Casey Family Programs

November is National Adoption Month. Each year, Child Welfare Information Gateway publishes a great website with information and resources for the public as well as child welfare agencies and professionals. Check it out at https://lnkd.in/dQpWhF7g #NationalAdoptionMonth #Adoption

National Adoption Month statement from Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston: "When we think about connection, we should view it through the lens of a kin-first culture and promote young people's relationships with relatives, their communities, and those who share their racial and ethnic identities." #NationalAdoptionMonth #Adoption #Permanency

How can individuals with direct experience of child welfare help to reform the system? iFoster conducted a national survey to better understand the perspectives of young adults with experience in foster care. Here’s what they said. #ChildWelfare #FosterYouthVoiceMonth

Is your agency considering employing youth peer mentors? Parent peer mentorship is a recognized therapeutic model that’s been around for some time. While some principles of effective parent partnership also apply to youth mentorship, the unique developmental needs of youth require special considerations, particularly concerning hiring, training, supervision, and professional development. #ChildWelfare #FosterYouthVoiceMonth

Young adults currently or formerly impacted by the child welfare system deserve a voice when it comes to how systems can improve services. When seeking the perspectives of youth with lived experience, agencies and organizations should plan to spend time preparing the youth for their work. How can agencies and organizations prepare for authentic youth engagement? #ChildWelfare #FosterYouthVoice #LivedExperience #YouthEngagement

There's a new report from Chapin Hall about establishing community pathways for preventative services. The goal of the new policy brief is to define community pathways in the Family First context, outline implementation requirements, highlight potential opportunities and tensions and offer recommendations for jurisdictions interested in pursuing this strategy. https://bit.ly/4dsKoOl #ChildWelfare #FamiliyPreservation #PreventativeServices #FamilyFirst #FFPSA

During Kinship Care Month, we invite you to explore our resources to help your agency move toward a kin-first culture. You can find all kinship care-related content on our site here: https://bit.ly/4dkdAH6 #ChildWelfare #KinshipCare #KinshipCareMonth

“For a lot of kin caregivers, hope is in short supply. Part of our job is to instill that hope,” Heidi Lester, Program Manager, Montana Kinship Navigator Program. This brief explains why we need kinship navigator programs and what they should include. We also offer several examples of kinship navigators in use, including outcomes. https://bit.ly/2P2XkiH #ChildWelfare #KinshipCare #KinshipCareMonth

How do children in foster care fare academically when placed with relatives versus typical non-relative foster care? We put together this one-page summary of research examining academic achievement for children in foster care, children in kinship care and children in the general population. #ChildWelfare #KinshipCare #KinshipCareMonth #BackToSchool

All children deserve lifelong family connections and a permanent place to call home. If a child must be removed from their home, the agency should do all they can to ensure that the child is able to maintain relationships with their extended relatives and chosen family. In this recently updated brief, we share some examples of effective family search and engagement tools: https://bit.ly/4dKQ2MA #ChildWelfare #KinshipCare #FictiveKin #KinshipCareMonth