Creating a Support System for Children in Foster Care December 4, 2018
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Agenda • Introductions and Logistics • Welcome and Resource Center Overview • Child Welfare and Healthy Relationships – Kary A. James, MSW, Child Welfare Information Gateway • Creating Healthy Relationships for Foster Families – Jacquelyn K. Mallette, PhD, CFLE, East Carolina University • Supporting Youth Relationships by Supporting Families – Oriana Carey, MSW, LCSW, Coalition for Children, Youth & Families
Presenters • Robyn Cenizal, CFLE, Project Director, National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families ( facilitator ) • Kary James, MSW, Executive Director, Child Welfare Information Gateway • Jacquelyn Mallette, Ph.D., CFLE, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Science, East Carolina University • Oriana Carey, CEO, Coalition for Children, Youth & Families National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Welcome and Resource Center Overview Robyn Cenizal, CFLE Project Director, National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families Principal, ICF National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Focus on Core Skills Healthy marriage education skills are the core components of healthy relationship education and include: • Interpersonal skills such as communication and conflict resolution; • Along with critical skills like parenting and financial education. These skills can be successfully integrated individually or collectively to reduce stress and improve communication. National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families www.healthymarriageandfamilies.org #MarriageResCtr • Website features include: • Monthly Newsletter • • Highlight tips, resources, and upcoming Media Gallery events • Webinar and E-Newsletter Archives • LinkedIn • • Connect with professionals across the Calendar of Events country • Resource Library • Twitter • • Share information and engage more Virtual Training Center dynamically National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Stakeholder Specific and Culturally Responsive Resources ▪ Toolkits ▪ Fact Sheets ▪ Research to Practice Briefs ▪ Tip Sheets ▪ Guides www.HealthyMarriageandFamilies.org National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Special Collection Visit: Healthymarriageandfamilies.org to see our new special collection National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Child Welfare and Healthy Relationships Kary A. James, MSW Executive Director, Child Welfare Information Gateway National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Child Welfare Information Gateway • Child Welfare Information Gateway promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families by connecting current and future child welfare and adoption professionals, as well as the public, to information, resources, and tools covering topics on child welfare, child abuse and neglect, out-of-home care, adoption, and more. • A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we provide access to print and electronic publications, websites, databases, and online learning tools for improving child welfare practice, including resources that can be shared with families. National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Child Welfare Overview The child welfare system is a group of services designed to promote the well- being of children by ensuring safety, achieving permanency, and strengthening families to care for their children successfully. While the primary responsibility for child welfare services rests with the States, the Federal Government plays a major role in supporting States in the delivery of services through funding of programs and legislative initiatives.
Child Welfare Overview Guiding Purpose & Standards: • Child’s needs and welfare • Preserve family unity when possible • Time-limited involvement Our children*… 437,465+ currently in foster care 117,794+ waiting for adoption 700,000+ confirmed victims of maltreatment
The Goals of Child Welfare • The goal of child welfare is to promote the well-being, permanency, and safety of children and families by helping families care for their children successfully or, when that is not possible, helping children find permanency with kin or adoptive families. • Among children who enter foster care, most will return safely to the care of their own families or go to live with relatives or an adoptive family. National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
The Child Welfare System • • Report of suspected abuse or Family-preservation services neglect o Case planning • • Out-of-home placement Assessment/investigation of o Various placement options allegations • Case planning • Permanency planning • Case determination o Substantiated o Unsubstantiated
Healthy Relationships with Foster Youth • While many youth are resilient in the face of their removal, the reality is that being removed from a biological parent’s care is a traumatic experience of a child, regardless of their age or circumstances at the time of removal. • Research shows that undergoing adverse experiences early in life can have a significant impact on short term social and emotional functioning, as well as long-term stability of physical and mental health. • This translates into youth having difficulties forming and maintaining healthy relationships with peers and adult figures throughout their lives. National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Support the Development of Lifelong Connections Children and adolescents in foster care need long- term, supportive, and nurturing connections. Many foster youth lack these connections, and the longer they spend in care, the harder it is for them to learn how to create this type of healthy bond. Constantly moving foster homes, changing social workers, having to adjust to multiple school placements, or a lack of a solid familial support system make it difficult for children to feel connected.
How to Support Foster Youth • Encouraging children to contact, visit, and interact with immediate and extended family members, when appropriate, who may remain in their life beyond the time the child welfare system is involved. • Paying attention to the number of relationships a youth has with non-child welfare professionals, and encouraging interactions with non-system-based supportive figures. • Modeling healthy relationship skills including positive communication and conflict management can establish a solid foundation for strengthening resiliency and developing healthy relationship skills that will serve them into adulthood. National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Resources For more detailed information about the child welfare system, and promoting healthy relationships for foster youth please refer to the resources listed below. For more information about the child welfare system in your State or local jurisdiction, contact your local public child welfare agency. • Zero to Three: Social and Emotional Development. https://www.zerotothree.org/early- development/social-and- emotional- development • Child Welfare Information Gateway: Resources on Nurturing and Attachment. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/ preventing/promoting/protectfactors/ nurture-attach/ • Badeau, S., & Gesiriech, S. (2003). A child’s journey through the child welfare system . Washington, DC: The Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care. Retrieved from http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_ work_report_detail.aspx?id=48990 • Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2011). Understanding child welfare and the courts . Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau. Retrieved from https://www. childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/ cwandcourts.cfm • Goldman, J., & Salus, M. (2003). A coordinated response to child abuse and neglect: The foundation for practice (The User Manual Series). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from https://www. childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/ foundation/index.cfm National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Contact Information Kary A. James, MSW Executive Director Child Welfare Information Gateway Email: kjames@childwelfare.gov Website: www.childwelfare.gov Free Subscriptions: https://www.childwelfare.gov/subscribe/ National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
Creating Healthy Relationships for Foster Families Jacquelyn K. Mallette, PhD, CFLE Assistant Professor, East Carolina University National Resource Center for Healthy Marriage and Families
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