Tagged With "Families Can't Wait"
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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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Caregiver Panel: Are We Ready for Re-Opening?
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Re-Opening Workshop: Helping Children Contextualize Change
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Impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) inspires launch of Number Story national public awareness campaign
Understanding the story behind one’s score can empower and support people and families, which is what NumberStory.org -- and “The Story of Your Number” campaign -- is designed to do.
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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...
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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).
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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...
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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...
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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 .
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Helping Children Cope with Ambiguous Loss
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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The Power of Co-Opting: Language Is Changing, But Will It Change the Status Quo? [upendmovement.org]
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,...
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The Impact of COVID-19 on Reunification for Child Welfare-Involved Families
Original post by Children's Bureau Express COVID-19 has been a source of disruption and stress for families and systems and has significantly changed the way child welfare operates in its day-to-day business. At the start of the pandemic, many courts and child welfare agencies suspended or reduced in-person family time, which is a critical part of the reunification process and has several benefits to attachment and well-being. Family time also provides an opportunity for child welfare...
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Alignment Between Early Childhood and Child Welfare Systems Benefits Children and Families [childtrends.org]
By Elizabeth Jordan, Sharon Vandivere, and Esther Gross, Child Trends, June 7, 2022 Both the early childhood and child welfare systems are investing in promising new ways to support families with young children, particularly as they strive to recover from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and strive to become more equitable. Families with young children have faced a set of unique challenges during the pandemic, as already fragile child care centers and family-based child care have...
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Relationships as a Support for Reunification
Written by the Capacity Building Center for States, published by Children's Bureau Express Original post available here . When the difficult decision is made that removal is necessary to ensure a child's safety, reunification—as quickly and safely as possible—is the primary goal. Family reunification is more likely and more successful when child welfare supports are rooted in authentic relationships and focused on building family strengths. As agencies continue striving to improve their...
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Training Module Focuses on Substance Use Among Pregnant and Parenting Families [cfffutures.org]
A four-part training, Tribal Family Wellness Plan Learning Modules , developed by the Quality Improvement Center for Collaborative Community Court Teams in collaboration with the Tribal Law and Policy Institute , provides guidance for tribal child welfare providers about implementing programs and practices that reduce the impact of substance use on pregnant and parenting families. The goals of the module include reducing the impact of substance use on pregnant and parenting families,...
Ask the Community
(TRMBW™) Trauma Responsive Mind-Body Wellness Training
Hello everyone, I am the founder of Rituals for Recovery a non-profit organization in Ontario Canada who is commited to combating complex trauma and the stigma and suffering that results from it. We are getting ready to launch our fall programming and trauma responsive mind body wellness training and are looking for clinicans, social workers and helping professionals working with children and families in the foster care system (particularly those who offer free services for at-risk families...
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Strengthening Families with Infants and Toddlers: A Policy Framework for States [zeroththree.org
Strengthening Families with Infants and Toddlers: A Policy Framework for States , is a new report from ZERO TO THREE designed to reframe the role of child welfare from preventing harm to children toward strengthening families and the communities where they live. The policy framework includes 11 recommendations for states and communities that aim to advance equitable outcomes supporting the health and well-being of very young children and their families, including those who are in or are at...
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Investing in Families Prevents Child Welfare Involvement [cssp.org]
To truly take an anti-racist approach to prevention, child welfare and safety net policies must address the organizational structures and injustices contributing to and perpetuating underlying economic and concrete needs of children and families. This brief from the Center for the Study of Social Policy, updated in July 2022, highlights policies that can make a significant impact for children and families when implemented as part of a multi-pronged approach to supporting the needs of...
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New LGBTQ Youth and Family Resources: Culturally-relevant information supports parents in caring for LGBTQ children and youth [risemagazine.org]
By Keyna Franklin and Shakira Paige, Rise Magazine, August 5, 2022 Parents need resources to support LGBTQ children and youth in being affirmed, safe and celebrated in their homes, schools and communities. In our report, An Unavoidable System , Rise recommends expanding access to community-based programs that center the needs of families with LGBTQ children — without family policing system involvement. Here, Rise talks with Caitlin Ryan , Director of the Family Acceptance Project at the...
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Centering Parent Leadership in the Movement to Abolish Family Policing [journals.library.columbia.edu]
This Rise paper was published online in the Columbia Journal of Race and Law Vol. 12, No. 1 (2022) . The expertise and leadership of parents and youth with lived experience of family policing belong at the center of the movement to abolish the system, just as Black folk are centered in Black Lives Matter. Those personally impacted and affected by a system should be the lead and face of advocacy, using their first-hand experience to lead the movement in the direction they choose based on...
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National Federation of Families 2022 Conference: Families Can't Wait (Nov. 3-5, 2022)
The only national conference dedicated solely to supporting families whose children - of any age - experience mental health and or substance use challenges during their lifetime. Did you know that 1 in 5 children in America experiences social, emotional and behavioral and/or substance use challenges? One undisputed constant in our society is that all children who survive childhood and adolescence will become adults. For children and youth who experience untreated behavioral health and...
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Register NOW for Flourishing Families, Centering Justice: Policy solutions for prevention-focused, trauma-informed supports for children and families on 11/1
The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) invites you to join us for a discussion on Flourishing Families, Centering Justice: Policy Solutions for Prevention-focused, Trauma-informed Supports for Children and Families . This webinar will explore trauma-informed primary, secondary, and tertiary approaches to supporting struggling families and keeping them together. Our expert panelists will: Reframe our understanding of neglect Provide a brief overview of historical and...
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Connect Our Kids [connectourkids.org]
Connect Our Kids' technology platform enhances the most successful family search and engagement programs in the country. Child welfare professionals use their technology tools to dramatically scale up their family search and engagement efforts and to ensure work is perfectly documented, organized, and reports are easily shared. Connect Our Kids' technology tools offer a strong foundation to meet legal requirements and quickly identify relatives of a child in the government's custody. Learn...
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Inside Massachusetts’ Family Separation Disaster [motherjones.com]
By Julia Lurie, Mother Jones, September 26, 2022 When Bryan Hickson and Patricia Soto found out they were going to have a baby, the thrilled couple jumped into action. They watched YouTube videos about parenting, prepared healthy meals, and, since they planned to stay in their separate places to start, bought cribs and baby clothes for each of their homes. When Soto went in for ultrasounds, Hickson FaceTimed in from the warehouse where he works as a supervisor. When Soto went into labor, he...
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Register NOW for Flourishing Families, Centering Justice: Policy solutions for prevention-focused, trauma-informed supports for children and families on 11/1
The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) invites you to join us for a discussion on Flourishing Families, Centering Justice: Policy Solutions for Prevention-focused, Trauma-informed Supports for Children and Families . This webinar will explore trauma-informed primary, secondary, and tertiary approaches to supporting struggling families and keeping them together. Our expert panelists will: Reframe our understanding of neglect Provide a brief overview of historical and...
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Freedom to Dream: A Future without Family Policing (How We endUP 2022 Convening) October 17-18
The How We endUP Convening is a two-day virtual gathering of advocates, activists, researchers, policymakers, and leaders from different communities, agencies, and efforts coming together to explore how we can move toward abolition of family policing--how we can dismantle harmful, racist systems and build different ways of caring for one another. Featured speakers are Angela Davis, Joyce McMillan, and Mariame Kaba. Join in discussions that expose racism in how families are surveilled and...
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National Family Caregivers Month: Caring for the Caregivers Virtual Summit 2022 Getting UNStuck: Moving From Languishing to Flourishing
Courage to Caregivers will host its third annual Caring for Caregivers Virtual Summit on Wednesday, November 16, and Thursday, November 17, 2022, from 9 am to 12:30 pm ET as part of National Family Caregivers Month. This year’s theme is Getting UNStuck: Moving From Languishing to Flourishing. The event is free for licensed professional caregivers and anyone providing care to a loved one with mental illness. All are welcome to attend one or both days. CEUs are provided for Ohio professionals.
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Trauma-informed Design Evaluation Tool for K-12 Schools Is Here!
The Trauma-informed Design Society is pleased to announce the new TiDEvalK12 tool ! This tool is the first of its kind--an evidence-based tool to facilitate interior design renovations and new builds of K-12 schools! It can be used to evaluate the physical space and identify changes that can lower the stress levels of students and staff. The tool is grounded in the Substance and Mental Health Services Administrations' guidance for a trauma-informed approach, the Trauma-informed Design (TiD)...
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Flourishing Families, Centering Justice: Policy solutions for prevention-focused, trauma-informed supports for children and families (Webinar recording now available!)
Over 130 people gathered on November 1, 2022, to learn more about how to create a system that supports child and family well-being during the 4CA Flourishing Families, Centering Justice webinar. The event focused on trauma-informed primary, secondary, and tertiary policy approaches to support struggling families and keep them together. The webinar began with a brief overview of historical and current policies that have contributed to racism, inequity, and family separation in the United...
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Safe Harbor Child Access Centers by Ellie Santiago
Safe Harbor was originally created by a man who struggled with finding a suitable location for supervised visits with his own child. At the time, the system was not favorable towards fathers, and he saw an opportunity to provide support to other fathers in similar situations. Amid his situation, he created Safe Harbor and used it as an outlet to connect other children with their parents providing a safe and fun place to enjoy time together. Carol Dvoor, President/Director, grew up in...
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New Rise Series: The Intersection of Family Policing and Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence [risemagazine.org]
By Rise, November 1, 2022 At Rise, the vast majority of parents impacted by the family policing system are Black and brown women who are survivors of domestic violence (DV), intimate partner violence (IPV) and/or sexual violence. Every year, many—if not most—parents in our Rise & Shine Parent Leadership Program write about and/or discuss experiences of domestic violence, sexual abuse and/or intimate partner violence in connection to their experience with the family policing system , a...
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Jeoff Gordon sees PACEs science, PACEs Connection playing a vital role in ‘relieving some of the most anguishing pain in our society.’
Note: PACEs Connection is in dire financial straits. We are asking for support, from you, our 57,586 members, to help cover the loss of foundation funding that was promised and did not come through. Pay and hours have been cut for our staff—most of us will be laid off for the month of December. Another grant will pick up in January, but we will still be underfunded. Since sounding the alarm this summer, we’ve raised about $26,000 . Thankfully, about 25% of new donors are making monthly...
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Re-Imagining Children's Rights Through a Family-Centred Lens
Every child has a right to a life free from harm within a community that supports them and their family to thrive. But does every child get to experience these rights? https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/re-imagining-childrens-rights-through-a-family-centred-lens-tickets-465184939677 Join Starlings Community and their partners at Family Advocacy Support Centre , as they recognize National Child Day in a special webinar that will inspire a society that supports children to experience their rights...
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We Know Investing In Families Works. Why Are We Still Investing in Harm? [upendmovement.org]
By Joanna Lack & Bill Bettencourt, upEND, November 15, 2022 A key tenet of abolition is the recognition that carceral systems are not broken; no amount of reform can fix them. Yet time and again, family policing systems push forward the same reforms – a maddening demonstration that the more things change, the more they stay the same . The pandemic, and now endemic, have placed the family policing system under additional stress. Like always, children and families trapped in its carceral...