Tagged With "Family Acceptance Project"
Member
Eva Chou
Member
Anna Wilkinson
Member
Kinyofu Mlimwengu
Member
Alma McKenry
Member
Pamela Burrus
Calendar Event
Children's Mental Health Awareness Week
Blog Post
Exploring the Role of Culture in Healing
Join the movement of understanding mental health through a new lens by participating in these upcoming live discussions. Together, we can rewrite the story of mental health and well-being. Register at lamaidaproject.org/acesaware.
Blog Post
MICHELLE DANIELS, CHARLES D. ELDRIDGE, RYAN E. JONES and the Office of Public and Indian Housing Foster Youth to Independence team [servicetoamericamedals.org]
By Samuel J. Heyman, Service to America Medals, May 2021 Each year, more than 20,000 foster children in the U.S. are sent into the world on their own when they turn 18. Within four years, nearly a quarter of them experience homelessness, often setting the stage for a lifetime of personal and financial struggle. Ryan Jones of the Department of Housing and Urban Development was struck by the urgency and depth of the problem in 2019 as he listened to former foster care youth from Ohio describe...
Blog Post
Research Brief: LGBTQ Youth with a History of Foster Care [thetrevorproject.org]
From The Trevor Project, May 12, 2021 Summary LGBTQ youth are at elevated risk for suicide compared with their straight/cisgender peers (Johns et al, 2019; Johns et al., 2020). This risk stems from experiences of minority stress including victimization and rejection rather than something inherent about being LGBTQ (Meyer, 2003). Victimization and rejection from caregivers can also result in LGBTQ youth involvement in the foster care system (Newcomb et al., 2019), which is strongly associated...
Blog Post
African American Grandfamilies: Helping Children Thrive Through Connection to Family and Culture
Both inside and outside the child welfare system, the probability that African American children will live in grandfamilies is more than double that of the overall population, with one in five African American children living in grandfamilies at some point during their childhood. Over the last few decades, drug epidemics, hurricanes and other tragedies have both created African American grandfamilies and challenged existing ones. The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest such crisis. As of mid-May...
Blog Post
From Data to Practice: Moving Youth to Family – Level of Need and the Impact on Legal and Relational Permanency (Casey Family Programs)
This report — the third volume of the From Data to Practice series — explores permanency outcomes for youth who, at the time they came into Casey Family Programs’ out-of-home care (OOHC), were not residing with a family member. Family was defined as either biological family, kin or fictive-kin. The target population was 513 youth who entered Casey OOHC between July 1, 2013, and December 31, 2017, and who exited care between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2017. The outcomes indicated that...
Blog Post
Supporting the First 1,000 Days of A Child’s Life: An Anti-Racist Blueprint for Early Childhood Well-Being and Child Welfare Prevention
To support the health and well-being of children and families of color, we must implement comprehensive strategies that address systemic and institutional racism. This report offers a blueprint for creating equity-centered, anti-racist policies that support the health and well-being of children and families of color. Download the report from the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) here. Watch a webinar on the Blueprint here.
Blog Post
California's Foster Youth UBI Bill Moves Forward, Bolstered By Promising Results from Similar Local Program [imprintnews.org]
By Sara Tiano, The Imprint, June 21, 2021 In May, Veronica Vieyra graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor’s degree — a feat fewer than 6% of California former foster youth achieve. But entering a job market ravaged by a yearlong pandemic has proven an unexpected challenge. Months of submitting applications have so far been met with silence. What has allowed Vieyra to keep forging ahead toward her goal of working in a public health career, she said, is a $1,000 payment she...
Blog Post
Explore the Role of Culture in Healing with La Maida Project
La Maida Project is thrilled to share videos from our recent webinar series “Exploring the Role of Culture in Healing”. We had an great audience turn out and robust dialogue with our panel of guest speakers including Ken Epstein, PhD LCSW , leader in trauma-informed systems transformation, Anil Vadaparty , CEO of child-welfare agency McKinley, and Omid Naim, MD , integrative psychiatrist and founder of La Maida Project. In these webinars we discuss the role of leadership in trauma-informed...
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How can child welfare systems support families in rural communities? (Casey Family Programs)
Due to significant differences between geographical areas, some traditional or evidence-based child welfare strategies developed for urban settings may be less effective in rural communities. Recognizing the unique strengths of rural communities and making creative use of both traditional and nontraditional funding is essential to provide services that not only protect children, but strengthen their families and support economic development and well-being for the community as a whole. Many...
Blog Post
July 22: What Youth Wish Foster, Adoptive & Kinship Parents Knew [fosteringmediaconnections.org]
From Fostering Media Connections, July 19, 2021 AN ONLINE CONVERSATION What Youth Wish Foster, Adoptive & Kinship Parents Knew Join us for a conversation with former foster youth who are sharing their lived experiences and wisdom gained after navigating the child welfare system. What are caregivers doing right — or wrong? What do youth see in the foster care system that caregivers don't? And how can caregivers help youth on the journey toward healing trauma? Our panelists: Alexis...
Blog Post
Expand Support for Families, But Not Inside the Child Welfare System (The Imprint)
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent announcement that New York City will invest millions in “family enrichment centers” sounds like a win for families. But this initiative should be reconsidered, and the city should start by listening to what families actually want. While the mayor’s Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity has it right that New York should invest in family support, Black and brown parents have been vocal opponents of programs funded and overseen by the child welfare system (ACS).
Blog Post
Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager (English & Spanish!)
English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance co-created “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe economic consequences resulting from...
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Why are Black children removed from homes at high rate? L.A. County plans 'blind removal' pilot [latimes.com]
By Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2021 America’s largest child welfare system will soon test whether race, ethnicity or neighborhood can influence social workers’ decisions to remove children from their homes. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to support a pilot project that tests “blind removal,” first tried in Nassau County, N.Y. Social workers typically have access to an array of information, including a family’s race, when making the difficult...
Blog Post
Child Abuse and Neglect: What It Is and What to Do About It
We all have a role to play in making sure children have the opportunity to thrive. In Child Abuse and Neglect: What It Is and What to Do About It , you will learn more about the types of child maltreatment, what to do when you think a child or family needs more support, and how to make a report if you suspect that a child has been abused or neglected. We all want children to be safe and healthy. However, the heartbreaking reality is that every year thousands of children are victims of child...
Blog Post
An Unavoidable System: The Harms of Family Policing and Parents' Vision for Investing in Community Care
This new report shares the results of a participatory action research (PAR) project that Rise conducted in winter 2021 in partnership with TakeRoot Justice . Our research documents parents’ experiences with the family policing system and explores a collective vision to transform our society’s structures, policies and practices related to family and community support. Imaginative and sometimes painful community conversations with 48 people impacted by ACS provide the foundation of this...
Blog Post
Examples of Current Trauma-Informed Judicial Systems
Please join us for a new series entitled: Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice. This monthly virtual Zoom series will feature conversations facilitated by Porter Jennings-McGarity, PACEs Connection’s criminal justice consultant, with special guests to discuss the need for trauma-informed criminal justice system reform. Using a PACEs-science lens, this series will examine the relationship between trauma and the criminal justice system, what needs changing, and strategies being used in this area...
Blog Post
Latino Grandfamilies: Helping Children Thrive Through Connection to Family and Cultural Identity
Generations United created a new toolkit that is designed to give resources and tips to child welfare agencies, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, to better serve all Latino grandfamilies regardless of child welfare involvement. During the past several decades, political unrest, economic conditions, U.S. intervention, wars, environmental disasters, and violence in Latin American countries have propelled millions of individuals to seek a more secure life for themselves...
Blog Post
Surveillance of Black Families in the Family Policing System (upendmovement.org)
This upEND publication by Victoria Copeland and Maya Pendleton, who helmed the Repeal Mandatory Reporting Laws panel during the 2021 How We endUP convening, discusses how the monitoring and subsequent criminalization of Black communities have expanded from the criminal punishment system to social services, education, medical systems, and the family policing system. For more information, read Surveillance of Black Families in the Family Policing System .
Blog Post
Foster Care Supply Drive delighted by community response
After a successful pilot launch, the Foster Care Supply Drive is set to expand throughout SW Washington State in the Spring of 2022. During the pilot phase, which began in Washougal/Camas we were able to procure enough donations from 6 businesses to create 110 welcome bags for youth entering foster care. Donation bins and marketing materials are scheduled to be delivered between March 1st, 2022, and March 4th, 2022. The Foster Care Supply Drive was created based on first-hand experiences of...
Calendar Event
Helping Children Cope with Ambiguous Loss
Blog Post
The Carceral Logic of the Family Policing System (upendmovement.org)
By Emma Peyton Williams, upEND Contributor, November 17, 2021 By including the family policing system in their book Prison by Any Other Name , Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law link the punitive nature of the prison system to “the current punitive model for social services.” The similarities that Schenwar and Law note, such as each system’s focus on coercing compliance as opposed to changing material realities and the disproportionate impact of each system on people of color, particularly Black...
Member
Victoria Walsh
Blog Post
Envisioning systems where families are supported, not policed (prismreports.org)
by Cynthia Gutierrez, Photo: istock, Prism, February 9, 2022 Child Protective Services often result in the policing, surveillance, and separations of Black, Indigenous, and families of color. We need alternative solutions. The 2020 uprisings against police brutality and state-sanctioned violence pushed more people to recognize how police forces disproportionately abuse and kill Black, Indigenous, and people of color . But policing by other branches of the state also extends to people’s...
Blog Post
New Book: Torn Apart by Dorothy Roberts
Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World by Dorothy Roberts will be released on April 5, 2022. An award-winning scholar exposes the foundational racism of the "child welfare system" and calls for radical change. Many believe the "child welfare" system protects children from abuse. But as Torn Apart uncovers, this system is designed to punish Black families. Drawing on decades of research, legal scholar and sociologist Dorothy...
Blog Post
Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences at the Montana Summer Institute!
This year, in an effort to make this conference more accessible to those working with foster youth and those at risk of entering foster care, The majority of sessions in this conference are based on Title IV-E billable topics. The full agenda is attached with Title IV-E topics highlighted in green.
Blog Post
Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences at the Montana Summer Institute!
This year, in an effort to make this conference more accessible to those working with foster youth and those at risk of entering foster care, The majority of sessions in this conference are based on Title IV-E billable topics. The full agenda is attached with Title IV-E topics highlighted in green.
Blog Post
Engaging Fathers Podcast Series from Child Welfare Information Gateway
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...
Blog Post
Reconnecting Family Ties for Children and Youth in Foster Care
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...
Blog Post
Support and Resources for Expectant and Parenting Young People in Foster Care [familyvoicesunited.org]
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...
Blog Post
Building Protective Factors With Parent Partners [Children's Trust Fund Alliance]
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...