November 2010Vol. 11, No. 9Print issueSpotlight on National Adoption Month

Strengthening Families is an innovative approach to child abuse and neglect prevention designed to reach millions of children and their families before any maltreatment occurs. A new publication, Allied for Better Outcomes: Child Welfare and Early Childhood, presents an overview of the research and application of this approach for very young children.

In this publication, authors Kate Stapleton, Jean McIntosh, and Beth Corrington, emphasize the promotion of protective factors—as well as the reduction of risk factors—to guide caseworkers and their partners in child welfare in ensuring the healthy development of young children. These protective factors allow families to create healthy, nurturing environments that promote the positive development of children. These factors include:

• Parental resilience
• Social connections
• Knowledge of parenting and child development
• Concrete support in times of need
• Social and emotional competence of children

The core of the Strengthening Families approach is the Guiding Principles for Strengthening Families in Child Welfare. When child welfare systems and their partners address the developmental needs of young children and strengthen their families, these principles provide the foundation for their efforts:

• Families, as first teachers and primary protectors, are fundamental to children's optimal development.
• Building Protective Factors as well as reducing risk factors strengthens a family's ability to promote optimal development for their children.
• Relationships—within families and communities, between families and providers, and across systems—are essential as vehicles for change.
• Systematic and intentional coordination promotes healthy cross-system relationships and maximizes the ability of systems and services to support families and children.
• Shared accountability for optimal development and strengthened family functioning across broad networks of services and opportunities is essential a t all levels.

The authors present a series of five broad goals for developing a web of effective services. Profiles of pilot programs in three States and the lessons learned also are presented. 

Strengthening Families is an initiative of the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) with the support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The report is available on the CSSP website:

http://strengtheningfamilies.net/images/uploads/pdf_uploads/ALLIED_FOR_BETTER_OUTCOMES.pdf (985 KB)

Child welfare and related professionals often struggle to find parent education programs and modalities that can help at-risk parents make long-lasting changes in their parenting practices. An evidence-based, strengths-based program that relies on video feedback has shown promising results for parents and others.

The Video Home Training® (VHT) and Video Interaction Guidance® (VIG) are programs of SPIN (a Dutch acronym for the Association for the Promotion of Intensive Home Training in the Netherlands) that have been used successfully in the Netherlands and elsewhere to train parents, families, teachers, and others, particularly in working with vulnerable children. Research documents the success of these programs in such areas as parent-child attachment, child welfare supervision, professional development for teachers/caregivers in early childhood, and leadership development. VIG also is used in this country to strengthen staff practice and improve model fidelity and program implementation.

Central to all of these programs is the use of video feedback in which the participants have opportunities to view video clips of themselves in successful interactions. Aided by trained guides who facilitate the positive interactions and then choose clips to reinforce the participants' desirable behavior, participants are able to actively master the appropriate behaviors.

The SPIN VHT Parenting/Family Support Program Model helps child welfare staff assess parents' strengths and use those strengths to improve family functioning and parent nurturing behaviors. The program has been used with professionals who work with teenage parents, at-risk parents of infants and toddlers, vulnerable families, and fathers.

For more information on SPIN programs and the research behind the programs, visit the SPIN USA website:

www.spinusa.org/index.htm

In 2008, the New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors (NEACWCD) partnered with Casey Family Programs to launch a regional Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) on Safety and Risk Assessments with 22 teams from six New England States. The BSC is a quality improvement methodology that uses existing knowledge to test multiple ideas, measure results, and then implement new strategies and tools on a very small scale. The participating teams simultaneously share lessons learned and new initiatives with other teams so that successes can be quickly expanded.

Common Ground, the NEACWCD newsletter for New England child welfare professionals, provides a snapshot of the team experiences in its July 2010 issue. The selected teams were composed of staff at a variety of levels, youth, parents, and community partners from each participating jurisdiction. They all shared a common history of innovation and risk taking as well as previous participation in the Breakthrough Series.   

Common Ground articles present highlights from the teams, such as:

• The Malden Area Office of Massachusetts Department of Children and Families moved towards the implementation of an Integrated Case Practice Model (ICPM) as the framework to support the spread of the promising practices. The goals of improving safety and risk assessments and keeping families safe were set in motion through a process of "Plan Do Study Act," commonly known as PDSAs.
• In Meriden, CT, the BSC allowed practitioners to explore new and creative ways to engage and deliver services to their families, while acquiring a better understanding of their strengths. Staff have particularly appreciated having a Parent Advocate as an equal partner. 
• In Augusta, ME, the goal of the BSC was to improve the assessment of safety and risk throughout the life of a case and, as a result, increase the timeliness of reunifications. Through the collaboration with community partners, teams were able to identify an immediate unmet need and find a way to fill the gap.
• Nashua, NH's BSC provided teams with a tool to review their practice and change it by creating and testing PDSAs. The fact that everyone could create or test a change in practice has made staff members feel empowered and able to better serve children and families.
• As Vermont moved to a differential response system last year, the BSC was instrumental in providing the structure for change in St. Albans. This new process has enhanced staff's ability to assess their strengths and explore new areas for growth as individual social workers and as members of a team and their community.
• In East-West Bay, RI, participation in the BSC has encouraged the collaboration between the child welfare agency, community providers, and families, while giving everyone equal input. Through communications with other States, staff have had the opportunity to gain insight into their agency's strengths and look at new ways to improve their practices.

The articles note that the BSC program effectively mobilized child welfare agencies to explore new ideas and enhance learning skills. Key recommendations focus on the importance of institutionalizing youth and parent engagement through policy and practice. 

Common Ground, Volume XXV, Number 2, is available on the Judge Baker Children Center, Harvard University, website:

www.jbcc.harvard.edu/publications/cg/Common%20Ground%20July%202010.pdf (4.68 MB)

A new publication from Oregon, Active Efforts: Principles and Expectations, offers guidelines for evaluating whether "active efforts" have been made in Indian child welfare cases in accordance with requirements in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The document directly applies to the active efforts requirement to provide services to allow a child to safely return home after he or she has been placed in out-of-home care.

The guide is designed to be used as a training tool and a guideline for agency staff, courts, and review board members to use in making active efforts findings. Some of the elements of making active efforts include:

• Identifying and contacting the child's parents, Indian custodians, or other household members that may be caregivers for the child
• Following all Tribal or ICWA placement preferences unless documented good cause to the contrary exists
• Providing assessments and services in the client's primary language
• Consulting with the child's Tribe in developing service and visitation plans
• Providing services that are culturally appropriate
• Maintaining intensive engagement with Indian children and their parents through more frequent contacts
• Documenting all assessments, offers of services, and contacts

This document was developed in consultation with the federally recognized Tribes of Oregon by the Department of Human Services and the Citizen Review Board. The publication received support from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) and Casey Family Programs. It is available on the NCJFCJ website:

www.ncjfcj.org/images/stories/dept/ppcd/pdf/oregonactiveeffortprinterfinal.pdf (1,639 KB)

The Fostering Connections Kinship Toolkit was designed to assist States considering applying for Guardian Assistance Program (GAP) funding. The toolkit was developed by the Resource Center's Kinship Network, which is led by the Children’s Defense Fund and Child Focus, and features tools to help assess any impact of the GAP, common myths and facts, as well as sample State legislation to help implement the program. Identification and notice tools, such as a sample letter for notice to relatives, also are included.

To view the toolkit, visit the Fostering Connections website:

www.fosteringconnections.org/resources?id=0002

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A new report from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law presents an overview of how States are handling the waivers of foster care licensing standards, and it includes recommendations to help States make the best use of the new legislation. Relative Foster Care Licensing Waivers in the States: Policies and Possibilities provides background information on waivers, eligibility for title IV-E funds, and Fostering Connections licensing requirements.

Find the report on the CLASP website:

www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Relative-foster-care-licensing-waivers-in-the-states101810.pdf (175 KB)

The National Center for Cultural Competence recently published A Guide for Using the Cultural and Linguistic Competence Family Organization Assessment Instrument. The CLCFOA was developed as a self-assessment tool for family organizations dealing with children and youth who have mental, emotional, and/or behavioral health disorders or special health-care needs or disabilities, and it was designed to help these organizations do the following:

• Plan for and incorporate culturally and linguistically competent policies, structures, and practices in all aspects
• Enhance the quality of services and supports they deliver within culturally diverse and underserved communities
• Promote cultural and linguistic competence as an essential approach in the elimination of disparities and the promotion of equality

The recently published guide gives detailed instructions to help organizations use the CLCFOA in a self-assessment that can help them gauge how well they are meeting the needs of diverse populations. The guide recommends using a four-phase approach to the self-assessment process, including:

1. Establish a structure to guide the work
2. Create a shared vision and shared ownership
3. Collect, analyze, and disseminate data
4. Develop and implement a plan of action

For each phase, the guide gives more detailed instructions and tips on how to best go about conducting each stage of the assessment.

Link to the guide on the National Center for Cultural Competence website:

www11.georgetown.edu/research/gucchd/nccc/documents/NCCC_CLCFOAGuide.pdf (169 KB)

A new promising practice profile from the Finance Project describes the development and implementation of Philadelphia's Policy Analysis Center (PAC), an initiative that began in 2010 to increase data sharing across all human service agencies in the city. Jointly run by the city's school district and the deputy mayor for health and opportunity, PAC strives to increase the quality and availability of data that organizations and decision-makers can use to enhance service coordination and ultimately improve youth outcomes.

Because data from Philadelphia's human service agencies previously existed in separate case management systems, PAC will combine those databases into one integrated system. The Finance Project describes the challenges faced by the initiative but also summarizes the benefits the city has already experienced. In particular, PAC has used the data to research the effects of early childhood education on school readiness, coordination between homeless shelters and child welfare agencies, and factors related to school dropout. The staff at PAC encourage the city's human service agencies to reap the benefits of the integrated data system by seeking cross-system research that evaluates program effectiveness and assesses the impact of various city programs on youth.

The report concludes with recommendations for successfully creating a shared data system across youth-serving agencies:

• Identify organizations and databases that contain pertinent information
• Obtain access to data-sharing initiatives and receive training on interpreting the data
• Develop clear processes and procedures for collecting, analyzing, and using data, including data-sharing agreements, and ensure the database is financially sustained
• Collect complete data to improve the quality and accuracy of data available
• Find innovative and affordable ways to share the data with other organizations

Read the full profile, Sharing Data Across Youth-Serving Agencies: Philadelphia's Policy and Analysis Center (PAC), on the Finance Project website:

www.financeproject.org/publications/PPP-DataSharing.pdf (64 KB)

Eliminating spanking as a means of disciplining children is the focus of Plain Talk About Spanking, a factsheet from Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE). Author Jordan Riak describes both the short-term physical and emotional damage that can be inflicted by spanking and the long-term consequences of physical punishment, including delinquency, truancy, drug abuse, domestic violence, and adult criminal behavior.

The factsheet, which is written in easy-to-understand language, also includes a section of frequently asked questions about spanking, advice from child experts on the topic, and suggestions for advocacy.

Originally published in 1992, the factsheet has recently been updated and made available online.

www.nospank.net/pt2010.pdf (801 KB)

Adoptees Have Answers (AHA), based in Minnesota, is an all-adoptee staffed and led initiative and a live and virtual community designed to be a safe environment for the exchange of adoption-related knowledge and communication between adoptees. This new program is the first of its kind in the country. AHA's foundation is based in current research and reflects the belief that adoptees are experts on their own needs and benefit greatly from sharing their experiences with their peers – other adoptees.

As an online forum, AHA provides individual profile pages, discussion boards, blogs, and a monthly e-newsletter. AHA also offers education from an adoptee perspective, which includes adoption and foster care factsheets, webinars on such topics as how to start an adoptee support group for adults and youth, CDs, and videotapes. A number of live events and Minnesota-based support groups also are hosted by AHA staff and listed on the website.

This program was launched in April 2010 and is funded by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. For more information, visit the website:

http://aha.mn

For unaccompanied homeless youth who lack the support and guidance of an adult, the hope of attending college presents many struggles, such as how they will pay tuition and where will they reside when campus housing is closed. The National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE) has developed an issue brief to inform postsecondary educators and education administrators about the struggles of homeless youth and possible solutions that can help these youth achieve a college education.

This NCHE brief provides:

• A better understanding of this population of young people and the educational and other challenges they face
• A summary of Federal education legislation that gives unaccompanied homeless youth access to important educational supports
• Samples of promising practices implemented by high schools, colleges, and universities to assist them in succeeding in college
• Links to resources

NCHE is funded by U.S. Department of Education Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs. The brief, Increasing Access to Higher Education for Unaccompanied Youth: Information for Colleges and Universities, is available on the NCHE website:

http://center.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/higher_ed.pdf (620 KB)

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago are offering the Doris Duke Fellowship for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Doctoral students interested in careers in child maltreatment prevention are encouraged to apply for the fellowship program, which will provide $25,000 annually for up to 2 years. The application deadline is December 1, 2010. For more information, visit the Chapin Hall website:

http://chapinhall.org/assets/video/introduction-doris-duke-fellowships-prevention-child-abuse-and-neglect

The September 2010 issue of Adoption Advocate, a publication of the National Council For Adoption, discusses how the classroom can be more adoption-friendly for foster and adopted children. "Back to School: A Guide to Making Schools and School Assignments More Adoption-Friendly," by Christine Mitchell, is designed to help educators become more aware of and sensitive to the needs of children in foster care and children who have been adopted and to help foster and adoptive parents advocate for their school-age children.

The article explains how typical school assignments can turn into a source of distress and discomfort for foster or adopted children and offers alternative assignments that are more inclusive and have a broader scope. Alternatives are suggested for such assignments as "bring a baby picture to class," "complete your family tree," "tell your family history," and "create a timeline of your life." The importance of positive adoption language in the classroom also is emphasized.

Download the full article from the National Council For Adoption website:

www.adoptioncouncil.org/images/stories/NCFA_ADOPTION_ADVOCATE_NO27.pdf (663 KB)

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The Adoptive Families website offers a number of adoption-related resources for the classroom that can help parents, teachers, and students better understand adoption:

www.adoptivefamilies.com/school/index.php

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

December 2010

• 12th National Indian Nations Conference
  Justice for Victims of Crime
  U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime & The Tribal Law and Policy Institute
  December 9–11, Palm Springs, CA
  http://ovcinc.org/default.aspx
• 25th National Training Institute
  ZERO TO THREE
  December 9–11, Phoenix, AZ
  http://zttnticonference.org
• 2010 Child Abuse Conference
  ChildSafe: Hope and Healing for Sexually Abused Children
  December 13–14, San Antonio, TX
  www.childsafe-sa.org/events_conference.html

January 2011

• 18th Annual Children's Law Institute
  January 12–14, Albuquerque, NM
  www.childrenslawinstitute.org
• Emerging Horizons for Social Work Research
  Society for Social Work and Research
  January 12–16, Tampa, FL
  www.sswr.org/conferences.php
• 25th Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment
  Chadwick Center for Children and Families
  January 22–28, San Diego, CA
  www.sandiegoconference.org

February 2011

• Strive to Thrive: Building Systems of Care for Birth to Fives
  Children's Institute, Inc.
  February 3–4, Long Beach, CA
  www.childrensinstitute.org/events/details/18
• Innovations in Wraparound National Conference
  Brevard Family Partnership and the Wraparound National Initiative
  February 16–18, Cocoa Beach, FL
  www.brevardfp.org/home/pages/WraparoundConferenceFeb1618CocoaBeachFL.cfm

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

Nominations are being accepted for the Leadership Academy for Middle Managers (LAMM), a national leadership development program of the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, a service of the Children's Bureau. The goal of the LAMM is to enhance the leadership skills of child welfare middle managers who are developing and implementing a sustainable systems change initiative to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families in their State, region, Tribe, or metropolitan area.

Participants in the LAMM program will complete several pretraining assignments, attend a 5-day residential training program, and participate in posttraining peer networking activities. The training addresses topics such as:

• Learning the skills to lead and manage effectively
• Assessing an organization's readiness for change
• Developing an implementation framework
• Using data to guide change
• Engaging partners and families

States and Tribes are encouraged to nominate middle managers in significant leadership roles from public and Tribal child welfare systems and from private agencies contracting with the State to provide case management services. LAMM participants will be selected from all 10 Federal Regions, and the trainings will occur several times in locations across the country over the next 3 years.

Find more program and nomination information on the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute website:

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