Dec/Jan 2012Vol. 12, No. 9Print issueSpotlight on Long-Term Foster Care

The Children's Bureau's Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Network continues to produce resources that can help States and Tribes in their work with children and families. Some recent resources are listed below:

• The Atlantic Coast Child Welfare Implementation Center (ACCWIC) posted "Facing Reality: What It Takes to Implement Systems Change," the video for the first webinar in a series of webinars highlighting lessons learned from implementation efforts throughout the country.
  http://www.accwic.org/resources
• Child Welfare Information Gateway completed a new searchable database, State Guides and Manuals. Consisting of materials generated by States and counties,  the database is organized under topics and audiences and offers multiple ways to access, filter, sort, and amass information from original documents.
  http://childwelfare.gov/systemwide/sgm
• The National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center (AIA) produced a research-to-practice brief, Service Engagement and Retention for Women With Substance Use Disorders, which addresses the needs of pregnant and parenting women with substance abuse issues and the needs of practitioners who work with these families.
  http://aia.berkeley.edu/media/pdf/brief_engagement.pdf (1.03 MB)
• The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement (NRCOI) compiled information on current approaches in 33 States to train and support child welfare supervisors and made that information available online. NRCOI also can create customized summaries  to fit specific supervision needs.
  http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/supervisionprojectabout.htm
• The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) will present the second in a series of webinars on recruitment. "Competency-Based Recruitment, Screening, and Selection: Strengthening Workforce Capacity, Retention, and Organizational Resiliency" is scheduled for December 14, 2011. Register here:
  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/471698706
• The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) is accepting applications for its 2012 Summer Research Institute. The deadline for applications is January 30, 2012.
  http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu/Ndacan/Summer_Institute/SRI2012.html
• The National Resource Center for In-Home Services (NRC In-Home) posted the first of three webcasts on services for pregnant and parenting youth, "Policies for Pregnant and Parenting Teens In or Exiting Substitute Care." Cohosts for the meeting included T&TA Network members from the National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention and National Resource Center for Youth Development. 
  http://nrcinhome.socialwork.uiowa.edu/events/archived.shtml
• The National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections (NRCPFC) posted the webcast "Parenting Older Adolescents." NRCPFC Executive Director Gerald Mallon spoke with Mary Keane, a New York State foster and adoptive parent, and Aileen Rosario, one of Keane's daughters.
  http://www.nrcpfc.org/webcasts/24.html 
  NRCPFC produced a toolkit for programs, States, and Tribes that expands on several aspects of kinship care practices affected by the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.
  http://www.nrcpfc.org/toolkit/kinship
• The National Resource Center for Recruitment and Retention of Foster and Adoptive Parents (AdoptUSKids) redesigned its website. Multicolored headings provide easy navigation, and nearly every subject page has a topical video. The section for adoption professionals offers several new tip sheets and other free resources for recruiting and retention, free consulting services to public child welfare agencies, instructions for using the AdoptUSKids photolistings, and a link to the clever new public service announcements.  
  http://www.adoptuskids.org
• The National Resource Center for Youth Development (NRCYD) published its newsletter, eUpdate, which includes articles about financial education and the first National Youth in Transition Database technical assistance meeting.  
  http://www.nrcyd.ou.edu/eupdate-summer-2011
• The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health (the Center) will host a webinar December 15, 2011, "Linking Primary Care and Systems of Care: Innovation at the State and Community Levels to Support the Social and Emotional Well Being of All Children." Register online:
  http://gucchdtacenter.georgetown.edu/resources/2011calls.html
• The Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health (TA Partnership)  posted its latest newsletter featuring the article "Engaging Families One at a Time Builds a Strong, Family-Driven System in Delaware" and other articles about innovative and promising activities in system of care communities.
  http://www.tapartnership.org/newsletter/current.php
  TA Partnership also announced the publication of a paper on ethnic and racial perspectives on family-driven care, Closing the Gap: Cultural Perspectives on Family-Driven Care.
  http://www.tapartnership.org/culturalPerspectives.php

Many impoverished HIV-infected parents rely on their older children to care for younger siblings, do housework, and even bring in extra money. These "parentified" children are often fearful of external supports and can suffer, with their parents, from poverty, stigma, and isolation.

A new issue brief from the National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center (AIA), Addressing the Needs of Parentified Children of HIV Positive Parents, focuses on intervention strategies and provides child welfare professionals with research results and recommendations for working with these families.

Research shows both negative and positive outcomes associated with parentification. While parentified children often have educational difficulties, limited social and leisure activities, and trouble forming friendships, studies also show positive outcomes in some parentified children, including family stability, better adaptive coping skills, and having a valued and culturally supported role in Latino and African-American families.

Most children carrying the stresses of adult responsibilities and parents who are ill can benefit from outside support and resources. The report offers recommendations for caseworkers to consider as well as a list of interventions shown to improve outcomes when working with parentified children. Among the suggested interventions are the following:

• Offer the family parenting resources such as monitoring the children's friends and activities outside the home and ways to develop simple family routines for stability
• Provide economic supports such as school supplies, child care, food, and public benefits
• Assess the family thoroughly to customize the specific services it needs
• Advocate for policy initiatives such as funding for services to HIV-negative children, greater coordination of services, and safe sex and substance abuse prevention programs to preteens

Addressing the Needs of Parentified Children of HIV Positive Parents is available on the AIA website:

http://aia.berkeley.edu/media/pdf/brief_parentified_children.pdf (1.04 MB)

The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services (QIC PCW) is wrapping up its 5-year project and releasing new reports highlighting the importance of collaboration between the private and public child welfare sectors.

Funded in 2005, the QIC PCW is a cooperative agreement between the Children's Bureau and the University of Kentucky College of Social Work, the University of Louisville, and Planning and Learning Technologies. The QIC was tasked with igniting a national dialogue about collaborative problem-solving and the varying ways in which States contract with private agencies for services. The QIC researched best practices for managing relationships and evaluated the impact of performance-based contracting and quality assurance systems on organizational, practice, and client outcomes within a public/private partnership.

Crystal Collins-Camargo, Project Director, said the project brought to light the importance of collaboration between the sectors to improve outcomes. "The most important thing we learned is that this is really about collaboration between the sectors and the challenges in strengthening those partnerships. The focus was less on privatization and more on how these sectors can work together to fill each State's needs to best improve outcomes." Examples of that collaborative problem-solving can be found in the QIC's newest reports.

Strategic Planning Regarding Public/Private Partnership in Child Welfare: Lessons Learned From Five States highlights the findings from a 2-day strategic planning process during which the QIC facilitated and provided technical assistance specific to the needs of each participating State. Attendees were required to bring leaders/stakeholders from both the public and private sectors. Workgroups focused on goals set by each State to develop a foundation for relationship building, clearly define roles, and create a communications plan for moving their partnership forward. The strategic planning session armed child welfare leaders with concrete strategies for improving system partnerships.  

Portrait of Private Agencies in the Child Welfare System: Principal Results from the National Survey of Private Child and Family Serving Agencies focuses on the characteristics and experiences of private agencies in the child welfare system. This first-ever national portrait of private agencies was not an easy task, according to Collins-Camargo:

"There is no centralized source of agencies serving the child welfare population, how to contact them, or data regarding them," Collins-Camargo said. "Each State had a list of agencies they contract with, but that data is not pulled together anywhere. Our study is limited, still, by the fact that the only way we could find the agencies was to go through Child Welfare League of America, the Alliance for Children and Families, and National Organization of State Associations for Children chapters and their respective memberships."

Compounding these challenges was the fact that many agencies do not necessarily identify themselves as child welfare agencies but rather as umbrella human services agencies because they provide other services such as mental health services. Collins-Camargo said the survey helped the QIC learn what the field didn't know about the role of the private sector in the child welfare system.

"We know a fair amount about the public child welfare system, the role those agencies play, and all the data that’s come out of CFSRs. We only know a little—and most of that knowledge is anecdotal—about the private sector agencies serving child welfare clients, and yet they play such a large role."

The survey and subsequent report highlight important information such as the size of private agencies, staffing patterns, experience levels of agency leaders, the types of services they provide, and perceptions regarding their relationships with the public sector and other service systems.

Collins-Camargo added that the report helps dispel myths about private agencies. "I was a big public sector advocate, having worked in that system for years, and didn't know much about the private sector before we began our work at the QIC. We have so many beliefs from one sector to the other, but it's very clear that both sides want the same outcomes, and it is possible to do collaborative problem-solving to improve our work with children and their families."

When asked what is next for privatization, Collins-Camargo said, "It's a moving target. People don't even agree on what privatization means. What the future is, though, is changing the conversation to talk about partnership, service quality, and making decisions about the responsibility of both sectors in different aspects of the service array based on needs and strengths of the State or locality."
 
Portrait of Private Agencies in the Child Welfare System: Principal Results from the National Survey of Private Child and Family Serving Agencies can be found here:
http://www.uky.edu/SocialWork/qicpcw/resources/pubs/NSPCFSA%20Report%20Final.pdf 

Strategic Planning Regarding Public/Private Partnership in Child Welfare: Lessons Learned from Five States can be found here:
http://www.uky.edu/SocialWork/qicpcw/resources/pubs/PPP%20SPS%20Report%20October%202011.pdf

The QIC's final Executive Summary also is available for download on its website:
http://www.uky.edu/SocialWork/qicpcw/resources/pubs/ExecutiveSummaryFINAL.pdf

Many thanks to Crystal Collins-Camargo, QIC PCW Project Director for providing the information for this article.

 

Ramsey County (MN) Community Human Services Department (RCCHSD), funded through a 2007 Children's Bureau grant, is implementing a comprehensive family assessment (CFA) program to develop a more consistent, holistic, family-centered, and culturally responsive approach to in-home and out-of-home child welfare assessment. The CFA model is grounded in two practices: strengths-focused practice, whereby caseworkers help families identify and build on their strengths, and critical thinking and analysis, which caseworkers use to gather and assess information and design a case plan that is most likely to change behaviors.

From training to supervision to documentation, nearly every phase of RCCHSD's assessment program has been redesigned, incorporating the new CFA model in the following ways:

• Intake staff receive ongoing training to conduct child safety assessments and develop safety plans that focus on the specific parental behaviors that must change to eliminate risk and ensure protection. Safety is assessed in several areas within the family, including physical and mental health, income and housing, parenting style, kinship supports, etc., which results in a more organized and thorough method of evaluation.
• Program staff receive ongoing training to focus on the family's functioning to determine the underlying causes of behaviors that put the child at risk, and this assessment forms the basis for case plans—developed through a 10-step process in five stages—targeting parental behaviors requiring change.
• Supervisors and coaches aid critical thinking and analysis that creates awareness and promotes responsibility so that workers can come to conclusions on their own, which enhances their competence.

RCCHSD's assessment of family functioning focuses on parents' protective capacities. These include the skills and resources on which the family can draw to keep children safe. Three types of protective capacities are assessed:

• Cognitive Protective Capacity assesses parents' awareness and understanding of their protective roles and ability to assess threats and recognize children's needs. 
• Emotional Protective Capacity assesses the relationship between parents' motivation to protect children based on the emotional bond and their connection with and compassion for children.
• Behavioral Protective Capacity assesses parents' protective actions in the face of their own needs and/or physical capabilities.

RCCHSD recognizes that engaging families means responding to and building an understanding of varying cultural needs and sensitivities. More than 50 percent of families—and more than 70 percent of children—receiving services are persons of color. In order to be culturally responsive to all children and families, the CFA implementation team has embraced the county's antiracism initiative and developed core principles that foster an environment conducive to the multicultural backgrounds of its clients and workers.

Staff turnover, time constraints, documentation quality, and engagement with fathers are among the few implementation challenges; however, RCCHSD has reviewed details of each challenge and devised plans to address them through training. The many successful strategies of CFA implantation include, but are not limited to:

• A gradual phase-in of the CFA model for Intake and Program workers before a formal training to provide workers with a foundation of key terms, concepts, and strategies, enabling greater retention of new practices
• Increased information transfer between Intake and Program staff to allow for more cohesive case files and stronger case planning
• Ongoing case planning to incorporate successes and progress as a direct result of family-centered case plans based on behaviors and family functioning over compliance  

For more information about this project, contact Dr. Jenny Gordon, Ramsey County Project Manager, at jenny.gordon@co.ramsey.mn.us. 

The full site visit report will soon be posted on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/management/funding/funding_sources/cbreports.cfm

The Model for Comprehensive Family Assessments is funded by the Children's Bureau (Award #90-CA-1753).This article is part of a series highlighting successful Children's Bureau grant-funded projects around the country, emerging from Children's Bureau site visits. 

Building Infrastructure to Support Home-Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment: Two Year Findings From the Cross-Site Evaluation of the Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting Initiative highlights successful strategies from the first 2 years of the Children's Bureau-funded initiative taking place across 15 States. The study evaluates the progress of 17 grantees in developing necessary infrastructure and service delivery systems for implementing new or enhancing existing evidence-based home visiting program models.

Each grantee selected one or more home visiting models for first-time implementation in its State or community or chose to enhance, adapt, or expand existing programs. Site visits or telephone interviews were conducted with grantees to collect data on State-level implementation, the initiation of home visiting services, and/or infrastructure development to support home visiting.

The report discusses the ways grantees planned and collaborated with other organizations to achieve common goals. In addition, separate chapters describe:

• How grantees used their planning and collaborative capacity to create new infrastructure and/or strengthen existing infrastructure
• Grantees’ experiences hiring and training staff, recruiting and enrolling families, and conducting home visits

At the end of 2 years, home visiting had begun at all 15 sites where grantees had planned to initiate or continue home visiting, and families were enrolled and receiving services through the programs. Future publications will examine the final 3 years of the 5-year grantee projects.

The report was developed by Mathematica Policy Research and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and funded by the Children's Bureau. The report and other evaluation resources can be found on the Supporting Evidence Based Home Visiting website:

http://supportingebhv.org/crossite

While parent education and training programs are often used by child welfare systems, little is known about the programs' effectiveness in preventing maltreatment. In addition, many programs have not been subjected to evaluation, and documentation regarding implementation challenges is often lacking. To foster widespread adoption of evidence-based practice models that improve outcomes in child welfare, an article in Children and Youth Services Review asserts that more process evaluation must occur and it must occur prior to effectiveness studies.

"Getting With the (Evidence-Based) Program: An Evaluation of the Incredible Years Parenting Training Program in Child Welfare" describes a project that tested this theory by conducting both an implementation and outcomes evaluation—simultaneously—of the Incredible Years Parenting Training Program (IY) as applied for the first time in two child welfare agencies in New York State. While proven effective in improving child behavior, the IY program was not designed with child welfare families as the target population and, therefore, serves as a perfect model for the authors' hypothesis.  

Qualitative staff interviews and parenting behavior surveys showed that program participation was associated with decreased parental distress, defensive responding, dysfunctional parent-child interactions, child difficulty, and total stress and with increased empathy and social support. The authors discuss the effectiveness of IY in the context of child welfare.

The article, by Lyscha Marcynyszyn, Erin Maher, and Tyler Corwin, was published in Children and Youth Services Review, Volume 33.  

Many American Indian Tribes and Nations share in the belief that mainstream Western research largely overlooks the importance of Tribal approaches and voice. In response to this problem, researchers from the National Indian Child Welfare Association, Prevent Child Abuse America, and Purdue University Calumet explored the use of participatory evaluation—research that focuses on the culturally competent principle of community engagement. "Methods of Evaluating Child Welfare in Indian Country: An Illustration," recently published in Child Welfare, describes their research, details its strengths and difficulties, and presents a practice model for other agencies.

The researchers spent nearly 2 years developing a web-based survey for Indian youth ages 18 to 25. The survey collected participants' experiences as children and teens, allowing researchers to examine the relationship among victimization, delinquency, and protective factors for this population. A youth advisory group and institutional review boards ensured an ethical approach.

Article highlights include:

• Research staff participated in focus groups conducted by Tribal community liaisons, and there was some confusion about procedure, showing that true equality between participants can create uncertainty of roles.
• Collaboration between three disparate agencies sometimes produced difficulties in communication and decision-making; however, these challenges were addressed early and often by team members, which resulted in a strong and positive working relationship by project's end.
• The study inherently provided buy-in for individuals in the Indian community, and this valuable role increased the chances of peer participation.
• Project partners became familiar with the skills and approaches necessary to work efficiently with others of varying backgrounds.

The project resulted in a culturally appropriate online survey, the results of which will inform child welfare practice and future research in the lives of children, teens, and young adults in Indian Country.

"Methods of Evaluating Child Welfare in Indian Country: An Illustration," by Patricia Carter, Terry L. Cross, Javier Diaz, Kathleen Fox, Laura John, Thomas Pavkov, and Ching-Tung Wang, was published in the March/April 2011 (Vol. 90, No. 2) issue of Child Welfare and is available for purchase online:

http://www.cwla.org/articles/cwjabstracts.htm

A recent study published in Implementation Science explored how child welfare and other agency managers make the decision to implement an evidence-based practice (EBP). Thirty-eight administrators from 12 California counties were interviewed about multidimensional treatment foster care (MTFC), an EBP that can reduce out-of-home placement in group and residential care, substance abuse, and behavioral and emotional problems in foster youth. MTFC was gradually being implemented throughout the State.

In their interviews and through a web survey, the administrators also answered questions about their motivations to implement MTFC in their county, people who might influence their decision or other work-related decisions, their thoughts about collaboration, and similar topics.

The findings suggested that social networking positively affected the implementation of MTFC in two ways:

• Through successful collaborations
• By providing the information and support necessary for implementation

The data revealed that the administrators were part of networks based on their work roles, responsibilities, geography, and friendship. Their networks included people in the same agency and county, counterparts in other agencies, community-based providers, and community advocates. These networks exposed the administrators to information that influenced their decision to implement MTFC.

The counties that tended to be further along in their implementation of MTFC were larger and urban and received more "nominations" by others in their network. They also tended to have greater connectivity across counties.

The study's authors discuss their findings in terms of the contexts in which networks influence the implementation of EBPs.

The complete study, "Social Networks and Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices in Public Youth-Serving Systems: A Mixed Methods Study," by Lawrence Palinkas, Ian Holloway, Eric Rice, Dahlia Fuentes, Qiaobing Wu, and Patricia Chamberlain, was published in Implementation Science in September 2011 (Vol. 6:113) and is available on the journal website:

http://www.implementationscience.com/content/6/1/113 

The California Disproportionality Project has produced the Implementation Toolkit for the American Indian Enhancement (AIE) Project to improve outcomes for American Indian/Alaska Native families and children in the child welfare system by assisting agencies in complying with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

The toolkit provides action steps and guidance on reaching the following outcomes:

• Reduced entries of American Indian/Alaska Native children into the foster care system
• Increased reunification of American Indian/Alaska Native families
• Decreased length of stay of American Indian/Alaska Native children in foster care
• Decreased time to permanence for American Indian/Alaska Native children  

Seven tool sets provide advice on engagement and communication; assessment; planning; training, coaching and transfer of learning; evaluation; and funding resources. Other toolkit features include a factsheet, talking points for leadership, and a 12-minute video highlighting why workers should ask every child and family receiving services if they have American Indian or Alaska Native heritage. The "Faces" video also provides direction on culturally sensitive ways to inquire about ancestry.

For more information, visit the California AIE Project website:

http://calswec.berkeley.edu/CalSWEC/AIE/AIE_home.html
 

As part of its ongoing effort to develop model toolkits for implementing child welfare programs, the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) has launched its Team Decision Making (TDM) Implementation Toolkit. The toolkit webpage includes information on TDM and on constructing and maintaining a TDM program.

TDM is designed to improve workers' and agencies' decision-making ability so that children are removed only when necessary for their own safety. It incorporates a strong family engagement component and helps identify appropriate interventions for children and families.

The TDM Implementation Toolkit is comprehensive guide that includes eight sections:

• Defining the intervention
• Engagement and communication
• Planning for implementation
• Special considerations
• Training
• Tools to support staff
• Coaching/development
• Evaluation

Other tools include sequencing suggestions that model TDM implementation in 15 steps, beginning with Assessing the Existing Process and ending with Preserving High Standards. Each step is described in terms of what the agency needs to do; supporting documents are included. A webpage of frequently asked questions offers answers to dilemmas about who should be included, timing of meetings, and more.

Find the TDM Implementation Toolkit on the CalSWEC website:

http://calswec.berkeley.edu/CalSWEC/TDMTk/TDMTk_home.html

Related Item

CBX last wrote about CalSWEC's toolkits in "Implementation Toolkits" (September/October 2011).

 

The fall 2011 issue of the Virginia Child Protection Newsletter (VCPN) focuses on to the theme of strengthening family engagement and promoting parent leadership in child welfare. The issue includes an array of articles on the benefits of and challenges to family engagement, different approaches at the three levels of involvement—case level, peer-support level, and the systems level—and promising practices. Articles spotlight the Circle of Parents program for parent support and the Bridging the Gap program, which brings together foster and birth parents. An article on promoting father engagement underlines research on the benefits of father involvement and provides resources on locating, recruiting, and engaging fathers.

While geared toward Virginia agencies, the bulk of the articles have relevance for agencies around the country.

The Virginia Child Protection Newsletter, sponsored by the Virginia Department of Social Services' Child Protection Unit, is available on the James Madison University website:

http://psychweb.cisat.jmu.edu/graysojh/pdfs/Volume092.pdf  (1.99 MB)

A child's experience with the justice system can be terrifying, and the fear may hinder a child's ability to testify truthfully and effectively in court. A recent issue of CenterPiece, the official newsletter of the National Child Protection Training Center (NCPTC), discusses the importance of court preparation for children required to testify. Author Jodie Walker, Executive Director for the Adams County, PA, Children’s Advocacy Center, draws on her nearly 20 years of work and research in this area to provide recommendations for preparing child witnesses.

A comprehensive preparation program, according to Walker, is designed to decrease stressors that may hinder credible testimony by children. "Preparation is necessary as children are ill-prepared for the demands of being a witness, simply due to their inherent vulnerability, age, limited social awareness, lack of life experiences, and naive understanding of the criminal justice system." These limitations, in turn, dictate that goals of a successful child-witness program: 

• Demystify the court process through education
• Reduce fear and anxiety about testifying through stress-reduction techniques
• Empower children through emotional support

The article also features the five components of a good preparation and support program: education, role play and practice, relaxation and anxiety management, court accompaniment and support, and debriefing and follow-up.

"If I'm 'The Party,' Where's the Cake?: The Need for Comprehensive Child-Witness Court Preparation Programs," was published in the August 2011 (Volume 3, Issue 1) issue of CenterPiece and is available on the NCPTC website:

http://ncptc.nonprofitoffice.com/vertical/Sites/%7B8634A6E1-FAD2-4381-9C0D-5DC7E93C9410%7D/uploads/CenterPiece.NL.Vol3.Iss1.pdf (2.96 MB)

 

The following two programs offer summer internships for youth in or formerly in foster care:

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is accepting applications for its 2012 summer internship program. The program places youth in 2-month internships in Washington, DC, in the offices of the U.S. Congress. Many expenses are paid. Applicants must have spent at least 24 consecutive months in foster care during any point in their lives and must have completed four semesters of schooling at an accredited institution of higher learning, such as a college, university, or vocational school, by the start of the internship on May 29, 2012.

The application deadline is January 6, 2012. For more information and to access the application, visit the CCAI website:

http://www.ccainstitute.org/fyiapply.html

The FosterClub All-Star application for summer 2012 will be available on January 1, 2012. Youth who have spent time in foster care will be selected from among the applicants for a summer internship with FosterClub and assist in planning and facilitating Independent Living Teen Conferences and other foster care and child welfare events held throughout the country.

http://www.fosterclub.com/_allstars/article/all-star-application-overview
 

Youth emancipating from foster care with no permanent family connections face a number of hardships that the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 was designed to target.

The July 2011 issue of The Judges’ Page newsletter, with the theme "Fostering Connections to Success—From Vision to Implementation" presents an array of articles that address many of the child welfare issues targeted by the act. Articles focus on Independent Living services, the importance and impact of the Fostering Connections legislation on sibling groups and Native American families, and advocacy for older youth. In one article, a former foster youth shares her story, while others present publications/checklists, programs, trainings, and research associated with the act.

The Judges’ Page is a publication of the National CASA Association in partnership with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and is available on the National CASA website:

http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.7522045/k.DD83/July_2011.htm
 

Speak Up Be Safe (SUBS), a safety and child abuse prevention education program from the Monique Burr Foundation, is available through a new website. The Foundation aims to launch SUBS in every Florida elementary school by 2015, meeting a State statute that requires all schoolchildren to have primary prevention training. The new site includes a plan of expansion, information about the program, news, an opportunity to donate to the cause, and resources for:

• Parents
• Professionals/Organizations
• Schools

Each Resources page offers safety, prevention, and child abuse and neglect reporting resources specific to each audience. Resource topics include signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect, impact of abuse and neglect, reporting child abuse, and developing a safety plan with your child.

Visit the Foundation website:

http://www.moniqueburrfoundation.org/SUBS/index.html  
 

Multiplying Connections created "Walking the Walk: Modeling Trauma Informed Practice in the Training Environment," a two-page resource guide to help train staff who work with children and families affected by trauma. The guide provides specific principles of trauma-informed practice and explains how each is essential for professional development. The principles of practice are:

• Creating safety
• Maximizing opportunities for choice and control
• Fostering connections
• Managing emotions and promoting self-reflection

The guide also provides suggestions for integrating each principle into customized training modules.

The resource can be found on Multiplying Connections' website:

http://www.multiplyingconnections.org/sites/default/files/Walking%20the%20Walk%20Article.pdf  (1.45 MB)

Upcoming national conferences on child welfare and adoption through March 2012 include:

January 2012

• SSWR 16th Annual Conference
  Research That Makes A Difference: Advancing Practice and Shaping Public Policy
  Society for Social Work and Research
  January 11–15, Washington, DC
  http://www.sswr.org/conferences.php
• The 26th Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment - 2012
  Chadwick Center for Children & Families
  January 23–26, San Diego, CA
  http://www.sandiegoconference.org

February 2012

• The 2012 Annual Conference of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
  Improving Maternal and Child Health Across the Life Span: Acting Today for Healthy Tomorrows
  AMCHP
  February 11–14, Washington, DC
  http://www.amchp.org/Events/amchp-conference/Pages/default.aspx
• CWLA 2012 National Conference
  Making Children a Priority: Leading Change
  Child Welfare League of America
  February 26–29, Washington, DC
  https://netforum.avectra.com/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=CWLA&WebCode=2012NC

March 2012

• The 25th Annual Children's Mental Health Research and Policy Conference
  Child and Family Studies, University of South Florida
  March 04–07, Tampa, FL
  http://cmhtampaconference.com/index.php
• NCJFCJ’s National Conference on Juvenile and Family Law
  National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
  March 21–24, Las Vegas, NV
  http://www.ncjfcj.org/content/view/1471/315/  
• Eighth Annual Childhood Grief and Traumatic Loss "Restoring Joy to Children and Families" 
  Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect
  March 22-22, Pasadena, CA
  http://www.ican4kids.org/conferences_Grief.asp  

Further details about national and regional child welfare and adoption conferences can be found through the Conference Calendar Search feature on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm

A unique project incorporates video to help youth tell their story to caseworkers in monthly visits. Bob Lewis's "Seeing the Voices of Children and Youth" project is a curriculum for caseworkers that provides a framework for using video to engage youth. Six sessions allow youth to be filmed while covering such topics as life before foster care, when I came into care, and what I hope for the future.

The video format has three significant advantages over traditional casework visits:

• It engages and empowers youth, allowing them to "set the record straight."
• It helps caseworkers hear the genuine voice of the youth, which may help in the permanency process.
• It can help the youth heal from trauma and loss.

Information on training and protocol for the video program is available on Lewis's website:

http://www.rglewis.com/video%20project/proposal.pdf

A poignant demonstration of the video is available on Lewis's blog:

http://rglewis.blogspot.com/