November 2003Vol. 4, No. 9Print issueSpotlight on National Adoption Month

Adolescents who live in mental health residential care programs (RCPs) are often "system kids" who have been shuffled between the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, and separated from families and mainstream schools, according to a new report, Latest Findings in Children's Mental Health. These youth are among the most troubled in the mental health system. Approximately one-half of the adolescents in RCPs are victims of abuse or neglect, and about one-fifth experience post-traumatic stress.

When compared to children in all mental health settings, adolescents in RCPs are more likely to:

• Experience problems with family (72 percent)
• Experience problems at school (57 percent)
• Suffer skill deficits (22 percent)

Many of these children also:

• Are aggressive (66 percent)
• Are involved in delinquent behavior (34 percent)
• Have substance use problems (31 percent)

The report also provides demographic information about these youth. Of the youth in RCPs, more are boys (61 percent) than girls, and more are white (65 percent) than black (21 percent) or Hispanic (12 percent). Before entering care, youth in RCPs tend to live outside of traditional families in group homes (17 percent), juvenile detention centers (13 percent), and foster homes (8 percent). They are more often referred for treatment by social service agencies (37 percent) or courts (27 percent) than families (9 percent) or schools (3 percent).

Though their problems are usually complex, the report claims most of these children could be helped to return to their communities with timely, intensive care. Because many of the children in this study were involved with more than one system, the authors suggest policy makers and service providers consider the needs of children in all types of residential facilities--whether in the mental health, juvenile justice, or child welfare system--for services to help them rejoin their communities and lead productive lives.

Latest Findings in Children's Mental Health is a series of nonpartisan bulletins produced by a partnership between Rutgers University, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The data are based on the 1997 Client/Patient Sample Survey conducted by the U.S. Center for Mental Health Services, which is part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The findings are available online at www.ihhcpar.rutgers.edu/downloads/summer2003.pdf.

Related Item

For another perspective on institutional care, see "Review Finds Little Evidence to Support Institutional Care" in the May 2003 issue of Children's Bureau Express.

Recent research indicates overrepresentation of children of color in the foster care system is a widespread concern. A new paper by Casey Family Programs, Mitigating the Effects of Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality highlights practices that might alleviate the effects of this disproportionality on children and families already involved with the system by improving permanency and well-being outcomes. These practices include:

• Family Group Conferencing -- Involving families in the decision-making process increases the potential for enabling extended family to gain custody of children, locating kin who may provide permanency, assuring birth families that children will remain safe and well, and providing an opportunity for families to contribute their ideas about cultural issues.
• Reunification -- To ensure all children for whom reunification is an appropriate option are returned to their parents' custody in a timely manner, the report recommends agencies use strengths-based assessment methods; undertake local, State, and national advocacy efforts; explore alternative practices to improve timely substance abuse treatment for birth parents; and provide post-reunification services and supports.
• Placement With Relatives -- Steps that can be taken to increase placement of children with relatives include using a broader definition of "relative," asking the child's birth family for information, employing family group conferencing to identify kin placements, and improving supports available to kinship caregivers.
• Diligent Recruitment -- Strategies for recruiting potential foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children for whom these homes are needed include identifying the right communities to target, using child-specific recruitment efforts and family group conferencing, and employing team decision making.
• Maintaining Family Connections -- When nonrelative placements are necessary, it is important to maintain the child's connections with birth parents, siblings, and other kin by providing the maximum amount of visitation and placing children with siblings whenever possible.
• Achieving Timely Permanency When Reunification Is Not Possible -- Attempts to find permanent families are often discontinued when children have been in out-of-home care for years, but child welfare professionals are discovering diligent child-specific recruitment efforts combined with continued work with youth can lead to successful permanent placements.
• Culturally Competent Practice -- Acknowledging the importance of diversity builds mutual respect and trust among families and professionals. This can be achieved by seeking consumer input, engaging in ongoing organizational assessment, and aiding in the development of a healthy ethnic identity for children being served.

The report also suggests the child welfare system can examine and employ some of the strategies being used by the juvenile justice, education, and health care systems to decrease the disparity of outcomes for children who are served by multiple systems.

View the report on the Casey Family Programs website at www.casey.org/cnc/policy_issues/mitigating_disproportionality.htm.

Related Items

Find more information on disproportionality in child welfare in previous issues of Children's Bureau Express:

• "Seeking Causes: Racial Disproportionality in Child Welfare" (Aug 2003)
• "Disproportionality in Juvenile Justice System May Have Roots in Child Welfare" (Dec 2002/Jan 2003)

Youth raised in foster care face greater difficulty achieving common goals, such as completing high school, identifying a career path, and securing reliable transportation and health care. Historically, services addressing these challenges have been offered by independent living programs, which are often under-funded and unable to serve all eligible youth. A new report, Promising Practices: How Foster Parents Can Support the Successful Transition of Youth from Foster Care to Self-Sufficiency, serves as a source of information for foster parents who want to help prepare the youth in their care to live independently.

The report focuses on foster parents who have already had success with adolescents in their homes. These parents offered unique ideas, proven strategies, and real-life examples. The report also clarified factors contributing to the success of foster parents and confirmed that these parents:

• Define boundaries for youth
• Advocate for youth and seek needed services
• Recognize that rewards do not come immediately
• Have an inner confidence and are guided by a belief system
• Have a commitment to children
• Value the family experience and what it can bring to a young person's life

A follow-up to Promising Practices: Supporting the Transition of Youth Served by the Foster Care System (1999), the report was initiated by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine, and the National Resource Center for Youth Services at the University of Oklahoma. View the report on the National Resource Center for Youth Services website at www.nrcys.ou.edu/PDFs/Publications/PPII.pdf.

Related Items

Read more about the issues of youth transitioning out of foster care in previous issues of Children's Bureau Express:

• "Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Face Uphill Climb to Adulthood" (May 2003)
• "Supporting the Transition to Adulthood of Youth in Foster Care" (May/June 2001)

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) mandated that States reduce the length of time courts take to finalize permanent placements for children removed from the custody of their birth families. Although ASFA focuses on the initial trial, appeals are also an important part of the permanency process. Permanency cannot be achieved if a child's case is awaiting resolution of an appeal. Some appellate courts are recognizing this concern and are beginning to address it by developing procedures that limit time extensions, set specific time goals for resolution, and more.

The National Center for State Courts recently released a report, Expediting Dependency Appeals: Strategies to Reduce Delay, that examines the effectiveness of these procedures to expedite appeals in dependency cases (e.g., child abuse and neglect, children in need of special assistance, foster care, or adoption) in State courts. The first section of the report describes all such procedures in State courts across the country and reviews their implementation. The second section focuses on specific illustrations of how States are expediting dependency appeals in Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and Virginia.

The report offers eight steps any appellate court can follow to implement an expedited appeals process. An appendix includes a copy of all relevant State rules and statutes. These may be useful for States needing to develop such a statute or rule. The full report is available electronically on the National Center for State Courts website at www.ncsconline.org/WC/Publications/KIS_ExpDepAppealsPub.pdf.

Crossing Boundaries and Developing Alliances Through Group Work examines how changing technological, economic, and social conditions require social workers to create alliances to better serve their clients. The book addresses how basic principles and techniques of group work can transcend geographical and cultural boundaries when dealing with issues such as HIV/AIDS, parenting, adoption, and sex offenses.

The book examines partnerships between research teams and agencies, collaborations between schools and practice settings, learning communities, service learning, new technologies (teleconferencing, the Internet), and how "mixing and matching" methodologies can produce a more effective intervention strategy.

Crossing Boundaries and Developing Alliances Through Group Work is available for $49.95 (hard cover) or $24.95 (soft cover) from The Haworth Press, Inc., at www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=4922.

Treating Sex Offenders: A Guide to Clinical Practice with Adults, Clerics, Children, and Adolescents, Second Edition, updates the original volume with new material that emphasizes similarities and differences between adolescent and adult sex offenders in personality type, behavior, and treatment. The second edition also includes additions and changes to treatment techniques, progress reports on case study subjects, reader feedback from the original book, and new information on religious personnel who molest children.

Contents of the book include:

• How to identify major characteristics and traits of offenders
• Different types of offenders
• Information about child and adolescent offenders
• How to recognize warning signs of deviant behavior
• How to apply specific treatment techniques

Author William Prendergast has more than 30 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of habitual sex offenders. The book is available for $49.95 (hard cover) or $34.95 (soft cover) from The Haworth Press, Inc., at www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=4882.

A newly redesigned Healthy Families America (HFA) website provides a useful tool for home visiting programs researching potential funding streams. The site's "Network Resources" section provides information about Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Medicaid, Early Head Start, Title IV-B, the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and more.

For each funding stream, users can find:

• Mentors. HFA members who can provide advice.
• Guiding Questions. Issues to consider when exploring that funding stream.
• Additional Resources. Follow-up resources for researching options, planning next steps, and making contacts with regional and State experts.

Launched in 1992 by Prevent Child Abuse America, HFA works to promote positive parenting, encourage child health and development, and prevent child abuse and neglect. In addition to the funding information, the website also offers updated information for State and regional contacts, research, publications, and more. Access the site at www.healthyfamiliesamerica.org.

Editor's Note: A spokesperson for the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation clarifies that while Family Support is listed as a foundation priority, more emphasis is placed on other funding areas. In addition, though it was correctly reported that letters of inquiry should be submitted by December 1, full proposals will be accepted only from invited applicants, based upon evaluation of the letter of inquiry. The foundation does not fund locally focused direct service projects.

The A.L. Mailman Family Foundation funds projects of national or regional significance in the early childhood field. Family support is one of the foundation's three priority areas. Letters of inquiry should be submitted by December 1, and full proposals by January 15, for consideration in the spring.

The foundation looks for projects that could, over time, lead to a significant improvement in many children's life experiences or life chances. They look for strategic impact in proposals from organizations engaged in research, policy analysis, or advocacy.

Current priorities in the area of family support include:

• Professional organizations, inclusive leadership development, and training for family support workers.
• Adaptable and sustainable models for family-friendly service integration, parent leadership development, and community building.
• Curriculum reform, partnerships among child development and health care professionals, consultant networks, and other capacity-building strategies that bring family support beliefs and best practices into the mainstream of child-serving professions.

The foundation supports U.S. organizations with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. National organizations (beyond one State or region) are eligible, as are nationally focused projects such as research studies. Locally focused direct service projects are not eligible. The average grant is $25,000 for 1 year.

For more information about the foundation, visit the website at www.mailman.org.

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families' Children's Bureau is holding its first National Conference on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare on July 14 and 15, 2004, in Baltimore, MD. Proposals are being sought for workshops and symposia that will address policy and programmatic issues related to working with children and families who are affected by substance abuse and involved in the child welfare and dependency court systems. Submissions are encouraged from front-line practitioners and administrators of child welfare and substance abuse services and the dependency court, as well as policy makers and researchers. Proposals are due by December 5, 2003. For more information and to submit a workshop proposal, visit www.cffutures.com/National_Center/SavetheDate/SavetheDate.pdf.

Upcoming national conferences on adoption and child welfare through February 2004 include:

December 2003

• First Annual Trauma Treatment Clinic (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children; December 1 through 5, Lahaina, HI)
• Zero to Three's 18th National Training Institute (December 5 through 7, New Orleans, LA)
• Putting it Together Seminar (Independent Living Resources, Inc.; December 9 through 12, San Diego, CA)

January 2004

• 18th Annual San Diego Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment (Chadwick Center for Children and Families; January 26 through 30, San Diego, CA)

February 2004

• National Network for Youth Symposium 2004 (February 22 through 25, Washington, DC)
• "Children 2004: Vision, Action, Results" (Child Welfare League of America; February 23 through 25, Washington, DC)
• "A System of Care for Children's Mental Health: Expanding the Research Base" (Research and Training Center for Children's Mental Health; February 29 through March 3, Tampa, FL)

Further details about national and regional adoption and child welfare conferences can be found in the Conference Calendar on Child Welfare Information Gateway: www.childwelfare.gov/calendar

Nearly 1.7 million of the 2 million adult Americans in prison or jail are seriously involved with drugs or alcohol. In addition, increasing rates of children have incarcerated parents--current estimates suggest almost 200,000 children under age 18 have an imprisoned mother and more than 1.7 million have an imprisoned father. Both imprisonment and addiction are recognized as contributing factors to child abuse and neglect, and both can pose significant barriers to family reunification.

A recent Webcast sponsored by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) examines how the justice and child welfare systems and drug courts have evolved over the years to work in collaboration to address substance abuse disorders. An expert panel highlights innovative strategies that are helping both systems better meet the needs of parents and children affected by substance abuse.

The Webcast is hosted by Ivette Torres, Associate Director for Consumer Affairs, CSAT. Panelists include Shay Bilchik, Child Welfare League of America; Judge Arthur Burnett, District of Columbia Superior Court; Gloria Danzinger, Center for Families, Children, and the Courts; and the Honorable Karen Freeman-Wilson (ret.), National Association of Drug Court Professionals.

Find the archived Webcast on the Recovery Month website at www.recoverymonth.gov/2003/multimedia/w.aspx?id=219.