March 2022 | Vol. 23, No. 2

Spotlight on Childhood Trauma and Resilience

There Is No Age Requirement for Loving Your Children

Written by TK Cross & Madison Iokennoronhawi White, IMPACT steering committee members

Listen to young mothers. As we continue to learn the value of lived experiences throughout our work with children, youth, and their families, it is important to acknowledge the perspectives and experiences of the young mothers who are often left to struggle without a support system. The writers of the following article are working hard to bolster support for these young women and their families.—Aysha E. Schomburg, Associate Commissioner of the Children's Bureau

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Over the last 2 years, IMPACT (Invincible Mamas Pushing for Action and Change Together) has been working to elevate the voices of young mothers and raise awareness of the issues impacting young families. IMPACT is boldly advocating for freedom, opportunity, and equity for young families, communities, and the mamas that unite them. Through advocacy and organizing, we are working to change the narrative around young parenthood.

We are young mamas from across the country, from diverse backgrounds, including various tribal communities all working toward the same goal—raising our children with love and respect for our communities. As mamas of color, we recognize the systemic oppressions we have faced by systems designed to support us, which initially create barriers and contribute to the cycle we are working to dismantle. 

We have been beaten down, criticized, restricted from adulthood, and shamed for enjoying motherhood. While being stripped of the "rites of passages" into adulthood, we were expected to own a systemic view of parenthood. Being young does not denote a mama's lack of ability to be committed, smart, capable, and/or loving. Being a young mama means we're strong, energized, and full of life. 

Our IMPACT community rallies to support our children and create a support system for young mamas. This is done in addition to, or in lieu of, the young mama's multigenerational familial/community supports (grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) where elder relations may or may not still be alive, present, or involved. 

Our lives are at the intersectionality of age, race, and social constructs of "adequate" parenthood. We are here to celebrate our expertise as parents and work on dismantling the barriers (intentional or unintentional) created by systems such as child welfare, health care, housing, and foster care. We are here to tell our stories of intimidation by foster care, to create a platform for young moms who need housing and are turned away, for those who need child care but are presented with barriers, documentation, and endless excuses to get the benefits they need. 

IMPACT uses a modest approach to parenting in which we collaborate and learn from each other as we grow together. It is ok to not have life figured out just yet as we figure it out together. We are the experts in our lived experiences, and we need you to listen. Young moms are here to show our strength to say we are no longer invisible. Motherhood is not one size fits all. Since when did loving your children have an age requirement? 

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Spotlight on Childhood Trauma and Resilience
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5954

Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Children’s Behavior

A guide from AdoptUSKids aims to help parent group leaders support discussions between parents and caregivers about trauma and its effects. The goal of these discussions is to be able to better respond to the behaviors of children affected by trauma and their needs for attachment and healing. This guide assumes that participants have a basic understanding of trauma and its effects on child development and behavior.

The guide provides discussion leaders with direction of what to say and activities to complete across four topics:

• Trauma and behavior
• Cognitive impact
• Attachment impact
• Trauma triggers

It also includes examples of different scenarios, how they and the participants can prepare for the meetings, and additional resources. 

To learn more, explore Discussion Guide: The Impact of Trauma on Children's Behavior. 

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Spotlight on Childhood Trauma and Resilience
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5955

What the Nation Can Do to Help Children Who Lost a Parent or Caregiver to COVID-19

A report from COVID Collaborative and Social Policy Analytics offers a comprehensive blueprint for multidisciplinary outreach and care—in both the public and private sectors—for children who have lost caregivers during the pandemic.

After providing an estimate of the number of affected children and youth, the report explores the effects that caregiver loss can have regarding child development, the challenges families face to adapt, and the importance of resilience. Its final two sections review potential preventive and clinical interventions to help mitigate some of the negative outcomes from caregiver loss and bolster the resilience of children and families and provide recommendations.

More than 167,000 children have lost at least one of their caretakers due to COVID-19. Of those, more than 13,000 children lost their only in-home caregiver. For these vulnerable children, the traumatic loss of their caregiver can create a grief that echoes throughout their life and lead to mental health challenges, lower academic achievement, and higher rates of substance and alcohol use—all of which can impact our society as well as those children. 

Black and Brown children and families have borne the brunt of this type of loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have faced greater exposure due to their being more likely to be a frontline worker than White individuals and their greater risk of dying due to racial inequities embedded in the U.S. health-care system. As a result, non-White children lost their caregivers at nearly four times the rate of their White peers.

• Group peer-support and grief camps
• Social and emotional learning in schools
• Evidence-based mentoring programs
• Family bereavement programs
• Trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy

• Identifying children who lost a parent to COVID-19
• Screening for complicated or traumatic grief in settings like schools and pediatric care
• Enhancing community-based support for children suffering bereavement due to COVID-19 
• Increasing and expanding clinical care for children suffering bereavement due to COVID-19 
• Addressing the economic needs of children who lost a caregiver to due to COVID-19

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Spotlight on Childhood Trauma and Resilience
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5974

Tips for Building Resilience in Our Children

The Creating a Family website offers tips for building resilience in children and youth in foster care and adoptive families. These children often have experienced trauma before and during their time moving through the child welfare system. Trauma can have a negative impact on how children learn resiliency and other aspects of their current and future lives.

The webpage spotlights the "Three Rs," which aim to help children manage their response to trauma using the following strategies: 

• Reassure: Comfort the child both verbally and physically.
• Return to routine: Encourage the child to continue or return to their familiar routines.
• Regulate: Teach the child how to identify and regulate their emotions and offer to help them learn these coping skills (also known as coregulation).

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Spotlight on Childhood Trauma and Resilience
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5976

News From the Children's Bureau

Supportive Housing for Youth Formerly in Foster Care

A recent evaluation funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within the U.S Department of of Health and Human Services sought to learn about permanent supportive housing (PSH) programs specifically for youth formerly in foster care. The study report describes results from a nationwide scan of housing programs that follow the PSH model, which focuses on providing low-barrier affordable housing and supportive services for an indefinite period of time to youth at risk of homelessness.

The evaluation used interviews and focus groups to understand the range of current programs that follow the PSH model, learn about how they operate, and identify ways to conduct future evaluations. Seven research questions guided the interviews and focus groups:

• What design features characterize PSH programs that serve the general population of young people at risk of homelessness?
• What challenges does providing PSH to young people formerly in foster care pose?
• What successes have providers of PSH to young people formerly in foster care experienced?
• How do young people perceive the programs, and do their perceptions match staff perceptions?
• What are key program design features that should be sustained or modified?
• For whom is PSH appropriate?
• What should PSH programs consider to prepare for an evaluation?

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: News From the Children's Bureau
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5977

CB Website Updates

The Children's Bureau website hosts information on child welfare programs, funding, monitoring, training and technical assistance, laws, statistics, research, federal reporting, and much more.

Recent additions to the site include the following:

• Child and Family Services Reviews Update, Volume 16, Issue 1, December 2021
• CCWIS Self-Assessment Tools Part Two
• Data Sharing for Child Welfare Agencies and Medicaid Toolkit
• Practical Guidance: CCWIS Contracting and Procurement, Part 1

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: News From the Children's Bureau
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5978

Training and Technical Assistance Updates

Protective Factors for Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Survivors

A recent Digital Dialog from the Children's Bureau Learning and Coordination Center focuses on the following five protective factors that may help to mitigate co-occurring domestic violence and child maltreatment and how they are related to the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework:

• Social, cultural, and spiritual connections  
• Safer and more stable conditions   
• Nurturing parent-child interactions  
• Resilience and growth mindset  
• Social and emotional abilities  

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Training and Technical Assistance Updates
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5979

Updates From the Children's Bureau's Training and Technical Assistance Partners

The Children's Bureau funds several technical assistance centers to provide professionals with tools to better serve children, youth, and families.

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Training and Technical Assistance Updates
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5981

Child Welfare Research

Behavioral Health Services Access for Youth in Foster Care

A recent issue brief from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission addresses the access of children and youth in foster care to behavioral health services. Specifically, the authors use data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to analyze the experiences of children and youth ages 12 to 17 who have spent at least 1 day in foster care in the last year, including the prevalence of certain behavioral health conditions and access to services. They also compared experiences of youth with health coverage through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to those with private coverage. The authors note that NSDUH data are self-reported, which could impact findings.

The data revealed that 63.5 percent of youth in foster care were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP, and many of these youth experience behavioral health conditions and receive treatment. 

• Most of the sample population reported that they had access to substance use disorder treatment when needed. 
• Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries generally received mental health services at slightly lower rates compared with their peers with private coverage. 
• More than 25 percent of the sample population reported experiencing a major depressive episode at some point in their life. 
• Nearly 20 percent of the sample population reported having a substance use disorder in the past year. 

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Child Welfare Research
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5982

LYGHT Program Enhances Foster Youth Well-Being

Dougy Center: The National Grief Center for Children and Families recently released findings from a study of the effectiveness of its LYGHT (Listening and Led by Youth in Foster Care: Grief, Hope, and Transitions) program. The research was guided by the question "Does the LYGHT program enhance the well-being of youth in foster care?" Findings suggest that the program is successful in enhancing well-being.

The researchers analyzed data from 42 youth ages 12 to 16 with foster care experience: 23 youth who were in the LYGHT program and 19 who were on the program's waitlist. The study used quantitative data compiled using questionnaires and qualitative data gathered from focus groups. Youth who participated in the LYGHT program showed increased levels of social support, hopefulness, and self-worth, and their perceived problems became more bearable.

For more information, read the report, Listening and Led by Youth in Foster Care: Grief, Hope, and Transitions: A Dougy Center Program: Research Findings 2021.

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Child Welfare Research
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5983

Strategies and Tools for Practice

New Book Provides Strategies for Improving Legal Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System

A new book by the National Quality Improvement Center on the Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System (QIC-ChildRep), Children's Justice: How to Improve Legal Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System, explores the lack of effective legal representation in child welfare cases.

The book highlights how the QIC-ChildRep's Best Practice Model of Child Representation improves the way lawyers represent children and leads to improved case outcomes for some children. It also details the QIC Best Practice Model and presents findings of a study on the model. The study took place over the course of 3 years and was based on data from 250 lawyers representing about 4,500 children.

In addition, the book also explores the following questions related to child representation:

• Who should represent children, and what characteristics should they possess?
• What duties should child advocates embrace, and what tasks should they prioritize?
• How are children represented, and how can states develop and sustain child representation workforces? 

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Strategies and Tools for Practice
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5984

Moving From ACEs to HOPE: The Power of Positive Experiences

Written by the Capacity Building Center for States

• Relationships (both within and outside the family)
• Safe, equitable, and stable environments for living for positive childhood experiences (HOPE, n.d.), playing, and learning
• Social and civic engagement
• Emotional growth through playing and interacting with peers

• What are we currently doing to engage families and youth in conversations about their individual strengths and needs?
• How are families and youth receiving child welfare services linked to other families and youth with similar lived experiences?
• How are we currently gathering input and feedback from those with lived experience to help us implement our agency's approach to supporting strengths and building resilience? 
• What are we currently doing to strengthen positive childhood experiences as part of our efforts to advance equity and move to a more prevention-oriented system?

• How are caseworkers currently trained, and what can we do to ensure allyship with families is an expectation throughout the agency?
• How can we build understanding of unconscious bias (and its impact on identifying family strengths) through training, supervision, and coaching? How does our organizational culture support this approach?
• How could our hiring practices become more equitable? Is lived experience considered equivalent or comparable to professional experience?
• What are we currently doing to capture and promote family strengths in our casework? How are we documenting this information? Is our approach aligned with our vision? If not, what needs to change?
• How does our casework support the building blocks for positive childhood experiences? What steps could we take to make this a reality?
• How are we engaging the community to support positive childhood experiences?

• Self-Regulation and Toxic Stress Series 
• The Montana Institute
• HOPE National Resource Center
• Lemonade for Life
• Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit 
• SAMHSA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach 

• Visioning for Prevention: Protecting Children Through Strengthening Families 
• Prevention Planning Into Action 
• Title IV-E Prevention Program 
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) 
• Collaboration Toolkit 

• Becoming a Family-Focused System
• Menu for Youth Engagement
• Casey Family Programs resources on parent partners and youth support partners 
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network Resources

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Strategies and Tools for Practice
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5985

Resources

Supporting the Emotional Well-Being of Children and Youth

The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to have adverse effects on family stability and well-being. In response to these concerns, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, developed a web-based suite of tools to help children and youth manage their feelings of stress, anxiety, and sadness brought on or exacerbated by the pandemic.

The tools include a collection of comic-book style videos and documents that focus on the specific thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that can cause stress in the lives of children and youth. The goal is to teach children and youth the skills they need to cope with challenges, particularly those associated with the pandemic, including the following: 

• Changes in routines
• Breaks in continuity of learning
• Breaks in continuity of health care
• Missed significant life events
• Lost security and safety

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Resources
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5986

Guide for Foster Parents on Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth

Child Welfare Information Gateway created a factsheet to educate foster parents about LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and other diverse identities and expressions, including Two-Spirit) youth in the child welfare system. The factsheet, Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: A Guide for Foster Parents, describes the unique challenges this at-risk population of youth face and how foster parents can help reduce those risks and ensure youth feel safe and supported.

This factsheet was developed to help families understand the complex experiences of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care and the importance of and how to provide a nurturing and affirming home environment. It also provides specific actions that families can take to promote youth health and well-being at home and in the community. 

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Resources
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5987

Training and Conferences

EMOTION Program Strives to Help Children Address Anxiety and Depression

EMOTION: "Coping Kids" Managing Anxiety and Depression is a 20-session program designed to help children build skills to address anxiety and depression and to help parents support their children in this work. Children involved with child welfare often experience anxiety and depression for a number of reasons, including maltreatment, having to leave their homes and families for foster care, and adjusting to unstable living situations.

Designed for children ages 8 to 12 and their caregivers, the EMOTION program typically consists of weekly meetings that take place over a 6-month period. The program is often implemented in hospitals, group or residential care facilities, and school settings. Key components of the program include the following: 

• Target underlying causes of anxiety and depression in youth
• Teach and practice skills to address anxiety and depression 
• Provide activities for parents and caregivers to support children
• Engage children through problem-solving, emotion education, exposure tasks, behavioral experiments, homework assignments, and parental involvement

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Training and Conferences
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5988

Conferences

 Upcoming conferences and events on child welfare and adoption include the following:

• "General Considerations for Interviewing Children With Disabilities" [Webinar]
  American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  March 1

• "Strategies Supporting Service Delivery" [Webinar]
  ZERO TO THREE
  March 3

• "Building the Movement With Populations With High Prevalence of Trauma" [Webinar]
  Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice, National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, & PACEs Connection 
  March 4

• "Strategies for Managing Pushback to Change Through the Lens of Race and Gender" [Webinar]
  Alia
  March 10

• National Conference on Juvenile Justice
  National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
  March 13–16, Pittsburgh, PA

• "Advanced Considerations for Interviewing Children With Disabilities Part I" [Webinar]
  American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  March 15

• "Building the Movement With Foundations and the Private Sector" [Webinar]
  Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice, National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, & PACEs Connection 
  March 18

• "Racial Disparities in the Child Welfare-to-Prison Pipeline" [Webinar]
  National Association of Counsel for Children
  March 22

• Transracial Families: Building Positive Racial Identity Conference [Virtual]
  North American Council on Adoptable Children 
  March 24

• ISPCAN 2022 Congress [Virtual]
  International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN)
  March 28–30

• "Advanced Considerations for Interviewing Children With Disabilities Part II" [Webinar]
  American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  March 29

• 4th Annual Children of Incarcerated Parents National Conference [Virtual]
  Arizona State University Center for Child Well-Being
  March 30, April 6, and April 13

• "Building the Movement to Address Global Crises" [Webinar]
  Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice, National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, & PACEs Connection 
  April 1

• 40th Annual Protecting Our Children Conference [Virtual]
  National Indian Child Welfare Association
  April 4–6

• National Conference on Access to Justice for Children and Families
  American Bar Association
  April 5–6, McLean, VA

• Healing Together Conference
  Native Dads Network
  April 5–7, Brooks, CA and virtual

• National Conference on Parent Representation
  American Bar Association
  April 7–8, McLean, VA

• "Interviewing Children With Communication Disorders" [Webinar]
  American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  April 12

• Safe Children Coalition 11th Annual Conference
  Safe Children Coalition
  April 13–14, Sarasota, FL

• "Building the Movement Through Policy and Advocacy" [Webinar]
  Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice, National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, & PACEs Connection 
  April 15

• "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren" [Webinar]
  Native American Fatherhood & Families Association
  April 19

• "Adapted Protocol for Interviewing Children Who Do Not Speak" [Webinar]
  American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  April 26

• CWLA 2022 National Conference
  Child Welfare League of America
  April 27–29, Washington, DC

•  "Investigating Crimes Against Children With Disabilities-Considerations for Law Enforcement" [Webinar]
  American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  May 10

• 2022 National Title IV-E Roundtable for Child Welfare Training and Education
  Western Kentucky University
  May 17–19, Bowling Green, KY

• 2022 Rudd Summer Adoption Research Institute
  University of Massachusetts Amherst, Rudd Adoption Research Program
  May 22–27, Amherst, MA

Issue Date: March 2022
Section: Training and Conferences
URL: https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=235&articleid=5989