Child Welfare League of America

Workshop Session B

B1 Exploring Permanency for Children in the Foster Care System Using AFCARS Data

Focus in this workshop is on analyses of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data. Also, participants compare various aspects of different permanency outcomes for children in the foster care system. Outcomes include reunification with parent(s) or caretakers, adoption, guardianship, and live-with-relative.
Presenter: Penelope Maza, Senior Policy Research Analyst, Administration for Children and Families, Administration for Youth and Families, Children's Bureau, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC

B2 AdoptUsKids Recruitment Response Team Network: A National Initiative on the Local Level

This workshop describes the AdoptUsKids Recruitment Response Team (RRT) initiative and the role it has played in improving foster/adoptive parent recruitment around the country. Evaluation results are presented, and participants learn how collaboration with the RRT in their state or region can help to recruit and retain families for waiting children.
Presenters: Ellie Bradsher, Senior Research Assistant, CWLA, Washington, DC; and LaNae Gwilliam, RRT Director, Adoption Exchange Association, Baltimore

B3 Kinship Care: Recent Findings from Analyses of the National Survey of America's Families and AFCARS

The focus in this workshop is on findings from two recent analyses of foster youth living in kinship care. The first study, using the National Survey of America's Families, provides findings regarding the standard of living of children placed in kinship care. The second survey features trends in states' use of kinship care, and explores child welfare experiences of children placed in kinship care versus youth placed in nonkin foster care placements. These analyses provide important information about child welfare policy and practice.
Presenters: Tracy Vericker and Jennifer Macomber, Research Associates, Urban Institute; and Robert Geen, Vice President, Child Trends, Washington, DC

B4 Jumpstart to Permanency: A Systemic Approach to the Foster Care System in Broward County

Jumpstart to Permanency is an intensive, solution-focused program that is designed to bring together participants in the dependency system (biological parents, attorneys, judges, child advocates, and guardians ad litem). The purpose is to create constructive dialogue and dissolve barriers in order to propel the case towards permanency. Children need permanence and stability to thrive, and many children in foster care languish without a permanent place to call home, due to lack of communication among these participants. The presentation focuses on using facilitation to achieve the goal of permanency in the system.
Presenters: Andrea Owes, Systems Facilitator, Sparkle Callender, Systems Facilitator, and Mary Garcia, Facilitator, Children's Home Society of Florida, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; and Christopher Burnett, Professor, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

B5 Intergenerational Housing: Grandfamilies and the Legacy Act

This workshop explores supportive public policies, programs, and resources available to assist grandfamilies (kinship caregivers) as they address the many challenges often associated with raising their grandchildren. In particular, there is a focus on the struggle to acquire and maintain safe and affordable housing for the children for whom they have taken responsibility.
Presenters: Brent Elrod, Program Director, and Jaia Peterson Lent, Public Policy Director, Generations United, Washington, DC

B6 Creative and Comprehensive Support for Children in Kinship Care

The focus in this workshop is on services, programs, and supports to children living in kinship care through the Brookdale Foundation's Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP). The program is designed to encourage and promote the creation or expansion of services for grandparents and other relatives who are parenting due to the absence of the parents.
Presenters: Rolanda Pyle, Associate Director, Brookdale Foundation, New York; Denyse Variano, Senior Resource Educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension-Orange County, Middletown, NY; and Linda James, Program Coordinator, Family Resource Center of Crestwood Children's Center, Rochester, NY

B7 Using Data to Guide Treatment Paths in Juvenile Justice

This workshop describes the results and implications of a study on 3,000 adjudicated youths. Analyses revealed which types of youths were less likely to have successful outcomes and what their needs were across the continuum of care (juvenile justice, mental health, education, family, and medical). How these findings influence service delivery is discussed.
Presenters: Cynthia Smith, CEO, Juvenile Assessment Center, Detroit, MI; and Kay Hodges, Professor of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ann Arbor, MI

B8 Addressing the Developmental Needs of Young Children in the Court System

The needs of very young children are often overlooked in the child welfare system because of a mistaken belief that their inability to voice distress means that they don't experience distress. This workshop explores the developmental issues confronting young children who have been abused or neglected and how courts and service providers can improve the outlook for infants and toddlers in foster care.
Presenters: Lucy Hudson, Policy Analyst, Zero to Three; and Eva Klain, Project Director, ABA Center on Children and the Law, Washington, DC

B9 Long-Term Foster Care: The Forgotten Children

Every year, over 20,000 youth age out of foster care. What makes these youth different from children placed with permanent families? Which variables contribute to the choice of children's outcomes? This workshop explores the data, practice, and research on youth who age out, as well as strategies to facilitate change.
Presenters: Patsy Buida, Foster Care Specialist, Valeria Butler, Data Analysis Associate, and Elaine Stedt, Senior Associate, Children's Bureau, Washington, DC

B10 Get S.E.T.: A Four-Week Summer Program Aimed at Increasing Youth Self-Sufficiency and Employability Skills

This workshop introduces Get S.E.T. (Summer Employment and Training), a summer learning program aimed at youth in out-of-home care. The program is for those aged 13 to 17, and it addresses employment, daily living, and social skills.
Presenters: Steve Zubar, Education Specialist, and Traci DeOchoa, Transition Specialist, Casey Family Programs, Yakima, WA

B11 Philadelphia's Reintegration Reform Initiative

This is a look at the Reintegration Initiative, a program launched by the Philadelphia Family Court and the Philadelphia Department of Human Services. Its purpose is to enhance the support and supervision that delinquent youth in residential placement receive when they return to the community, and it has resulted in a dramatic reduction of youth returning to placement after discharge. Other collaborators include residential youth facilities, Philadelphia School District, Office of Behavioral Health, Workforce Development System (Philadelphia Youth Network), and the youth and family. The workshop will describe the model and discuss strategies for enhancing cross-system collaboration to address the complex needs of this population.
Presenters: James Sharp, Chief Probation Officer, James Randolph, Deputy Commissioner, and Candace Putter, Cross-Systems Reintegration Coordinator, Philadelphia Department of Human Services, Philadelphia

B12 Working with Children Who Are Learning English

Many children migrate to the United States to escape conflict or economic hardship. They may suffer emotional wounds and may have difficulty in school, as well as problems communicating in English. This workshop includes strategies to assist them.
Presenter: Darleana McHenry, CEO, St. Carrie's Center, Hemet, CA

B13 Are We Making a Difference? Listening to Native Families and Community Stakeholders

This workshop explores client and community response to the Iowa Department of Human Services' work in Woodbury County (Sioux City). The focus is on the work with Native families in the area. All Nativeidentified children are being treated as ICWA-eligible, tribes are being engaged, and foster parent recruitment is changing-insights from 40+ stakeholders are presented.
Presenters: Julia Kleinschmit Rembert, Clinical Assistant Professor, and Brad Richardson, Research Scientist and Adjunct Associate Professor, National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice, University of Iowa School of Social Work, Sioux City, IA

B14 Meeting the Health Care Needs of Children in Out-of-Home Care: Federal Policy Recommendations

The focus in this workshop explores how federal policy impacts and affects the many challenges involved in meeting the health care needs of children in the foster care system.
Presenters: Laura Schiebelhut, Health Associate, CWLA, Washington, DC; and additional presenters TBA

B15 Raising Rural Voices: Positive Outcomes from Communication and Collaboration

Rural communities face challenges related to resources, distance, and communications. These researchers and service providers are from rural areas across the country, and they highlight successes achieved through innovative communications and collaborations. Participants develop raised awareness about rural challenges and innovative strategies needed to overcome them.
Presenters: Kathleen Belanger, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX; Cathy Mols, Director, Talbot County Department of Social Services, Easton, MD; Suzanne Dosh, Vice President of Programs, The Adoption Exchange, Aurora, CO; Sharon Ringler, Vice President, Saint Francies Academy, Salina, KS; and Julie Fallin, Director, New Mexico CASA Network, Albuquerque, NM

B16 Improving Fundraising Through Systems and Technology Integration

How can you improve your agency's funding? Whether funding is for services through grants and contracts or raised through donations, information systems have an increasingly important role. Integrated programs and systems can be used for researching opportunities, reaching donors, documenting outcomes, and communicating both your needs and your successes.
Presenter: Tom Hay, Director of Foundation and Federal Development, CWLA, Washington, DC

B17 In Their Own Voices: Mothers in Drug Treatment and Parenting Programs

In this workshop, the focus is on mothers in drug treatment. Participants examine their own prejudices and opinions regarding these mothers' goals and concerns for parenting. Also highlighted is the mothers' interest in behavioral parent training and their perceived barriers to participation in it.
Presenters: Mary Louise Kerwin, Professor, Treatment Research Institute, Philadelphia; Jeannette Smith, Graduate Student, Temple University, Philadelphia; Ross Steinman, Assistant Professor, Widener University, Chester, PA; and Jennifer Ingegneri, Graduate Student, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

B18 Building Integrated Systems That Focus on the Child

This workshop presents a practical framework on which to build an integrated system of care. Based on a shared vision and a common understanding of child needs and strengths, these systems are able to improve child outcomes.
Presenters: John Lyons, Director, Mental Health Services & Policy Program, Northwestern University, Chicago; and Murielle Elfman, CANS Coordinator, Philadelphia Department of Human Services, Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, Philadelphia

B19 Integrating Policy, Practice, Resources, and Technology to Assure Improved Outcomes for Children

The Philadelphia Division of Social Services is engaged in an ambitious effort to integrate the city's health and human services, which will include changes in frontline practice, funding, and policy development across agencies and management information systems. This workshop highlights the unique technology that is an integral part of this effort. Focus is on the development of practices and policies for families being served by multiple systems.
Presenters: Julia Danzy, Director, Paul DiLorenzo, Consultant, and Laverne Wright, Program Director for Integrated Services, Philadelphia Division of Social Services, Philadelphia

B20 Improving Outcomes Through Family and Community Partnerships

The focus of this workshop is the use of practices for improving the safety, self-sufficiency, and well-being of local client families. The families and community partners must be engaged in the design, development, and implementation of small, quick, turnaround strategies aimed at having large, sustainable impacts.
Presenters: Susan Hallett, Service Integration Coordinator, and Judith Fritsch, Intergovernmental and Community Liaison, Arizona Department of Economic Security, Phoenix, AZ

B21 The My Life My Choice Project: Preventing the Sexual Exploitation of Adolescent Girls

This workshop explores the sexual exploitation of adolescent girls and presents a prevention plan, which includes a 10-session curriculum. Facts and myths about prostitution are discussed.
Presenters: Lisa Goldblatt Grace and Audrey Morrissey, Consultants, Home for Little Wanderers, Boston, MA

B22 Mental Health, Education, and Employment Outcomes of American Indian/Alaska Native Alumni of Foster Care

Important data will be presented concerning: (1) mental health, education, and employment outcomes of 243 alumni of American Indian/ Alaska Native descent who received foster care services; and (2) benchmark outcomes alongside white adults in the same study, alumni from other studies, and the general population. Since there is so little research on this Native population, these data present valuable information and represent a critical starting point for additional research. Presenters: Kirk O'Brien, Senior Research Analyst, Casey Family
Programs, Seattle; Tessa Evans-Campbell, Assistant Professor, Lovie Jackson, Predoctoral Fellow, and Peter Pecora, Senior Director of Research Services and Professor, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle; and Denise Middlebrook, Senior Manager of Finance and Operations, Indian Child Welfare Programs, Casey Family Programs, Broomfield, CO

B23 Bringing the Family Back in: Tools for Strength-Based Child and Family Practice

The topic of this workshop is a strengths-based approach to understanding child and family development, which simultaneously enriches and builds civic culture. A model of compassionate citizenship is utilized to frame the use of high-quality resources for direct practice with children and families. Promising practices for dialoguing with children about the different shapes and sizes that American families take today will be modeled, introduced, and discussed.
Presenter: Michael Courville, Program Director, Respect for All Project, San Francisco

B24 The Intersection of Migration and Child Welfare

Based on points raised at the 2006 Roundtable at Loyola, this presentation highlights practice and policy issues of concern to child welfare professionals working with immigrant children and families. It offers responses to challenges posed to child safety, permanency, and wellbeing in the often-difficult experience of migration to the United States.
Presenters: Sonia Velasquez, Vice President of Children's Services, American Humane Association, Englewood, CO; Julianne Duncan, Associate Director, Children's Services; and Lyn Morland, Senior Program Officer, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC; and Maria Vidal de Haymes, Professor of Social Work, Loyola University, Chicago

B25 An Innovative Approach to Ongoing Child Welfare Worker Training: A University/CWLA/Agency Partnership to Improve Outcomes of Child Welfare Workers

This workshop reports on an innovative partnership among Norfolk State University, CWLA, and the Norfolk Department of Human Services to create a culture of learning within child welfare services. The result is Child Welfare Professional Development Academy, which focuses on ongoing child welfare worker development, not on pre-service training. This presentation guides the audience through the elements of the project and offers suggestions for adopting practices into traditional training.
Presenters: Marion Kelly, Child Welfare Professional Development Academy, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA; and Mattie Satterfield, Deputy Director of Child and Family Services, Norfolk Department of Human Services, Norfolk, VA


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