d like to thank each member of ACE’s Connection for all your work helping and supporting children through various activities and organizations. You are clearly a collection of people who care about the children of the world. It is in recognition of these efforts that I ask you to consider two books on healing childhood trauma. They represent a life-time partnership dedicated to raising and educating healthy children. Secondly, I’d like to ask you for a word of...
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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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In Child Welfare, Two Worlds When it Comes to Legal Representation [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
A few weeks ago , a close friend came home from work surprised to find the business card of a Child Protective Services (“CPS”) worker wedged inside his door. No letter, or even a handwritten note, accompanied the card. Being uncertain what the card signified, he called the worker, only to learn that he was the subject of a CPS investigation. So he did the first thing that any of us would do in this situation. He called a lawyer. He called me. Families with resources immediately turn to...
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A Community Approach to Trauma Sensitivity / Making a Difference Conference in MA in November
The 6th Annual Making a Difference Conference for SESPs, Foster/Adoptive and Kinship Caregivers and their Professional Partners will be held in Marlborough, MA on November 14, 2017. The theme is A Community Approach to Trauma Sensitivity. There will be at least two talks will be about ACEs! Speakers/Topics: Keynote: Managing the Hearts and Souls of Many, Dana Royster-Buefort, M.Ed., C.A.G.S. Workshops Tackling ACEs by Building Resilient Communities , Renee D Boynton-Jarrett, MD, ScD . Note:...
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Berkeley Bound [JJIE.org]
If you had asked me at the age of 7 what my meaning of home was, I probably would’ve answered with “I don’t know.” When I turned 7, I was taken from my father and placed into a foster home. I remember my social worker telling me that I was going to a sleepover for a few days. Even though I didn’t know this lady, I believed her. As the strange lady walked me out the front door, I saw tears in my father’s eyes. He told me to be brave and to always remember that he loved me and that no matter...
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Big wins for kids caught in foster care crisis [crosscut.com]
Months ago we shared the report from Washington State's Blue Ribbon Commission recommending the creation of a new state agency consolidating child welfare, early learning, and juvenile justice. The report recommends many changes in both internal organization and delivery of services to children and families. Many of these recommendations are informed by ACE science - both emerging and established best practices in child welfare, early learning and work with children and families. Washington...
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Reimbursement for Parenting Education and Support Services
Unfortunately, regardless of training received and degrees earned, parenting educators can't serve families and get reimbursed by public and private insurers for their services. In an effort to bring light to this issue, I wrote the attached paper with two colleagues at NC State. Our (unpublished) paper outlines research supporting parenting education services and their efficacy to improve individual and family health and long term wellbeing and community prosperity. We highlight the fact...
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Report Reveals Foster Youth’s Top Priorities (socialjusticesolutions.org)
In an effort to highlight the most important issues identified by foster youth, advocacy organization Foster Youth in Action conducted a poll last October of more than 500 foster youth. Results indicated that sibling visitation, homelessness prevention, college access and success, and opportunities for independent living are the top priorities among current and former foster youth. The current and former foster youth polled ranged in age from the early teens to the early 30s, and priorities...
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Resource List - Research
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychosocial Well-Being of Women Who Were in Foster Care as Children Research has shown that many children in foster care later have psychosocial problems as adults; this is often attributed to cumulative adversities and a lack of supportive caregivers. The risk factors associated with foster care, such as maternal separation and multiple placements, often counteract many protective factors that can ameliorate the effects of childhood adversities. This study...
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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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Social policies to prevent adversity -- see Open Access link (until July 1) to “A Critical Assessment of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study at 20 Years”— in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
The ACEs research by Drs. Felitti, Anda and colleagues focused attention on the important consequences of childhood adversity for adult health. Of course, as many in the resilience-building movement recognize, adversities affect children’s health and life trajectories as well. When we recognize the powerful impacts of harsh life circumstances for children and families, it becomes clearer that social policies to strengthen household and community resources are needed as well as...
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Social Workers Study Trauma to Better Serve Children [BlueRidgeNow.com]
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services has developed a trauma-informed child welfare system! Through the support of a five-year grant awarded by the Children's Bureau, public child welfare in North Carolina has transformed to be a trauma-informed workforce. Presently, social workers and supervisors statewide are being trained on trauma-informed practices as well as self-care strategies to minimize the impacts of compassion fatigue. Two of the...
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Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
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‘This is not a child safety crisis. It’s a poverty crisis, a racism crisis.’ – A social worker and former foster youth featured in HBO’s ‘Foster’ shares her vision of societal and system change (www.risemagazine.org)
Excerpts from article by Sarah Harris from Rise Magazine . Q: What led you to work in the foster care system? A: I am a former foster youth and I’ve been a social worker at the L.A. Department of Child and Family Services for 5 years. I entered foster care through probation, and I got into probation through survival. I was breaking the law for clothes and food. In foster care, I bounced around a lot. For the most part I was AWOL. I was in group homes but I stayed with family or friends.
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TIC: News and Notes for February 2020
ACEs, Adversity's Impact Podcast: What happened to you? (Part 1) Podcast: What happened to you? (Part 2) Podcast: What happened to you? (Part 3) Family dynamics may influence suicidal thoughts in children Fawning: The fourth trauma response we don't talk about FPs are best equipped to tackle adverse childhood experiences New study reveals annual cost of childhood adversity in California is approximately $113 billion Signs your child may be struggling from an adverse childhood experience...
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Trauma-Informed Journey with a local Department of Social Services
Our Trauma-Informed journey began with the Henrico Department of Social Services (DSS) in the fall of 2012 when we approached their leadership with a proposal to partner with the Greater Richmond Trauma-Informed Community Network (TICN) to create a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System. We began by developing a TIMELINE of activities (please note we set out to complete things in one year - little did we realize at the time that the process is always ongoing!). The first step on the timeline...
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Trauma, Opiates, and Child Welfare: How Family Serving Agencies Can Do Better. [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
We all know far too well the devastating effects of the national opioid crisis, and specifically, the ever-present role of opiate addiction in child welfare. Follow here to read a piece by Nico’Lee Rohac, a foster care alumni and Social Worker, published 9/18/17 by The Chronicle of Social Change. By all outward appearances , I grew up in a normal American family. My parents had respectable jobs in construction and nursing, a four-bedroom home, family dog and a playhouse my father built from...
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Using Screening and Assessment Evidence of Trauma in Child Welfare Cases [americanbar.org]
While many families encounter child welfare and never become involved in the legal system, a large majority of open child welfare cases are court involved. This means that most of the major decisions being made about children and families are occurring the court room. Lately, we've all seen a lot of news, discussion and stories about trauma-informed judges and trauma-informed courts. Trauma-informed courts are important everywhere, but especially in child welfare. As a child welfare worker,...
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Video: Bringing the Power of Optimism and Play to Children who Have Endured Trauma & Adverse Experiences
By Trauma Informed Parent Steve Gross is a clinical social worker and a pioneer in the field of using playful engagement and relationships to overcome the devastating impact of early childhood trauma. He is the founder and Chief Playmaker of Life is Good Playmakers; a foundation that works to "harness the power of optimism to create healing, life changing relationships for kids in need." For more information, visit: h ttps://www.lifeisgood.com/kidsfoundation/about-playmakers.html
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Who Cares: A National Count of Foster Homes [fostercarecapacity.com]
By The Chronicle of Social Change, October 2019 Who Cares is the nation’s first public resource on foster care capacity. The Chronicle of Social Change collects data directly from each state, and combines that with specially obtained federal reports to shed light on two critical questions: How many kids are in foster care today? And where are they living? This year the data suggests that nationwide, the number of youth in care is going down, and the number of foster homes is going up. But...
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Who Cares: A National Count of Foster Homes [fostercarecapacity.com]
By The Chronicle of Social Change, October 2019 Who Cares is the nation’s first public resource on foster care capacity. The Chronicle of Social Change collects data directly from each state, and combines that with specially obtained federal reports to shed light on two critical questions: How many kids are in foster care today? And where are they living? This year the data suggests that nationwide, the number of youth in care is going down, and the number of foster homes is going up. But...
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Re: How does the general public percieve Foster Children?
Please take a moment to watch/listen to this 2:00 video of the story of a little girl in 1874, Mary Ellen Wilson, and one Social Worker (Etta Wheeler) that changed the course of history for abuse, neglected, and maltreated children in this country. Here is a link as well if you prefer reading something about the history of Foster Care. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ellen_Wilson Thankx Tanya and Loren for your recent contributions...lets keep the communication ongoing...!
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Re: Are Foster Care Children Excessively Medicated?
Thanks to everyone who has commented so far. These posts are really helpful in understanding the dynamic of the problem when it comes to foster care youth and mental health. Are there any resources you might recommend for a social worker or clinician or even adoptive parent who is trying to deal with these issues? I know that trauma-informed training requires a lot of time and practice, but if there's a primer or background material that others might benefit from, maybe we can share it here.
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Re: How does the general public percieve Foster Children?
WOW!!! I am amazed at your excellent impulse control.... I could not have been so still listening.... I would have had to leave and would have been ill with a migraine for a day or I may have confronted less graciously .... But I love how you artfully had their engagement and then informed them they had met their first former foster child.... You are a hero!!! I totally understand the experience of stigma but I guess there is a blank spot in my intellect as to why??? I have never hid that...
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Re: Is child protective services effective?
When I entered child welfare, the worker who came into my beat down, no plumbing trailer asked me what I did to make my parents - parents who had provided me with 10 ACEs- so mad? I was going to be Valedictorian despite all the Hell and Pain I had endured. They separated me from my brother and sister and put them in a separate foster home where I had no contact. When I called, the new home my sister was in told me to never call back because my sister had a new family now. I almost died from...
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Opinion: We Need a Safety Net for Children Experiencing Toxic Stress [calhealthreport.org]
By Jim Hickman, California Health Report, June 8, 2020 We need to invest in the safety-net institutions that serve and support our most vulnerable now and during times of crisis. COVID-19 is decimating our fragile, unfunded and outdated safety net, and the vital links between families and their local economic, health and social supports. The pandemic has made “underlying conditions” the new code phrase for the social and health inequities disproportionately impacting black and brown...
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California Considers Extending Foster Care for Young Adults Until Pandemic Emergency Ends [calhealthreport.org]
By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report, June 22, 2020 At the beginning of March, Monse Gonzalez had her entire year planned. She would graduate from community college, save part of her paychecks as a childcare worker, and start school at the University of Santa Barbara. Then came the pandemic. Suddenly, everything Gonzalez, 18, had worked for was in jeopardy: her job, her housing, her associates degree. While many young adults have families to lean on during these uncertain times,...
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Federal Legislation would reduce poverty & fund caregiving
The Worker Relief and Credit Reform Act, WRCR HR5271, introduced by Reps Gwen Moore (WI) & Marcia Fudge (OH), would expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to make it fully refundable and available to more people, including mothers and other unwaged primary caregivers, and get cash directly into mothers’ and families hands
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Trauma 101 Workshops for Massachusetts Early Education and Care
STRIVE (Supportive Trauma Interventions for Educators) FALL 2020 TRAININGS Trauma 101 Workshops for Massachusetts Early Education and Care Saturdays from 9:30-12:30pm September 26th - REGISTER HERE October 3rd - REGISTER HERE October 17th - REGISTER HERE November 7th - REGISTER HERE STRIVE is a collaborative project between Boston Medical Center’s Child Witness to Violence Project and Vital Village Network that aims to help schools and early education systems of care increase their capacity...
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Whole People Film Discussion on Tuesday, December 15th at 7p.m. EST
ACEs Connection, the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy & Practice ( CTIPP), and the Relentless School Nurse will be hosting a Zoom discussion on Tuesday, Dec, 15th at 7p.m. EST about parts 1, 2, and 3 of Whole People. We hope you can join us: Pre-Registration Link Quotes from Childhood Trauma (Part 1 of Whole People): If you have yet to watch the Whole People series, you can still do so by visiting the PBS website. There is no cost to watch. 101 | Childhood Trauma | 102 | Healing...
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ACEs Champion: From a movie to a mission — Edwin Weaver's journey to help foster youth graduate from high school
(l to r) Elaine Miller Karas co-developer of CRM; Jim Sporleder, former principal of Walla Walla High School; and Edwin Weaver at the 2018 ACEs Conference & Pediatric Symposium in San Francisco. After watching the late Jamie Redford’s 2015 film, “ Paper Tigers ,” about a Washington state high school where ACEs integration transformed graduation rates, Edwin Weaver knew he had to take action. Weaver is the executive director of Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley , providing social services...
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Resilience: The Foundation of a Strong Child-Welfare System
Resilience, which is defined as the capacity to recover from difficulties, is a vital tool in building a strong child welfare system, but what does that really mean? It is easy to say that resiliency is important, but effectively utilizing systems and tools for children and families as well as the employees who serve them is a different challenge. Through the latest research, we know resilience is made up of many different factors, from one’s genetics to their environment and support...
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Staying The Course for Families [imprintnews.org]
By Jerry Milner, The Imprint, February 11, 2021 As a child welfare social worker for a few decades now, serving as the leader of the U.S. Children’s Bureau was the greatest honor of my career, perhaps my life. In my field, there is no comparable position to lead the country in shaping a vision, if one chooses, that can affect the lives of vulnerable children, youth and parents in such profound ways. It is also a place where the reigning political ideology can affect actions, drive priorities...
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Rochelle Honey-Arcement
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