Permanency in the News is a weekly email roundup of media stories on permanency in child welfare curated and distributed by Dr. Greg Manning. Below you will find this week’s edition.
Permanency Tip of the Week: What Does Readiness Mean for Permanency?
When we talk about readiness for permanency, it is important to realize that as humans we all need permanency. The instinctual need for permanency, wired into our brain, is even more critically important to secure for children, especially those with histories of grief and loss, attachment disruption and trauma like our youth in foster care. Because it is an instinctual need, everyone is by default ready for permanency. The challenge for us serving our youth in foster care comes with guiding them towards being willing and able to pursue, accept and embrace permanency.
Permanency Story of the Week: 70 Kids Find ‘Forever Families’ on Adoption Day
KCCI – DES MOINES — Adoption day is always a special moment for families across Iowa, as courts grant custody of children to new families. But it’s not just the families who are excited for the day. Last Saturday in Polk County, judges finalized the adoptions of 70 children. As part of the celebration, some of the children received some special gifts made by Judge Robert Blink. He works hard creating the toys by hand in his basement. “It takes a toll on the judge so you need something that kind of refreshes your soul,” Blink said. “I want to hear those loud wooden wheels going on that counsel’s table or banging into something.” The children also received handmade quilts from Iowans who just want them to know their families are loved.
Current Permanency Related Articles:
Finding Joy in Working With Children Who Struggle With Attachment
PsychCentral – Working with a child who has experienced chronic, complex trauma and hasn’t yet developed the skills or allowed herself to risk developing a safe, reciprocal, healthy connection is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had as a clinician. I can now look back at Maria, my first long-term client in residential care and understand that her constant rejection of my support, impressively skilled ability at pressing buttons I didn’t know I had and motivation to get her needs met in any way she could find (often mislabeled as manipulation), was a function of survival and the fear of connection.
These kids are tough, but I happen to love to work with them. Children with attachment disorders often do not respond to typical therapeutic interventions and require an open minded, reflective approach to their care … Through practicing activities that foster attunement and reciprocity, teaching empathy and perspective-taking and providing a wide variety of healthy strategies for regulation, these children and their families can heal.
Adopting Kids with Medical Needs: The Better Part of Sainthood
Healthzette – From babies born to drug-addicted moms to those abandoned because of their special needs, many young children don’t just need parents – they need someone who can go the extra mile for them and provide medical, emotional, and post-traumatic care.
ACEs Connection Network is excited to announce that it has partnered with the producers of the film, Portraits of Professional CAREgivers: Their Passion. Their Pain. to host a free screening of the film for our members. If you have been thinking of hosting a screening of CAREgivers in your community or are interested in learning more about secondary traumatic stress and what to do about it, join the ACEs Connection Network for a free screening of this film and a virtual chat with the producers following the film. This virtual screening will take place on Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at 11:00 AM PST/2:00 PM EST. The film is one hour long. RSVP is required in order to receive the link and password for the film. To register for this screening, please send your name, title, organization, and your email address by December 2 to [email protected]. This is required in order for you to receive access to the film. On December 5th, the producers will email the link and password for accessing the film to all ACEs Connection Network members who RSVP.
Interview with Pioneer Researchers in Open Adoption
Creating A Family – Is open adoption good for kids? Is it good for adoptive families? Host Dawn Davenport, executive director of Creating a Family, the national infertility & adoption education and support nonprofit, interviews Dr. Hal Grotevant and Dr. Ruth McRoy, leading researchers in open adoption.
Understanding Child Welfare and the Courts
Child Welfare Information Gateway – Families involved with the child welfare system must often engage with the judicial system. This factsheet is designed to demystify the legal process and inform families of their rights and responsibilities. It includes frequently asked questions about the different stages of court proceedings, how parents and family members can prepare for court hearings, and who and what to expect in the courtroom and throughout the process.
Reinventing the Child Welfare Agency’s Relationship With Foster Parents
Annie E Casey Foundation – Building on years of experience working with communities across the country to improve how children and families fare in child welfare systems, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has deepened its resolve to help the field advance this vision of foster parent partnerships that place children at the center of the equation. It is critical to break the cycle that fuels a negative public perception of foster parenting to help stem the dire shortage of foster families.
Key principles: 1) Ensure quality caregiving for children. 2) Forge Strong Relationships; 3) Find and keep more amazing caregivers.