April 2006Vol. 7, No. 3Print issueSpotlight on National Child Abuse Prevention Month

African American parents who adopted through private agencies that specialized in placing African American children differed significantly from parents who adopted through public agencies. A California study that compared characteristics of 83 private adopters with data on public agency adopters found that African American parents adopting through private agencies were younger, had more education, had higher incomes, adopted younger children, and adopted fewer children than African American families adopting through public agencies. Data on foster parent adopters and kinship adopters were not included.

Researchers also found that 70 percent of the private adopters had unsuccessfully attempted to adopt through public agencies before applying to the private agencies. These families were either turned down by the public agencies, or they dropped out, sometimes because of discomfort with the process.

The study's authors discuss the role of private African American adoption agencies in recruiting adoptive families, especially those who might not adopt through public agencies. These agencies may be better equipped to guide African American parents through the adoption process.

"The Role of Private Adoption Agencies in Facilitating African American Adoptions," by T. C. Smith-McKeever and R. G. McRoy, was published in Families in Society, Volume 86(4):

http://alliance1.metapress.com/content/r321506238733638/?p=ef6164fb805d4d82b14efbd16ca6323f&pi=8

Children and adolescents who lose their parents because of a termination of parental rights (TPR) may respond with a variety of coping strategies, some of which may not promote good mental health. Despite their parents' maltreatment, these children often grieve the parental loss and may need specific help in developing coping strategies that help them heal and move forward.

To study coping strategies, researchers interviewed 60 children and adolescents, ages 9–18, who had been removed from their parents because of abuse or neglect. After an average of eight placements in foster care, these children had been placed in residential treatment because of moderate to severe emotional difficulties.

The researchers found that the children tended to use avoidant coping strategies the most, followed by emotion-focused coping strategies and problem-focused coping strategies. Only emotion-focused coping strategies, which involved focusing on feelings by expressing them, were associated with greater psychological symptomatology.

Mental health practitioners who treat children grieving the loss of their parents due to TPR may want to shift their focus away from the expression of emotions to a more concrete focus that includes:

• Answering children's questions about the situation
• Helping the children develop problem-solving skills
• Working toward increasing self-esteem
• Developing the children's interpersonal skills
• Increasing the children's social network

This study, "Coping with Parental Loss Because of Termination of Parental Rights," by K. M. Schneider and V. Phares, was published in the November/December 2005 issue of Child Welfare.

http://www.ocfcpacourts.us/assets/files/list-762/file-953.pdf (PDF - 1,096 KB)

The Department of State has issued a final rule on the accreditation and approval of agencies and persons in accordance with the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption and the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA) of 2000. The Convention and the IAA generally require that agencies and persons be accredited or approved to provide adoption services for intercountry adoptions when both countries involved are parties to the Convention.

Effective March 17, 2006, the new action establishes:

• The accreditation and approval standards that accrediting entities will use for agencies and persons
• Requirements applicable to potential accrediting entities
• A framework for the Department's oversight of accrediting entities, agencies, and persons

In taking this step, the United States has moved closer to ratification of the Hague Convention, since there must be accredited and approved service providers before the Convention can be brought into force.

To read the State Department's final rule as published in the Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 31, go to:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2006-02-15/pdf/06-1067.pdf (PDF - 591 KB)

For more general information on the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, visit the State Department's website:

http://adoption.state.gov/hague_convention.php

Related Item

Children's Bureau Express last wrote about the Hague Convention in "State Department Issues Proposed Regulations for Intercountry Adoptions" (October 2003).

A unique approach to preventing maltreatment of infants and toddlers capitalizes on the natural relationships between childcare providers and parents. Childcare providers are trained to provide support, guidance, and information to parents and to intervene effectively when risk factors for abuse and neglect are identified. The program, Partnering with Parents: Preventing Abuse and Neglect, provides training for trainers and a curriculum for use with early childhood educators, directors, and family childcare home providers.

The program’s curriculum consists of 10 modules focused on three major areas:

• Working effectively with very young children and their families
• Reducing the risk of child abuse and neglect
• The role of the program director

Developed by ZERO TO THREE in partnership with NACCRRA, the Nation’s Network of Child Care Resource and Referral, the program has been in use for over 2 years. To date, teams from 12 States have been trained. Teams have consisted of trainers who work with childcare resource and referral agencies, as well as experts in child abuse and neglect from the community. A recent training held at ZERO TO THREE’s Washington, DC, office trained 40 additional trainers.

Preliminary evaluation data have been collected through self-reports from 240 trainers and more than 2,700 childcare professionals trained by the trainers. These data indicate that trainers experienced an average knowledge gain of 26 percent in such areas as relationship-based training strategies, observation, flexible response, and the impact of abuse and neglect on infants and toddlers. Their trainees showed a 19–23 percent increase in knowledge.

The Preventing Abuse and Neglect: Parent-Teacher Partnerships in Child Care curriculum will be available from ZERO TO THREE this summer. For more information about the program and training of trainers, visit the website:

http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/areas-of-expertise/training-and-professional-development/pcan.html

A new apartment complex in the Bronx, New York, houses a unique clientele of grandparents raising their grandchildren. In most cases, grandparents obtained custody of their grandchildren because the children's parents died, were incarcerated, or had their parental rights terminated because of substance abuse, mental illness, or child neglect. Grandparents stepped in to take care of the children, even though many did not have the financial capacity to do so.

The 50 apartments in the GrandParent Family Apartments offer an affordable housing option to these low-income grandparents. They also offer a variety of services designed especially for this population and its wide age range. For instance, grandparents have access to a social worker, support groups, and parenting classes. Children can receive tutoring and take part in social events. Group meals are often made available for everyone.

The project is the result of a public-private collaboration among three groups:

• Presbyterian Senior Services sponsored the project, receiving money from low-income housing programs to produce equity for funding; they also provide the onsite services to residents.
• West Side Federation For Senior and Supportive Housing served as the developer.
• New York City Housing Authority donated the land and rental subsidies.

Local, State, Federal, and private funds contributed to the project.

For more information about GrandParent Family Apartments, contact:

David Taylor, Presbyterian Senior Services, dtaylor@pssusa.org
Laura Jervis, West Side Federation For Senior and Supportive Housing, ljervis@wsfssh.org

Youth programs are among the priorities recently announced for the Public Welfare Foundation's 2006 funding cycle. The focus is on support for organizations that include service, advocacy, or empowerment in their approach.

The Youth Program promotes the positive development of young people through improving access to quality education and training, adequate health services, leadership development, and empowerment. Complete information about funding opportunities and requirements can be found on their website:

www.publicwelfare.org/

The Office of Child Development and Mental Health (OCDMH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. It was established to provide consultation, technical assistance, and training to juvenile and family court judicial officers and other professionals working with high-risk children and their families.

OCDMH covers such topics as childhood development, neuropsychiatry, and mental health. Services include research reviews, consultation, reviews of psychological testing and psychiatric evaluations, lectures, training, and technical assistance to programs and professionals. Information and services can be accessed through their website:

http://childrensprogram.wordpress.com/

Providing up-to-date information on available grants from private foundations is the core mission of the Foundation Center. The information about each foundation includes:

• Contacts
• Funding levels
• Types of projects funded

This information is available to subscribers through an online searchable database and at libraries across the country.

In addition, the Foundation Center researches trends in the field and provides education and training on the grantmaking process through online tutorials and print publications. The Center also publishes several free e-newsletters that provide the most current information on grant opportunities. Complete information about the products and services is available on the Foundation Center website:

http://foundationcenter.org/

The Colorado Alliance for Drug-Endangered Children (DEC) is a nonprofit group that provides information, resources, and protocols for professionals who respond to the needs of children who have been exposed to the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. While some of the information is State-specific, the website has a great deal of medical and research information, as well as an up-to-date news page and responses to frequently asked questions about children and methamphetamine.

www.coloradodec.org

Family Group Conferencing (FGC) safeguards children by broadening the group of people who are committed to their safety. A new book, Widening the Circle: The Practice and Evaluation of Family Group Conferencing with Children, Youths, and Their Families, shows how FGC can empower the family group to develop and implement a plan for safeguarding children and other family members, with the support of the child welfare agency and other community organizations.

The book offers direction to child welfare workers on how to work with family groups and their service providers. The four sections address different aspects of FGC:

• Setting up and carrying out the conference
• Initiating and sustaining an FGC program
• Evaluating conferencing
• FGC as an alternative to traditional child welfare methods

Widening the Circle was edited by J. Pennell and G. Anderson and published by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). It is available through the NASW website:

www.naswpress.org/publications/children/widening.html (Editor's note: Link no longer active)

The understanding and treatment of traumatized children in out-of-home care is the focus of a new book, Working with Traumatized Children in Child Welfare. The book provides a framework for understanding childhood separation, loss, and trauma, as well as a variety of helping interventions that focus on specific populations or treatments.

The book is divided into three main sections:

• Early chapters examine the impact of trauma on the child welfare population, including principles of neurodevelopment and parental and social conditions that contribute to childhood trauma.
• Chapters on treatment cover ethnically sensitive practice, children with disabilities, animal-assisted therapy, adolescent mothers, and eye-movement desensitization.
• A final section of the book discusses proposals for improved collaboration between the child welfare and mental health systems.

Working with Traumatized Children in Child Welfare was edited by N. B. Webb, and contributing authors included a number of experts in child welfare and mental health. It was published by Guilford Publications and is available through their website:

www.guilford.com/cgi-bin/cartscript.cgi?page=pr/webb7.htm&dir=pp/taptsd&cart_id=577315.2304

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has analyzed 57 Federal programs that address the needs of youth with serious mental health conditions who are transitioning into adulthood. Their Moving On series of factsheets offers information about each program’s purpose, services and funded activities, the administering Federal agency, and a brief assessment of the program’s impact. Twelve types of programs are included:

• Mental health
• Substance abuse
• Health services
• Basic supports
• School-based programs addressing transition issues
• Higher education
• Independent living for people with disabilities and other special populations
• Generic independent living skills
• Housing
• Family planning and parenting assistance
• Social services
• Youth involved with juvenile justice

Moving On: Analysis of Federal Programs Funding Services for Transition-Age Youth with Serious Mental Health Conditions is available on the Bazelon website:

http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Publications/CategoryID/14/List/1/Level/a/ProductID/8.aspx?SortField=ProductNumber%2CProductNumber

Parents Anonymous has built its child abuse prevention program around a concept of shared parent leadership within community-based organizations. The national Parents Anonymous organization supports the development of effective shared parent leadership through an extensive program of training, technical assistance, publications, and research. Training and technical assistance are offered for government agencies, community-based organizations, professionals, and parents.

A core piece of the Parents Anonymous training and technical assistance program is Shared Leadership in Action. This program can be customized to meet specific needs of public and private agencies and communities in developing the leadership skills needed to effectively partner with parents. The program has seven key components, including needs assessment and planning, organizational development, training, ongoing technical assistance, staff support, recruitment of parent leaders, and evaluation.

Information about training is available online:

http://parentsanonymous.org/programs/shared-leadership-in-action-program/

The Child Trauma Academy offers a variety of free online courses on child trauma. Their newest course, Bonding and Attachment in Maltreated Children, provides basic information on definitions of bonding and attachment, as well as a discussion of how attachment can be impaired when a child is abused or neglected.

Optional CEU credits are available for successful completion of the course. Visit the website to take the course and to view other course offerings:

www.childtraumaacademy.com

Upcoming national conferences on adoption and child welfare through July 2006 include:

May

• Methamphetamine and Child Welfare Conference for Child Welfare and Alcohol and Drug Agency Directors
  The Children's Bureau and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  May 8–9, Washington, DC
  Directors will receive invitations.
• What It Takes: Promising Practices and Collaboration for Families with Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Issues
  American Humane Association's Rocky Mountain Quality Improvement Center
  May 16–17, Phoenix/Mesa, AZ
• The Pathways to Adulthood National Independent Living/Transitional Living Conference
  National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development
  May 17–19, Portland, OR
• America's Families: We All Play a Supporting Role
  Prevent Child Abuse America
  May 21–24, San Diego, CA
• 2006 Juvenile Justice National Symposium: Building Successful Alliances to Improve Outcomes
  Child Welfare League of America
  May 31–June 2, San Francisco, CA

June

• We Belong to Each Other: 2006 Conference and Skills Building Institutes on Family Group Decision Making
  American Humane Association
  June 5–8, San Antonio, TX
• Many Paths, One Direction: Strategies for Achieving Lasting Reform in Child Welfare
  The Children's Bureau 2006 Meeting of States and Tribes
  June 20–22, Arlington, VA
  Participants will receive invitations.
• APSAC 14th Annual Colloquium
  The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
  June 21–24, Nashville, TN
• First Annual Conference: Parenting Traumatized Children
  Attachment Disorder Network
  June 22–24, Norcross, GA

July

• 20th Annual Conference: Treatment Foster Care: Withstanding the Test of Time
  Foster Family-Based Treatment Association
  July 16–19, Pittsburgh, PA
• The 9th National Child Welfare Data and Technology Conference
  The National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology
  July 19–21, Washington, DC
  

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