Summer 2006

Permanency Planning TodayPermanency Planning Today

The names of the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning andour newsletter, Permanency Planning Today, make it clear that we are all about permanency. But justwhat does “permanence” mean? The Federal Government, public child welfare agencies, and the othersources offer formal definitions, but perhaps it is the definitions that come from young people themselvesthat help us best understand what permanence means to them. What is your definition of permanence?What is it that each individual child and adolescent sees as permanence for him or herself?

Federal Definition“A child may be said to have achieved a permanent home when the child is reunified with his or her fam-ily, when a finalized adoption has occurred, or when a legal guardian has been established for the child.”

US DHHS (2005) Child Welfare Outcomes 2002: Annual Reporthttp://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#cw

Components of PermanencePERMANENCE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE NATIONAL FRAMEWORK:

“Permanence is not a philosophical process, a plan, or a foster care placement, nor is it intended tobe a family relationship that lasts only until the child turns age 18. Rather, permanence is about locat-ing and supporting a lifetime family ... Permanence should bring physical, legal and emotional safe-ty and security within the context of a family relationship and allow multiple relationships with a vari-ety of caring adults ... Permanence is achieved with a family relationship that offers safe, stable, andcommitted parenting, unconditional love and lifelong support, and legal family membership status ...Permanence can be the result of preservation of the family, reunification with birth family; or legalguardianship or adoption by kin, fictive kin, or other caring and committed adults.”

NRCFCPPP and Casey Family Programs (2004) Permanence for young people: Frameworkhttp://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/permanence-for-young-people.html

CALIFORNIA PERMANENCY FOR YOUTH PROJECT:“Permanency is an enduring family relationship that ... is safe and meant to last lifetime ... offers the legalrights and social status of full family membership ... provides for physical, emotional, social, cognitive andspiritual well-being ... assures lifelong connections to extended family, siblings, other significant adults,family history and traditions, race and ethnic heritage, culture, religion and language.”

California Permanency for Youth Project (2005) 4th National Convening on Youth Permanence: Brief Summaryhttp://www.cpyp.org/reports.htm#convening_reports

YOUTH-DEFINED PERMANENCYDiana Walters, youth, Maine: “Familism: does not rest on biological ties, but rather a reciprocal sense ofcommitment, sharing, cooperation and intimacy that is taken as the defining bonds between “family”members. It embraces a feeling of invitation, or welcomeness, unconditional love, personal loyalty, anda willingness to sacrifice for others. Familism makes the home a base to which you can always return whenyour independent endeavors fail or prove unsatisfactory.“ ... Former Youth in Care: “Having a key to thehouse would represent a permanent, secure family relationship….”

Quoted in Charles, K. & Nelson, J. (2000). Permanency planning: Creating life long connectionsTulsa, OK: National Resource Center for Youth Development

http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/nrcyd/publications/monographs/mono.pdf

RESOURCES: FIND OUT MORE:Mallon, G.P. (2005). Toolbox no. 3: Facilitating permanency for youth

Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America. Chapter 3: Defining Permanency

YOUTH DEFINEDPERMANENCY

Youth Defined PermanenceThe National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practiceand Permanency Planning is currently involved in providingtechnical assistance in several parts of the country with a focuson permanence for adolescents. Wherever we meet withagency staff, we encourage the participation of young peoplein defining the course of the initiative and engaging in theprocess of finding permanent connections that are fit for themindividually. By including youth in building an understanding ofwhat permanence means in their lives, agencies can improveboth programs to help youth appreciate the need for long termconnections and support them in developing those connections.What we hear from youth is often the concept that “perma-nence” is not necessarily what we think it is – that young peo-ple have their own ideas about what it takes to make them feelthat they have achieved permanence, as well as safety andwell-being.

Working with youth towards permanence is challenging formany reasons. Adolescents in out-of-home care are oftencaught in a situation that pulls them in opposite directions. Onone hand, they want –and need– to be connected with caringadults who will be life-long sources of love and support. On theother hand, one of their normative developmental tasks is toseparate from adults, identify their own identities and values,and make their own decisions. This is difficult enough for teenswho grow up in safe and secure families of origin. For youngpeople who have experienced abuse and neglect, who havebeen disappointed by adults, and who don't know who or howto trust, this becomes even more problematic. “Normal”teenage rebellion is heightened by the young person's distrustof the adults around him or her, and is often misunderstood bythe adults who have no history with the individual teen and hisor her behavioral and emotional life.

Add to this the difficulty all teenagers have in comprehendingthe abstract nature of a word like “permanence” when they aredevelopmentally operating within a structure of concrete

thought that is normal for their age. Then pile on the fact thatmany teens are living in situations they know are not perma-nent, and surely would not want to consider that way – whetherfoster care with strangers, group home, or institution. The accu-mulation of these dynamics heightens the complexity of thetasks related to achieving permanency for youth.

In order to further practice, in June 2004, the NRCFCPPP andthe Casey Center for Effective Child Welfare Practice at CaseyFamily Services co-sponsored a meeting of experts in the fieldof youth permanency to develop a framework and measure-ments that can be used by public child welfare agenciesthroughout the country to improve practice. We included youthat this meeting, and found that even adults who believe strong-ly that young people should have a voice in the decisions abouttheir lives and their futures were sometimes hesitant to fullyembrace that voice. However, adults and youth wrestled withthe meaning of permanence, and we believe that together wedeveloped a framework for practice, combined with a way tomeasure results, that cam be particularly helpful to States seek-ing to improve permanency outcomes for young people. Theframework is now being used in several States to guide agen-cies attempting to improve the way they work with and for theyoung people in their care.

The Framework, originally published in the Fall 2004 issue ofPermanency Planning Today, includes one definition of perma-nence. It is now available on the NRCFCPPP website. In the timesince the framework was written, we have continued to learnmore about the need for young people to be partners in devel-oping and achieving their own definition of permanence. Thebox “Youth-Defined Permanency” provides some ideas onwhat permanence means for young people. We encourage youto think about this issue and engage children and youth in careto understand what permanence means to them as individuals,in helping to define and describe what a permanent outcomewill look like for them.

Gerald P. Mallon, DSW

from the desk ofTHEDIRECTOR

It’s been almost one year since Hurricanes Katrina and Ritahit the Gulf Coast. I have visited New Orleans several times,and I continue to be overwhelmed with the way these stormshave impacted this beautiful area of our country.

Visit our website athttp://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/disaster_relief.html#summitfor presentations from the 2006 AdoptUsKids Summit,Extraordinary Services in Extraordinary Times –Recovery and Reform.

Adultism andCultural Competence

In 1988, the William T. Grant Foundation released a report thatfound the picture painted by adult culture of youth in our socie-ty as pervasively negative.

The commission wrote: There is a portrait of youth that is not only misleading, butharmful. We ought to correct the record out of a sense of fair-ness, as well as accuracy. These young people desperatelyneed a chance to get started in responsible careers. Instead,they are frequently saddled with the image of being uninter-ested and unwilling to assume responsibility. Complainingabout youth is all too common.1

If young people had been asked what they thought about thisperception of them in 1988, they would have told you theywere misunderstood and unfairly treated.

In the decade since this report, what has changed about adultsociety's view of youth and youth culture? Are young peopleand teens treated fairly? More importantly, what are we doingto help service providers develop an understanding of andrespect for the strengths and abilities of the individual? This isat the core of youth work and cultural competence – under-standing and respecting the culture of youth.

Adult Power Over Young LivesIn discussing youth and cultural competence, we must under-stand the tremendous power adults have over the lives of youngpeople – particularly youth involved with the juvenile justice orchild welfare systems. Nearly every aspect of their lives –where they sleep, who they see, what contact they have withtheir own families, and in some cases the food they eat and theclothes they wear – is decided by adults.

Adults usually exert their influence and authority without regardfor the experiences, feelings, or opinions of youth. This form ofsocial control, coupled with the negative perceptions of youngpeople that are prevalent in our society, leads to adultism.2

Adultism occurs when adults have both a negative view ofyoung people and the ability to exert control over the lives ofyouth.

Consider the implications of "adultist" attitudes on young peo-ple who are involved with youth-serving systems:

• Adults assume young people are not capable of helpingthemselves, so they do "for" them. Also known as dysfunc-tional rescuing, this form of adultism results in lost opportu-nities for young people to take on new challenges, learn,and develop. Solution: The alternative to dysfunctional rescuing lies inhelping the young person accomplish his or her goals andmake healthy decisions.

• Adults may blame young people for the challenges theyexperience without regard for the environments in whichthey have grown up. As a result, young people don't havethe support they need and lose their motivation to partici-pate in planning that directly affects their lives. Solution: Ultimately, adults and young people need toengage in open dialogue about what is occurring in thelives of youth and explore the available options. With thistype of connection, both youth and adults can take respon-sibility for their choices.

• Adults may not make efforts to spend time with youth andlearn about youth culture. When adults avoid contact withyouth, programs and services are based on adult needs,and young people feel alienated from adults. Solution: Adults need to make an effort to spend time withyoung people. Making contact ensures that young peopleand adults have opportunities to learn about each other anddevelop relationships.

Adultism is cyclical, occurring in the context of the interactionsand relationships that adults and youth have with each other.Confronted with adultism, many young people in the care ofsocial service institutions and youth-serving systems feel pow-erless and in some cases become angry, resentful, and disen-gaged. Adults may respond by becoming more authoritarian,exercising more control over the young person's life.

Culture is the thoughts, ideas, behavior patterns, customs, val-ues, skills, languages, arts, and religion or faith of a particular

Adultism andCultural Competence

by Jorge Velázquez Jr. and Maria Garin-Jones

Reprinted from: Children's Voice, 12: 20-21. © 2003 Child Welfare League of America.Reprinted with permission.

group or individual.3 A young person who has been rejectedor abused by his or her family and is subsequently labeled as athreat or danger to others will likely experience isolation anddisconnection from his or her culture and identity. In manycases, youth in detention or a controlled institutional environ-ment are stripped of their culture – and thus some of the basicstrengths that may be useful to service providers as they devel-op service plans. When the voices of youth are not heard andstaff are not trained or sensitized to the unique social chal-lenges that young people face, these inflexible service systemshelp create youth who have, essentially, lost all hope for theirfuture.

Breaking the CycleWhat can we do to value youth culture and break the viciouscycle of adultism and youth culture incompetence?

Develop an understanding of youth culture. Make an effort tolearn about young people by asking questions and exploringthe different facets that are central in their lives.

Demonstrate sensitivity in interactions with youth.Communicate openly and respectfully, refraining from judg-ment, and thinking about the ways in which our own valuesaffect our relationships with youth.

Develop cultural competence in our work and our interactionswith young people. Focus on understanding and valuing theunique talents and unlimited potential that young people offer.Ask questions about culturally competent policies and practicesin youth and juvenile services, and inform institutions and sys-tems of care. Assess sources of personal resistance and dis-comfort.

Most importantly, we can tap into the tremendous energy gen-erated by youth and adults working in partnership. In workingtogether and developing relationships, youth and adults areuniquely positioned to galvanize investment in collective goals,hopes, and dreams and promote cultural competence.

Jorge Velázquez was Director of CWLA's Cultural CompetenceDivision; Maria Garin-Jones was Director of Youth Services for CWLA.

Notes:1 William T. Grant Foundation Commission on Work, Family, andCitizenship. (1988). The Forgotten Half: Non-College Youth inAmerica. Washington, DC: Author. 2 Adapted from Academy for Educational Development, Center forYouth Development and Policy Research. (1995). Advancing YouthDevelopment – A Curriculum for Youth Workers. Draft prepared byauthor in collaboration with National Network for Youth. 3 Definition adopted by CWLA in 1991 and revised in 2001. Availableonline at www.cwla.org/programs/culturalcompetence.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway, formerly theNational Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and NeglectInformation and the National Adoption InformationClearinghouse, provides access to information andresources to help protect children and strengthen families. Itswebsite at www.childwelfare.gov provides access to printand electronic publications, websites, and online databas-es covering a wide range of topics from prevention to per-manency, including child welfare, child abuse and neglect,adoption, search and reunion, and much more.

The topical navigation list makes it easy to find relevantmaterial on any aspect of child welfare along the contin-uum services:• family-centered practice• preventing child abuse and neglect • responding to child abuse and neglect• supporting and preserving families• out-of-home care• achieving and maintaining permanency• adoption • system-wide issues such as cultural competence, assess-

ment, service array, laws and policies, courts, workforce andtraining, funding, statistics, and systems reform

The Gateway also makes available resources that canconnect you with a vast array of information. Their homepage provides easy access to powerful tools such as:• National Adoption Directory, which includes State-by-

State contact information for a variety of adoption-related organizations and services including public andlicensed private adoption agencies, support groups,State reunion registries, and more.

• Library search, which provides abstracts of materialscontained in the collection of close to 50,000 items,with new items added every month. Items selectedinclude peer-reviewed articles, books, evaluationreports, grantee final reports, and program reports.

• Publications Search, which searches on documents thatChild Welfare Information Gateway distributes, whichinclude factsheets, bulletins, and research summarieseither produced by Information Gateway or otherorganizations.

• State statutes search, which can help you locate Statelaws on issues related to child abuse and neglect, childwelfare, and adoption.

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a Service of theChildren's Bureau, Administration for Children andFamilies, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Our country has often been described asa melting pot of people from all over theworld. A melting pot suggests that all ofthe components combine together tocreate something new – a unified wholemore than the sum of its parts. However,even as we create a new whole, peoplesare unique, with different cultures, histo-ries, strengths and needs, and when weprovide services to the whole, we mayfail to consider important characteristicsof the children and families who weencounter in our efforts.

Throughout the country today black chil-dren are overrepresented in the childwelfare system in every state. NativeAmerican children – Indians, Hawaiiansand Alaskans – are all overrepresentedin the jurisdictions in which they reside.Latino children are overrepresented inover 10 states. But this information doesnot fully describe the disproportionalityof minority children in the child welfaresystem. Asians and Pacific Islanders tendto be underrepresented in the child wel-fare system. And, if we look more close-ly at Latino representation throughout thecountry we see that Latinos are overrep-resented in some jurisdictions and under-represented in others.

What are the reasons for this dispropor-tional representation of minority childrenin the child welfare system? What is the“most appropriate” representation ofany group of children in the child welfaresystem? These are very complex issuesthat are heightened by the understand-ing that definitions of abuse and neglectin the child welfare system differ fromstate to state, which means that thestates define who should be within theirchild welfare systems differently. TheRace Matters Consortium (TheConsortium) is a national multi-systeminitiative that promotes strategies thatprevent, intervene and eliminate adversedisproportionality and disparities in thechild welfare system. Its members com-

prise a national think tank of concernedexperts in social work research, practice,public policy, and philanthropy who crit-ically examine the issues related to racialand ethnic disparities and influence poli-cy and practice through education andconsultation.

In our examination of the child welfaresystem we recognize that there are sev-eral factors that can impact child welfaresystem involvement:

Federal and State PoliciesGuide All Child Welfare EffortsPolicy guidelines determine the parame-ters within which we work. One exampleof the importance of how policies arecrafted is a very critical child welfare issue– the delicate balance between strength-ening and supporting families while pro-tecting children as opposed to choosingone over the other as a priority for childwelfare practice. One can easily imaginethat a focus on either while neglecting theother would result in very different policiesand consequent practices.

Program AdministrationAffects Casework PracticeIndividual state, regional and countyoffices as well as private agencies imple-ment policies within their own guidelines.This impacts the way workers executetheir jobs (i.e. the priority of the adminis-trator becomes the priority of the worker).

Community Configurations are DiverseCommunities are set up in very differentways and have a wide disparity ofresources from one to another.Communities that are rich in resourcesare better equipped to support families.Community composition and availabilityof resources can impact the way in whicha family experiences the child welfaresystem.

Individual and Family Factors are UniqueFamilies are diverse. Depending on theirinternal resources and strengths, familiesmay need different types and levels ofexternal resources. We must considerwhat we know about the things thatstrengthen families to work effectively.Families live within the environment oftheir culture. Do children of differentracial and ethnic backgrounds have thesame experiences within their familiesand within their cultures? Children andyouth of different racial and ethnicgroups may require alternative servicesto meet their needs. Within families andcultures, each child is unique. Are eachchild's needs being addressed within thechild welfare system?

The Consortium works to attempt toaddress as many of these issues as theycan, but it is a very large undertakingwith multiple dimensions. We are con-stantly expanding our thoughts andideas to incorporate new information,people and perspectives. We welcomeall interested to join our efforts. Moreinformation can be obtained at our web-site: www.racemattersconsortium.org.

Race Matters in Child Welfareby Dennette Derezotes

Another national effort, the Casey/Center for the Study of Social PolicyAlliance for Racial Equity (The Alliance),has identified six dimensions at which it isnecessary to work to bring about changefor children and families of color involvedwith child welfare system. Each dimen-sion is significant, yet is insufficient toachieve the overall goal on its own. Thesix dimensions are:

1 Legislation, policy change & finance reform:By increasing awareness among nationaland state legislators about the relationshipsbetween disproportionality/ disparitiesand structural racism and how existing childwelfare policies contribute to racial/ethnicdisparities, a policy and finance environ-ment can be created that is supportive ofachieving racial equity as an outcome.

2 Research, evaluation & data-baseddecision-making:

Through research and evaluation, theidentification of promising practices andevidence-based solutions can be estab-lished. This includes the establishment ofpartnerships with youth, parents, com-munity agencies, universities, child wel-fare agencies and family courts, andother stakeholders who will help com-pile, analyze, report and utilize dispro-portionality and disparity data.

3 Youth, parent & community partnership& development:

The active engagement of parents,youth, and children of color (includingextended families, tribal members, care-givers, and others who are significant inthe life of the child and family) as truepartners to shape family assessments,case planning, case service design, andthe case decision-making process isessential. In this way, the culturalstrengths of children, youth and familiesof color can be taken into consideration,decreasing the influence of negativeracial/ethnic stereotypes in ways thatacknowledge the adverse impact thatstructural racism has on family outcomesand ultimately changing agency policiesand practices.

4 Public will & communication:Raising public awareness and will toreduce disproportionality and disparitycan be accomplished by developing awell-designed communications messageand distribution strategy that raises the

level of discussion, concern and actionacross communities that is centered onaddressing the issues of race, race rela-tions and inequity related to child welfare.

5 Human service workforce development:Agencies must learn to identify and trainculturally competent workers that pos-sess eclectic skills, and provide adequatesupervisory supports to provide for theircontinued development and retention inthe workforce.

6 Practice change (site-based implementation):Improving policies and practices at thekey decision making points in the caseflow of children through the child welfaresystem by identifying, designing and uti-lizing culturally appropriate assessmentand decision-making tools, programsand strategies.

What this suggests for everyone who isproviding services to children and fami-lies is that there are efforts that we can allparticipate in to make differences in thelives of children and families of color whoare involved with the child welfare sys-tem. Whether your efforts impact just oneor several of these dimensions, know thatyou are having an impact. It's the work ofcombining all of these together that willbest serve to meet the needs of childrenand families of color.

Family-centered programs and practicesserve the unique needs of children andtheir families within their communities. Atits core, this work requires knowing the

unique strengths and needs of not onlythe families, but the communities withinwhich they live; and using this informa-tion to create positive outcomes for thechildren and their families.

If you believe that the children and fami-lies of color receiving child welfare serv-ices experience disproportional repre-sentation or disparate treatment, lookmore closely. There are steps that youcan take to begin to address the issues.

1 Pay attention to ongoing agency cul-tural competence assessment, trainingand technical assistance to ensure racialequity in agency functioning and out-comes.

Does your agency reflect the communityit serves? Does it understand not only thechild abuse and neglect challenges of itsconstituents, but also the culture withinwhich they live? What is being done tosupport new members of the communitythat represent different racial and ethnicbackgrounds than have traditionallybeen serviced?

Develop policies, ongoing evaluation,and ongoing training to ensure that theAgency is able to meet the diverse needsof the population it serves. These ongoingefforts should be reflected throughout thesystems of the agency - barring none. Ifindividuals developing policies, allocat-ing finances, greeting customers or pro-viding services do not understand theneeds, strengths and culture of the indi-viduals entering its doors, they run a greatrisk of ineffectively providing services.

2 Develop and maintain a vehicle tomeasure racial equity in agency func-tioning and outcomes.

How does your agency evaluate if indi-viduals and families of various races,ethnicities and cultures are being servedadequately? One essential step thatprovides agencies with the ability toexamine if there are differences in howpeople are treated by race or ethnicity isactually examining services and out-comes by each of the racial and ethnicgroups to determine their representationwithin the system, the types of difficultieswith abuse and neglect they have, thetypes of services offered them, and the

types of outcomes they have. Using adecision point approach to track datarelated to the case flow of children enter-ing and within the system, one can beginto isolate in which areas of the systemdisproportionality and disparities arise.Once that has been established, lookingcloser at the decision points can help oneunderstand the differences more clearly.

3 Identify program goals to ensureprogram activities work to accomplishthe identified goals.

Understand clearly what your programgoals are. Develop and track programactivities to ensure that they serve tomeet your identified program goals.Recognize that children and families ofvarious backgrounds may require differ-ent activities to meet these same goals.Examine the effectiveness of your workby racial and ethnic group on a regularbasis. In quality assurance efforts, clear-ly define the program goals before track-ing them by race and ethnicity.

4 Identify practices that will betterserve the needs of the children and fam-ilies through the ongoing examination ofracially sensitive monitoring structures.

Once you have established clear pro-gram goals that meet the needs of thechildren and families within your servicearea, it is important to track not only pro-gram activities, but also outcomes, serv-ices and unmet needs by race. If childrenof different races have disparate out-comes, don't assume that you under-

stand the causality. Examine what isgoing on more closely to determine if thecurrent service delivery methods meetthe needs of the people of different com-munities. If they don't, search for newpractices to better serve them.

So, when you walk down the hall at youragency, look around to see what types ofcultural influence exist. Ask yourself ifwho and what you see is reflective of thecommunities you serve. Is the office invit-ing to individuals of different racial andethnic groups? Would they feel comfort-able walking through the front doors?Are there staff who can communicatewith them in a manner and languagethat they would understand? If you passthat test, look more closely at the toolsthat you have to serve them - your poli-cies, your programs, your practices. Arethey culturally relevant? Sometimes itshard for us to know what we don't know,about other people, about other cultures,about other races. The best place to startis to ask with an open mind and a will-ingness to hear.

Dennette Derezotes is the Executive Directorof the Race Matters Consortium.

Visit nrcfcppp.orgfor cutting edgeinformation services toState, Tribal, and otherpublicly supportedchild welfare agenciesto promote family-

centered practices thatsupport the safety, permanency, and well-being of children whilemeeting the needs oftheir families. Whileyou're there, sign upfor Weekly Update,our free electronicnewsletter that bringsyou the latest in itemsof interest to childwelfare professionals,foster and adoptiveparents, kinship care-givers, and others whocare about family-centered practice,foster care andpermanency planning.

Tidbits From the StatesLooking for a new idea or a fresh approach to an old problem? Check out these ideas fromaround the country. Contact the NRCFCPPP for more information on any that interest yoU.

EL PASO COUNTY (COLORAD0):“Anchor families” share holidays or special occasions withyouth in out-of-home care, helping them as any parentwould with such things as tax forms or college applications,or providing advice in person or on the phone. Anchor fam-ilies may become adoptive families. Youth want permanenthomes and families at any age.

MAINE:School Transfer Policy and Practice for Children in Care pro-vides child welfare caseworkers with guidelines and strate-gies that support positive educational outcomes for childrenin the custody of the State. It includes strategies that guidethe enrollment in and transfer between schools that ensure asmooth transition to a new school that is sensitive to the indi-vidual needs of each child. Find athttp://www.abanet.org/child/rclji/education/home.html

ILLINOIS: Foster Kids Are Our Kids. This new recruitment campaignincludes a website, brochures, posters, and television spots,and is available in both English and Spanish.http://www.fosterkidsareourkids.org/

MICHIGAN:Created by a former foster youth at the Foster EducationResource Network, this guide contains a great deal of help-ful information for foster youth planning on continuing theireducation after high school graduation. It includes a collegepreparation checklist, a listing of higher education institu-tions, information on financial aid, and many other resourcesthat are valuable for youth that are planning on going to col-lege. The information in this guide is specific to the state ofMichigan, but it could easily be adapted to fit for otherstates. http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/nrcyd/publications/pdfs/2005_2006_Student_Guide.pdf

MINNESOTA:The Minnesota Department of Human Services created aguide to assist social service agencies in performing relativesearches when a child is removed from the home. Benefits ofrelative placement, cultural considerations in identifying andfinding relatives, and the supervisor's role in supporting rela-tive search efforts are discussed. Examples of how differentagencies in the United States have developed systems tosuccessfully identify and locate relatives are provided.Download at http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/publications/documents/pub/DHS_id_052669.pdf

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Monthly payments to foster families are provided through an“auto pay” system. It is presumed eligibility, so there is nomonthly invoice to process. Once a child is authorized for afoster home, the payment continues automatically eachmonth until the social worker closes the authorization. Ifthere is an overpayment, it is deducted against the next childplaced in the home; if it is the last payment, there is arecoupment. NH also has an automated phone systemwhere foster parents can call and verify that the check iscoming, been paid, etc.

UTAH: Just for Youth website, for young people in the state. It

includes sections for youth in foster care and alumni and forfoster parents. http://www.justforyouth.utah.gov/

WASHINGTON:Helping Foster Children Achieve Educational Stability andSuccess: A Field Guide for Information Sharing. This Guidefrom the Washington Department of Social and HealthServices, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instructionand Casey Family Programs was designed to improve com-munication between school staff and people who supportthe academic success of students in foster care. This bookletclarifies what information can be shared and with whom. Itprovides basic information on the information sharing law inWashington State at the time of its writing (2004). A greatmodel for other states seeking to improve the educationalstability, continuity, and success for children who are in fostercare. http://www.wa-schoolcounselor.org/documents/Field_Guide_DRAFT__rev%5b1%5d._.pdf

State legislation, regulations, and policies on manychild welfare issues show considerable variation. TheNRCFCPPP provides state-by-state comparisons inmany areas, as do other organizations.

Check out our website athttp://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/state-policies.htmlto find out how your state – and others – handlesissues like training for kinship caregivers, siblingplacements and visiting, and levels of care.

Resources for Permanency Planning Today

BooksOn Your Own Without a Net: The Transition

to Adulthood for Vulnerable Populations This new book is a product of the MacArthur Foundation Network onTransitions to Adulthood. The book documents special challengesfacing seven vulnerable populations during the transition to adult-hood: foster care youth, youth involved in the juvenile justice system,youth formerly in the criminal justice system, runaway and homelessyouth, special education students, youth people in the mental healthsystem, and youth with physical disabilities. For more information andordering, see the Transitions to Adulthood website at

http://www.transad.pop.upenn.edu/research/woutnet.htm

Working With Traumatized Childrenin Child Welfare

The understanding and treatment of traumatized children in out-of-home care is the focus of this book, which provides a framework forunderstanding childhood separation, loss, and trauma, as well as avariety of helping interventions that focus on specific populations ortreatments. The book is divided into three main sections:• Early chapters examine the impact of trauma on the child welfare

population, including principles of neurodevelopment and parentaland social conditions that contribute to childhood trauma.

• Chapters on treatment cover ethnically sensitive practice, childrenwith disabilities, animal-assisted therapy, adolescent mothers, andeye-movement desensitization.

• A final section of the book discusses proposals for improved col-laboration between the child welfare and mental health systems.

Working with Traumatized Children in Child Welfare was edited byNancy Boyd Webb, and contributing authors included a number ofexperts in child welfare and mental health. It was published byGuilford Publications and is available through their website:

http://www.guilford.com

Widening the Circle: The Practice and Evaluationof Family Group Conferencing with Children,

Youths, and Their FamiliesFamily Group Conferencing (FGC) safeguards children by broaden-ing the group of people who are committed to their safety. This bookshows how FGC can empower the family group to develop andimplement a plan for safeguarding children and other family mem-bers, with the support of the child welfare agency and other commu-nity organizations. The book offers direction to child welfare workerson how to work with family groups and their service providers.The four sections address different aspects of FGC:• Setting up and carrying out the conference • Initiating and sustaining an FGC program• Evaluating conferencing• FGC as an alternative to traditional child welfare methods This book was edited by Joan Pennell and Gary Anderson and pub-lished by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).It is available through the NASW website: www.naswpress.org

Books cont’dBeyond Common Sense: Child Welfare, Child

Well-Being, and the Evidence for Policy ReformSafety, Permanency, Well-Being: This volume suggests that finding aplace for well-being on the list of outcomes established to managethe child welfare system is not as easy as it first appears. Instead, pol-icy should be evidence-based, and policymakers should cultivate abasic understanding of incidence in the public health tradition, aswell as a commitment to what works clinically. Using data fromChapin Hall's Center for State Foster Care and Adoption Data, thebook also offers an unprecedented profile of children as they enterthe child welfare system. By Fred Wulczyn, Richard P. Barth, Ying-Ying T. Yuan, Brenda Jones Harden, and John Landsverk. It can beordered by following the link from:

http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1408&L2=61&L3=129

VideosReunited

This video is being distributed to all child welfare agencies through-out Oregon. It captures frank talk of parents who were able to over-come their problems and work with the child welfare agency in orderto be reunited with their children. Most of the parents in the 25 minutevideo were using methamphetamines when their children entered thechild welfare system. Other agencies or individuals can purchase thevideo at cost - and are encouraged to then make copies and share it.Order from the distributor's website:

http://www.accbo.com/asfavideo/

Fostering in the FutureWhen children spend more time than necessary in foster care, it isoften due in part to delays, limited information and poor communica-tion in the nation's juvenile and family courts. This DVD from the PewCommission on Children in Foster Care portrays the causes and con-sequences of court-based delays and explains how the Commission'srecommendations can improve the ability of courts to move childrenquickly out of the legal limbo of foster care and into safe, permanenthomes. Order from: http://pewfostercare.org

Knowing Who You AreIn this 24-minute video from Casey Family Programs, 23 individuals(youth in care, alumni, child welfare professionals, birth families, andresource families) share their perspectives about why race and eth-nicity matter and the importance of integrating racial and ethnicidentity into child welfare practice. Also available at this site: a facil-itator's guide and a viewer's guide.http://www.casey.org/Resources/Projects/REI/KnowingWhoYouAreVideo.htm

CurriculumPromoting Permanency Through

Worker/Parent VisitsThis one day competency-based curriculum from NRCFCPPP helpsworkers structure their visits with family to promote safety, wellbeing and permanency. It provides a review of what has beenlearned from the CFSR about the relationship betweenworker/parent visits and placement stability and permanence. Itprovides workers seven developmental checklists and questions toassess safety and well being. Workers learn how to use a four stepprocess to organize their visitation with family. It is a companion toanother NRCFCPPP curriculum, Promoting Placement Stability andPermanency through Caseworker/Child Visits.

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/family-child-visiting.html

Legal Resource Manual for Foster ParentsThis four-module curriculum was prepared by Regina Deihl, J.D.,Legal Advocates for Permanent Parenting, Cecilia Fiermonte, J.D.,American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, andDianne Kocer and Karen Jorgenson of the National Foster ParentAssociation, with the support of the National Resource Center forFamily-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning. It is based onthe manual of the same name, published by the NFPA and describedbelow.

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/other-issues-in-child-welfare.html

GuidesBest Practice Guidelines:

Children Missing from CareThis publication from the Child Welfare League of America pro-vides direction to child placement agencies responsible for childrenin out-of-home care on the issue of children who go missing fromcare. It discusses prevention, response, and resolution of missing-from-care episodes, and was prepared in conjunction with guide-lines for law enforcement agencies.

Order online at http://www.cwla.org/pubs/default.htm

Service Array in Child WelfareThe National Resource Center for Organizational Improvementoffers a process and a set of guides child welfare agencies can use,in conjunction with community collaboratives, to assess andenhance their service array. The documents provide an overviewdescription of the process, and include the actual methods used toassess the service array, report the results, and prepare a resourcedevelopment plan.

http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/servicearray.htm

Understanding Substance Abuseand Facilitating Recovery:

A Guide for Child Welfare WorkersThe National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfarereleased this publication to help child welfare workers recognizethe impact of substance abuse on families. The brief discusses therelationship of alcohol and drugs to families in the child welfaresystem; provides information on the biological, psychological, andsocial processes of alcohol and drug addiction to help staff recog-nize when substance abuse is a risk factor in their cases; describesstrategies to facilitate and support alcohol and drug treatment andrecovery; and explains the benefits of partnering with substanceabuse treatment and dependency court systems to improve out-comes for children of parents with substance use disorders.

http://www.ncsacw.samhsa.gov/products.asp

Resources for Permanency Planning Today

The NRCFCPPP (www.nrcfcppp.org)offers free, downloadable curricula youcan use as is, or modify to suit your needs.Topics include:

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Assessing Adult Relatives as PreferredCaregivers in Permanency Planning - tobe used in coordination with your exist-ing state laws, policies and best prac-tices regarding safety and family studyassessments, placement, permanencyplanning efforts, child and family well-

being initiatives and foster/adoptivefamily licensing/approval procedures.

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Concurrent Permanency Planning(English and Spanish) - to enhanceunderstanding of concurrent planningconcepts and practices as a frameworkfor child welfare practice; to expandknowledge and skills of engaging vul-nerable families respect, empathy,genuineness and full disclosure; toincrease differential assessment skills

and the ability to think critically aboutcase potential and progress; toenhance professionalism and profes-sional competence in helping familiesengage in the process of change; andto enhance understanding of benefitsand stages of family meetings toaddress safety, permanency anddevelopmental well-being.

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Legal Resource Manual for FosterParents - four-module training curricu-

LOOKING FOR TRAINING MATERIALS?

lum based on the Legal Resource Manualfor Foster Parents developed for theNational Foster Parent Association (NFPA)

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Promoting Placement Stability andPermanency through Caseworker/Child Visits - a one-day curriculumintended to be part of either pre-serv-ice or ongoing training within a childwelfare organization. It builds on theconcepts of attachment, strengths-based assessment and planning, childand youth development, effective inter-viewing and organizing contacts.Includes seven developmental check-lists for caseworkers to use as theybegin to more intentionally structuretheir visits to focus on safety, perma-nence, and well being.

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Promoting Permanency throughWorker/Parent Visits - a one-day com-petency-based curriculum that helpsworkers structure their visits with fami-

lies to promote safety, well being andpermanency.

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Sibling Practice - enhances under-standing of issues concerning siblings inout-of-home care.

Visit the Child Welfare InformationGateway at www.childwelfare.gov tofind the latest in training materials andresources relevant to child welfare.Websites, technical reports, curricula andother training materials are available inthe following categories:

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Training for Caseworkers - Generaltraining such as core training, legalprocesses, casework practice (includ-ing assessment and family involvementand engagement), child protectiveservices (including foster and kinshipcare and permanency planning), andadoption.

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Training for Supervisors andAdministrators - Includes funding,supervision, personnel, and strategicplanning and leadership.

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Training for Birth, Foster, Kinship, andAdoptive Parents - Parenting skills andtraining for foster and adoptive parents.

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Training for Other Professionals andCommunity Members - General train-ings include prevention, family support,and mandatory reporting. Trainings forspecific professions are designed foradvocates, lawyers and judges, publichealth workers, and teachers.

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Specialized Professional Training -Includes training on working with ado-lescents, developmental disabilities,family group conferencing, fatherhoodinvolvement, sexual abuse, and othertopics.

LOOKING FOR TRAINING MATERIALS? –cont’d

In January 2000, the Department of Health and Human Servicesannounced important child welfare regulations to improve out-comes for abused and neglected children, children in foster care,and children awaiting adoption. The regulations hold Statesaccountable for services to at-risk children and their families with aresults-oriented approach in Federal monitoring of State child wel-fare programs. Under the regulation, States are assessed for com-pliance with Federal requirements for child protective services, fos-ter care, adoption and family preservation and support servicesunder titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act.

The reviews cover two areas: outcomes for children and families interms of safety, permanency and child and family well-being; andthe administration of State programs that directly affect the capac-ity to deliver services leading to improved outcomes. The first roundof reviews was held over a three-year period ending in fiscal year2003. Since then, federal staff have been working with States toincrease compliance with child and family outcomes and systemicrequirements through Program Improvement Plans (PIPs). As statescomplete their PIPs and a year of data is complied for each statewhich does not overlap the PIP, the Children's Bureau is preparingto re-visit each state to determine the State's current level of con-formity with Federal requirements.

CHANGES IN OUTCOME MEASURES - COMPOSITESThe biggest change occurs in the way certain outcomes in perma-nency will be measured. In the first round, single measurementswere used to determine whether States were in compliance with

national standards. This time, composites of measures in four per-manency outcomes will provide a fuller picture of each State's per-formance in the following areas:• timeliness and permanence of reunification• timeliness of adoptions• achieving permanency for children in foster care for longer peri-ods of time• placement stability

These composites, which are weighted, will give reviewers andStates a better understanding of the extent to which these out-comes are achieved. The National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data andTechnology, a Service of the Children's Bureau, is offering a toolkitdesigned to help States understand how data are reported andused in the CFSR process. Visit www.nrccwdt.org to find the toolk-it, which is updated as additional information and tools are devel-oped and released.

HOW WE CAN HELPThe National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice andPermanency Planning is one of the ten resource centers funded bythe Children's Bureau/ACF/DHHS that can help states prepare forthe second round of reviews and assist in implementing programimprovement plans (PIPs) that are frequently the outcome of thereviews. Visit our website at www.nrcfcppp.org for information onour training and technical assistance services as well as moreabout the CFSRs.

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEWS .. . ROUND TWO

A FAMILY FOR EVERY CHILD:STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE PERMANENCEFOR OLDER FOSTER CHILDREN & YOUTH

From the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family toFamily Initiative. This tool is organized into fourmajor sections: Section I presents the characteris-tics of older children and youth in care for twoyears or more. Section II details the problems thatkeep older foster children and youth from livingpermanently with families. Section III describesan emerging youth permanency philosophy.Section IV makes recommendations, describesaction steps for change, and suggests concreteways to achieve permanence for youth.

http://www.aecf.org/initiatives/familytofamily/

CHILDREN’S BUREAU WEBSITE

The revamped Children's Bureau website offersaccess to information on promoting the safety,permanency, and well-being of children. Usersare now able to search the entire site by topic,locate Children's Bureau-sponsored conferences,and find details about the Children's Bureau'svarious Divisions. Other enhancements include:new sections, such as Training and TechnicalAssistance, Frequently Requested Information,Statistics and Research, and Federal and StateReporting Systems; Information Memoranda andProgram Instructions that can be sorted by topicor year (in the Laws and Policies section); Full textof all 52 Statewide Assessments, Child andFamily Services Reviews, Key Findings From theChild and Family Services Reviews, and ProgramImprovement Plans that can be searched anddownloaded (in the Child Welfare Monitoringsection); and Links to specific research funded bythe Children's Bureau.

http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/

EDUCATION ISSUES WEBPAGE

The Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal andJudicial Issues offers this page dedicated to thetopic of educational needs of vulnerable children,including those in foster care or homeless. You cansearch by type of document and/or by states.http://www.abanet.org/child/rclji/education/home.html

CHILD WELFARE MATTERS:COPING WITH DISASTERS

The Spring issue of the newsletter of the NationalChild Welfare Resource Center for Organiza-tional Improvement is devoted to ways agenciescan prepare for, respond to, and cope with natu-ral disasters. Also posted - additional resourceson secondary trauma.

http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/newsletter.htm

TRIBAL STATE RELATIONS

This publication from the Child WelfareInformation Gateway describes how States andTribes can work together more effectively to pro-tect the safety, permanency, and well-being ofAmerican Indian/Alaska Native children. Theissue brief, which was developed in partnershipwith the National Indian Child WelfareAssociation, examines: Factors affecting Tribal-State relations in child welfare; Components ofsuccessful Tribal-State relations; Examples ofpromising practices in Tribal-State relationshttp://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue_briefs/tribal_state/index.cfm

NRCFCPPP WEBCASTS & TELECONFERENCESwww.nrcfcppp.org

The NRCFCPPP continues to archive our freewebcasts and teleconferences with state pro-gram managers on our website. Webcastsoffered so far this year are: * "Helping Children, Youth, Families and

Professionals Deal with Post Traumatic Stressfrom Natural Disasters"

* "Building Positive Collaborations andRelationships Between Tribes and States toWork Effectively with Children, Youth, andFamilies"

We have also archived the following teleconferences:* three on meeting the health care needs of chil-

dren and families involved with the child wel-fare system

* Educational Stability for Children and Youth inOut-of-Home Care

* Siblings: Critical Life-Long Connections* Use of Psychotropic Medications for Children

in the Child Welfare System

Visit our site for a full list of archived events.

CHARTING A COURSE

Chapin Hall Center for Children and the NationalConference of State Legislatures are sponsoring aseries of free web-assisted audio-conferencesdesigned for state lawmakers, legislative staff,policy makers and child welfare administratorsand others to learn about state child welfarerelated policy developments. Topics coveredinclude grandparent/kinship care, keeping kidsin foster care after 18, special education and fos-ter care, home visitation and promoting stabilityin foster care placement. Webcasts are archivedfor continued access.

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/cwaudio06.htm

The NRCFCPPP publishesan electronic newslettereach week that keepssubscribers informed

about new Internet-basedpublications, conferences &

other events of interestto child welfare professionals.This section lists some of thevaluable resources we have

highlighted over the pastfew months.

Best of Weekly Update