April 2011Vol. 12, No. 3Print issueSpotlight on National Child Abuse Prevention Month

Youth Port is a new web section on the National Resource Center for Youth Development's (NRCYD's) website that serves as a gateway to resources, information, and tools specifically for youth who are in, about to transition out of, or were in foster care and are now independent. Among the features on the site are a "How To" section with advice on filing taxes, opportunities for internships, message boards, resources for understanding the foster care system, and links to other sites that focus on diversity and youth. In the March issue, the Spotlight topic is the iFoster program, which offers discounts at national and local retailers; membership is free to youth aged 16 to 21 who are in or transitioning out of foster care.

www.ifoster.org

One goal the NRCYD hopes to achieve through Youth Port is to share stories of young people who make positive changes in their communities. Youth Port also provides links to organizations that can help them make those changes, and make connections as well, which can lead to a sense of permanency within their communities.

Young people with foster care experience who worked at NRCYD as interns, staff, and consultants made suggestions and recommendations for the name, the look-and-feel, and the content of the site. The portal is updated monthly; the center's networks and alumni of the foster care system contribute timely information and resources. Organizations in Youth Port's networks include FosterClub, Foster Care Alumni of America, the online magazine Represent, the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, and others.

The Youth Port is just the beginning of a larger program for youth who were in, are in, and are transitioning out of foster care. The NRCYD is accepting applications for 25 positions for a training to create a network of young adult leaders, which it hopes to extend throughout the nation. NRCYD welcomes submissions and suggestions for Youth Port.

www.nrcyd.ou.edu/youth-port

Many thanks to Clay Finck and Guadalupe Ortiz-Tovar of NRCYD in Tulsa, OK, for providing the information for this article. The NRCYD Federal Project Officer is Catherine Heath.

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) has posted a video on its website that describes its Fit and Feasibility Assessment Tool: "Identifying and Implementing Evidence-Based Practices: Developing Community Support"
  www.accwic.org/lc/tools.html
• Child Welfare Information Gateway has launched several updated publications, as well as new and enhanced website sections. The publications are:
  • Working With Military Families as They Pursue Adoption
    www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/militarybulletin.cfm
  • Military Families Considering Adoption
    www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_milita.cfm
  • Impact of Adoption on Adoptive Parents
    www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/impact_parent
• The National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement (NCROI) with the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections (NRCPFC) will present on April 12, 2011, part 2 of a webinar, "Strategies to Support School Stability and Continuity." For handouts and to register, visit
  http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/tele.htm
  NCROI also offers an RSS feed and has a Facebook page:
  www.facebook.com/NRCOI
• The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) has an extensive list of products on its website, which includes its curriculum, training materials, guides, manuals, presentations, and more. The first issue of its National E-Update is also available; it offers letters to the field about each of its seven project teams.
  www.ncwwi.org
• The National Quality Improvement Center on the Representation of Children in the Child Welfare System (QIC-ChildRep) has added to its website a Q and A Forum. Users can post questions and receive responses from the QIC-Child Rep team and read questions and responses from others.
  http://improvechildrep.org/DemonstrationProjects/QAForum/tabid/68/forumid/2/scope/threads/Default.aspx
• The National Resource Center for Child Protective Services (NRCCPS) has distributed the latest issues of the Children's Justice Act and State Liaison Officer e-newsletters.
  • CJA E-Newsletter:
    http://nrccps.org/documents/2011/pdf/CJA_Winter_2011_Newsletter.pdf (600 KB)
  • State Liaison Officer E-Newsletter:
    http://nrccps.org/documents/2011/pdf/Feb_2011_SLO_e-Newsletter_(1).pdf (209 KB)
• The National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology (NRC-CWDT) will host "GIS in Child Welfare," a webinar about the use of geographical information systems (GIS) in child welfare, on April 14 at 2:30 p.m. EST. A demonstration will show how the use of GIS helps in placing children in foster care within home school districts.
  www.nrccwdt.org/conferences/webinars.html
• The National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (FRIENDS) is distributing, on behalf of Circle of Parents, From Rights to Reality, a publication developed with support from the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Casey Family Programs.
  http://risemagazine.org/PDF/From%20Rights%20to%20Reality.pdf (918 KB)
• The National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues (NRCLJI) has posted a PowerPoint presentation as part of its webinar series on the Fostering Connections Act. "What Court Systems Need to Know: Overview and Kinship Provisions" is accessible on its homepage under "In the News."
  http://apps.americanbar.org/child/rclji/home.html
• The National Resource Center for Youth Development (NRCYD) has launched its newly designed website:
  www.nrcyd.ou.edu
  NRCYD also has a Facebook fan page:
  http://tinyurl.com/49mmvk8

There has been an exponential leap in the use of social media among many members of the T&TA Network. It's now easy to find many members on Facebook, and some even dabble in Twitter. A recent article in AdoptUSKids' Monday Morning Memo (February 2011) reports on a survey of child welfare professionals and their use of Facebook and Twitter.

In the article, author Ruth McRoy presents findings from 746 child welfare professionals who responded to the email survey. She found that Facebook was the most popular form of social media and was used by more than 70 percent of the respondents, followed by YouTube and LinkedIn. Approximately one-third of the respondents used social media for both professional and personal usage. More than 58 percent said they would use social media for foster and adoptive parent recruitment at work if it were available.

To read the full article, "Do You Facebook or Twitter? Survey Report Findings," access AdoptUSKids' February 2011 Monday Morning Memo here:

[Editor's note: This link is no longer available.]

A comprehensive webpage on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website reviews the different types of social media often used for adoption recruitment and points out the many ways that the Children's Bureau and AdoptUSKids have put social media to work to reach workers and families. Visit the webpage to learn more:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/preplacement/social_media.cfm

A number of T&TA Network members have developed or added resources to help child welfare workers support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families, including prospective foster and adoptive families. The following are some examples of those resources.

The National Resource Center for Recruitment and Retention of Foster and Adoptive Parents (AdoptUSKids) has posted new resources for LGBT foster and adoptive families and the child welfare practitioners who work with them:

• Improving Recruitment Outcomes: 11 Things a Practitioner Can Do discusses what you need to know and how to respond for successful recruitment of LGBT parents.
• Recruiting and Retaining LGBT Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Families: Sending a Welcoming Message offers specific suggestions of welcoming, inclusive language to use as you work with LGBT prospective parents.
• A three-part series of tip sheets, Talking with Experts on Engaging LGBT Families, explores such topics as creating a welcoming environment and building agency competency.
• Barriers and Success Factors in Adoption from Foster Care: Perspectives of Lesbian and Gay Families reports the experiences and recommendations from interviews with 10 lesbian and gay families.

The publications can be downloaded for free in PDF or ordered in hard copies on the AdoptUSKids website:

http://adoptuskids.org/content.aspx?k=LGBT-Resources

The National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections offers a full webpage of resources for LGBT parents and prospective parents and for the child welfare professionals who work with them. Resources include items from the States and legislation:

www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/lgbtq-issues-and-child-welfare.html

Child Welfare Information Gateway recently published two new items related to LGBT families. Both can be downloaded for free on the Information Gateway website:

• Working With Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Families in Adoption is a bulletin for professionals:
  www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_profbulletin
• Frequently Asked Questions From Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Prospective Foster and Adoptive Parents can be used by professionals or distributed to LGBT parents to answer common questions:
  www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/faq_lgbt.cfm

The impact of Federal legislation on the number of children in foster care awaiting adoption is the focus of a new issue brief from Fostering Connections, Number of Children Adopted From Foster Care Increases in 2009. In this brief, authors Kerry DeVooght, Karin Malm, Sharon Vandivere, and Marci McCoy-Roth use data from the Children's Bureau's Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) to examine trends in adoptions from foster care following the passage of two significant pieces of child welfare legislation, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) and the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.

ASFA was enacted in response to growing concerns about the length of time children were waiting in foster care for permanent families. Reforms included new judicial time limits to manage decision-making on foster care cases and move children to permanency in a more timely manner. ASFA also created the Adoption Incentive Program to reward States for increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. In particular, since the passage of ASFA:

• The number of children adopted through the public foster care system each year has risen sharply, reaching a high of 57,000 in 2009.
• The number of children waiting to be adopted peaked at 135,000 in 2006 and declined to nearly 115,000 in 2009.
• The average time adopted children spent in foster care has decreased from nearly 48 months for children adopted in 1998 to approximately 35 months for children adopted in 2009.
• The percentages both of waiting and adopted children who are Black have declined, but the likelihood of adoption among Black children awaiting adoption has remained consistently lower than the likelihood for White and Hispanic children.
• The proportion of children adopted each year who are under age 4 has increased, while the share of adoptions of 4- to 12-year-olds has declined over time.
• The number of older youth aging out of foster care without having been placed with a safe, permanent family through adoption, reunification, or guardianship has continued to rise.
• The majority of foster care adoptions have been by the children’s foster parents or relatives, with around 20 percent or fewer adoptions each year by persons with whom the child had no prior relationship.

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (FCA) included several provisions to promote adoption for children in foster care, particularly for older children, those who have been waiting the longest, and children with special needs. Specifically, the FCA made three significant policy changes:

1. De-linking a child’s eligibility for Federal title IV-E Adoption Assistance from 1996 Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) eligibility criteria to provide more children with Federal assistance
2. Extending and expanding the Adoption Incentive Program, which rewards States financially for increasing the number of adoptions over a baseline
3. Requiring States to inform prospective adoptive parents of the Federal adoption tax credit available to them for adopting children with special needs

This issue brief is the fourth in the series Trends in Adoptions From Foster Care in the Wake of Child Welfare Reforms. The brief is available on the Fostering Connections website:

www.fosteringconnections.org/tools/assets/files/Connections_Adoption.pdf (387 KB)

In 2007, the New York State Legislature authorized the temporary use of differential response programs in local departments of social services outside of New York City. To date, 19 New York counties have participated in the pilot program, implementing the State's version of differential response, which is known as the Family Assessment Response (FAR), with approximately 9,000 cases.

Recently, the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) submitted a report to the Governor and the legislature on findings and recommendations from the implementation of FAR. Differential Response in Child Protective Services in New York State: Implementation, Initial Outcomes and Impacts of Pilot Project also includes a history of differential response, examines the effects on improving family engagement, and highlights key findings, including:

• Strong evidence that families were more positive about the FAR approach compared to standard child protective services (CPS) investigations
• Evidence that the FAR approach increased a family's access to services to meet basic needs, such as food and housing
• A decrease in needs for family court involvement and traditional public child welfare services

The report also recommends that FAR be made a permanent alternative to investigations of child abuse and neglect reports, and it offers specific suggestions for enhancing the quality and effectiveness of FAR.

The full report, by Joanne Ruppel, Yufan Huang, and Gail Haulenbeek, is available on the New York State OCFS website:

www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/reports/CPS%20Differential%20Response%20Evaluation%20Final%20Report_%20Jan%202011.pdf (2.53 MB)

Conflicting evidence has been reported in the literature regarding outcomes for youth in kinship versus nonrelative foster care placements. To explore these findings, a recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine examined behavioral and mental health outcomes and health care access and use of health services for children placed in both kinship care and foster care.

Using data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, researchers Christina Sakai, Hua Lin, and Glenn Flores looked at baseline characteristics and 3-year outcomes for 1,308 children who entered out-of-home care (572 in kinship care and 736 in foster care) due to reported maltreatment. Initial baseline results revealed the following:

• Kinship caregivers were:
  • Generally older and more likely to be single than nonrelative caregivers
  • More likely to have not graduated from high school, to have an annual household incomes of less than $20,000, and to be unemployed than nonrelative caregivers
• Kinship caregivers were less likely to:
  • Receive financial support to care for the child
  • Receive parent training or have peer support groups or respite care

At the 3-year follow-up, the following results were found:

• Children in kinship care were more likely to be with a permanent caregiver.
• Children in kinship care had a lower risk of behavioral problems and social skills problems than children in foster care.
• Adolescents in kinship care had an increased risk of pregnancy and substance use compared to adolescents in foster care.
• Children in kinship care had half the risk of needing outpatient mental health therapy and psychotropic medication use.

Implications of these findings, especially the need for support services for kinship caregivers, are discussed.

"Health Outcomes and Family Services in Kinship Care: Analysis of a National Sample of Children in the Child Welfare System," was published in the February 2011 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 165 (No. 2). The abstract is available online:

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/165/2/159  
 

In order to help child welfare workers deal emotionally with a child fatality or other work-related crisis, the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC) developed a crisis debriefing program to respond to the needs of CPS workers in New York City. An article in the Fall 2010 APSAC Advisor (from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children), by Mary L. Pulido and Janine M. Lacina, describes the Restoring Resiliency Response (RRR) debriefing protocol and how it can be implemented in counseling sessions with workers after a crisis.

The RRR focuses on workers' stress reactions after a traumatic event rather than on discussing the details of the case. Sessions are led by a clinical team, which is trained to offer grief and loss counseling and to focus on activities that validate workers' reactions to the crisis, identify supports, and demonstrate coping and relaxation strategies. Handouts on coping and self-care may be shared, and group exercises may be used.

The article describes the use of RRR with nine workers distraught over the murder of a child and the child's mother by the child's father. The RRR session allowed the workers to focus on coping and on the positive impact of their work. Evaluation data of the RRR protocol, based on responses from 578 workers, indicates that a majority of workers found it very helpful after a crisis and would recommend it to fellow workers.

To read the full article, "Supporting Child Protective Services (CPS) Staff Following a Child Fatality and Other Critical Incidents," visit the NYSPCC website:

www.nyspcc.org/nyspcc/new/attachment_23.pdf (185 LB)

Child welfare programs are under increasing pressure to measure and analyze program data, but there can be uncertainty about the types of assessment necessary for reporting to funders or doing program improvement. A new Research-to-Results Brief issued from Child Trends tackles the differences between performance management and evaluation. The brief describes performance management for social programs, how it’s different from evaluation, and why both are critical for having a strong program.

According to the brief's authors, the goal of performance management is to develop an understanding of how the program runs and find solutions for improvement if the program is not running as intended. This is accomplished by having staff collect ongoing information about the quality of services offered and the satisfaction levels of those who use the services. Benchmarks are used to track progress, and program staff are responsible for ensuring that the program is running at its best. Performance management results are generally shared internally.

In contrast, an evaluation is often required to make a strong case to funders regarding how effective the program is. Evaluations are conducted periodically, usually by an external evaluator. There are several different types of evaluations, each one serving a specific purpose.

The brief emphasizes that both performance management and evaluation provide important information about a specific social program, but they are not interchangeable. The goals of each are different, as are the strategies to meet those goals.

The full brief, Performance Management and Evaluation: What’s the Difference? by Karen E. Walker and Kristin Anderson Moore, is available for download on the Child Trends website:

www.childtrends.org/Files/Child_Trends-2011_01_19_RB_PerformMgmt.pdf (298 KB)

The effectiveness of a program in Washington State to provide quality legal representation for parents whose children have been removed from their custody is the focus of a new study conducted by Partners for Our Children. The Parents Representation Program was developed by the Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) and the Washington State Legislature to enhance the quality of defense representation for parents in dependency and termination hearings. The program aims to reduce the number of continuances requested by attorneys, limit caseloads, and support the work of parents’ attorneys by ensuring they have reasonable time to prepare cases and work with clients. The program provides social workers, expert resources, periodic trainings, and oversight through OPD.

In the study, researchers Mark E. Courtney and Jennifer L. Hook found that the availability of adequate parental legal representation speeds children's reunification with parents. For those children who are not reunited with parents, it hastens permanency through adoption and guardianship.

Partners for Our Children is a collaboration between the University of Washington and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Results of the study are reported in a discussion paper, executive summary, and an issue brief, all of which are available on the Partners for Our Children website:

www.partnersforourchildren.org/knowledge-center

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The positive child and family outcomes that can be achieved through effective parental advocacy is the focus of a recent issue of Rise Magazine. “From Rights to Reality: A Plan for Parent Advocacy and Family-Centered Child Welfare Reform” identifies 15 rights for parents affected by the child welfare system. Stories from real families illustrate the damage that can occur when these rights are denied and the positive outcomes that are possible when parents have the opportunity to work with parent advocates.

www.risemagazine.org/PDF/From%20Rights%20to%20Reality.pdf (918 KB)

FosterClub, a national online community supporting young people in foster care, has developed a coloring book designed specifically for youth entering the foster care system. Titled Foster Cub Has Questions About Foster Care and featuring bear cubs as the main characters, the coloring book includes activities such as puzzles and mazes. Each page poses a question from Foster Cub that encourages foster youth to share their feelings and a tip for adult helpers when they are discussing difficult issues with children.

A team of judges and juvenile court staff, attorneys, CASAs, foster parents, law enforcement personnel, child welfare professionals, and young people created this book and other FosterClub publications for kids and teens. For more information or to download or order the coloring book, visit:

www.fosterclub.com/article/coloring-book

The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC) provides a database of up-to-date information on evidence-based and commonly used child welfare programs and practices. The website now includes the topic area "Behavioral Management for Adolescents in Child Welfare," and new programs also have been added to the existing topic areas of "Depression Treatment" (Child & Adolescent) and "Substance Abuse Treatment" (Adult).

Each topic area is thoroughly reviewed by a topical expert and a national scientific panel prior to inclusion on the CEBC website. To date, the following topic areas are available:

• Anxiety Treatment (Child & Adolescent)
• Behavioral Management for Adolescents in Child Welfare
• Bipolar Disorder Treatment (Child & Adolescent)
• Casework Practice
• Child Welfare Initiatives
• Depression Treatment (Adult)
• Depression Treatment (Child & Adolescent)
• Disruptive Behavior Treatment (Child & Adolescent)
• Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence: Batterer Intervention Programs
• Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence: Services for Women and Their Children
• Higher Level of Placement
• Home Visiting
• Infant and Toddler Mental Health (0-3)
• Interventions for Neglect
• Motivation and Engagement
• Parent Partner Programs for Families Involved in the Child Welfare System
• Parent Training
• Placement Stabilization
• Post-Permanency Services
• Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (Secondary)
• Resource Parent Recruitment and Training
• Reunification
• Substance Abuse Treatment (Adolescent)
• Substance Abuse Treatment (Adult)
• Supervised Visitation
• Trauma Treatment for Children
• Youth Transitioning into Adulthood

A one-page information guide for the CEBC has been created and also is available on the CEBC website.

The CEBC is run by the Chadwick Center for Children and Families, in cooperation with the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. For more information or to download the new information guide, visit:

www.cebc4cw.org

Tribal customary adoption is the transfer of custody of a child to adoptive parents without terminating the rights of the birth parents. A new law in California, the first of its kind in the United States, will allow traditional forms of adoption practiced by Tribes to be recognized by California courts. The law allows, at the Tribe’s option, for Tribal customary adoption to be included as an alternative permanent plan to family reunification throughout the dependency case. The law also provides that when the juvenile court finds that full faith and credit will be extended to the Tribe’s Tribal customary adoption order, the juvenile court will issue a State court order of adoption. It also permits an Indian child who is the subject of a Tribal customary adoption to be eligible for adoption assistance program benefits.

The organization Tribal STAR has assembled an array of resources about Tribal customary adoption, including factsheets, agency memoranda, a PowerPoint presentation, and sample forms for Tribal customary adoption orders.

Tribal STAR is a program of the Academy for Professional Excellence, San Diego State University School of Social Work. The resources can be found on the website:

http://theacademy.sdsu.edu/TribalSTAR/resources/customaryadopt.htm

Strengthening Families, an initiative of the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), has launched a webpage of training opportunities and reviews. Trainings related to working with children and families can be submitted for listing on the webpage, and ratings of trainings can be posted. Ratings are based on a rating system of one to five stars, with room for comments. Users can search the webpage for trainings by entering key words.

Visit the Training Marketplace on the CSSP website:

www.strengtheningfamilies.net/index.php/training_marketplace

The California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) recently published training materials for a new curriculum, "Concurrent Planning: Multiple Pathways to Permanence." This interdisciplinary training for child welfare staff, attorneys, care providers, and other community partners encourages collaboration among all team members to improve permanency outcomes for children, youth, and families. The curriculum is organized around four areas:

• Leadership
• Concurrent planning essentials
• Practice skills
• Partnerships

The training materials include information on a facilitated process for county administrative teams to assess their concurrent planning processes prior to implementing the curriculum. Download the training materials on the CalSWEC website:

http://calswec.berkeley.edu/CalSWEC/CCCCA_ConcurrentPlanning.html

Upcoming national conferences on child welfare and adoption through July 2011 include:

May 2011

• Pathways to Adulthood 2011
  National Independent Living/Transitional Living Conference
  The University of Oklahoma OUTREACH National Resource Center for Youth Services
  May 4–6, Denver, CO
  www.nrcys.ou.edu/conferences.shtml
• Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc., National Conference
  The Power of Change: Reducing Disproportionality
  May 15–17, Philadelphia, PA
  www.blackadministrators.org/events_2010Conf.cfm
• Tenth Annual National Citizen Review Panel Conference
  A Force for Change
  May 18–20, Charleston, SC
  www.uky.edu/SocialWork/crp
• Tenth Annual National Child Welfare IT Managers' Meeting
  State Information Technology Consortium
  May 23–26, Arlington, VA
  http://cwistraining.org

June 2011

• One Child, Many Hands: A Multidisciplinary Conference on Child Welfare
  The Field Center for Children's Policy, Practice & Research
  June 8–10, Philadelphia, PA
  www.sp2.upenn.edu/onechild
• 2011 Conference on Family Group Decision Making and Other Family Engagement Approaches
  American Humane Association
  June 8–11, Henderson, NV
  www.americanhumane.org/children/professional-resources/conferences-webinars/fgdm-conference.html

July 2011

• 2011 National Adoption Conference
  National Council for Adoption
  July 6–8, National Harbor, MD
  https://www.adoptioncouncil.org/events/national-adoption-conference.html
• 19th Annual APSAC Colloquium
  American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  July 13–16, Philadelphia, PA
  http://apsac.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=72&eventId=264002
• 14th Bi-Annual American Bar Association National Conference on Children and the Law
  American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
  July 15–16, Washington, DC
  www.americanbar.org/groups/child_law.html
• FFTA 25th Annual Conference on Treatment Foster Care
  The Foster Family-Based Treatment Association
  July 24–27, Lake Buena Vista, FL
  www.ffta.org/conference

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:

www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm