Author's Posts:
Key Message: Allocate Resources to Engage Families In Services and Supports
It is important for child welfare systems to link families to services prior to the attainment of permanence and to continue to offer supports and services after permanence has been achieved. Once permanence has been achieved, investment in low-cost outreach strategies can facilitate on-going support and connections with families. These strategies are designed to inform families … Read More »
Key Message: Ensure Supports Are Available to Families Who Adopt Children Privately (Domestic or Intercountry)
While most adoptees are physically and emotionally healthy, adopted children are more likely than non-adopted children to have significant physical health problems as well as difficulties with emotions, concentration, and behavior. Most often, this increased risk is due to adoptees’ exposure to adverse experiences before coming to their adoptive families. Children who are adopted through … Read More »
Key Message: Remember, Not Every Family Will Have an Unmet Service Need
Child welfare and related systems need to provide permanency services and supports that meet the varied needs of the diverse population they serve. Engaging families in services early in the permanency process will help children and families feel supported, strengthen caregiver competency, mitigate caregivers’ feelings of lack of preparedness and doubt, and create lasting social … Read More »
Key Message: Respond Expediently to Families’ Unique Service Needs With Evidence-Based Services and Support
Child welfare and related systems need to provide permanency services and supports that meet the varied needs of the diverse population they serve. Engaging families in services early in the permanency process will help children and families feel supported, strengthen caregiver competency, mitigate caregivers’ feelings of lack of preparedness and doubt, and create lasting social … Read More »
Key Message: Empower Families to Seek Support
For generations, the conventional wisdom was that once children obtained permanence through adoption or guardianship, any previous trauma a child may have experienced would be eliminated by joining a forever family. As a result, it was generally assumed that once a child achieved legal permanence, there would be no need for these families to seek … Read More »
Key Message: Support Families Who Provide Permanence
Over the past decade, the number of children supported through federally funded adoption and guardianship subsidies has increased substantially. Given the number of children who live in adoptive and guardianship homes, it is important that we allocate resources to ensure the stability and well-being of the children. It is imperative that we continue to support … Read More »