Featured Article: Philadelphia's educational experiment Published in May/June, 2011 by Laural Hobbes Arise Academy students James Mills, Shaliyah Robinson-Battle, Shaleekqua Williams, and Martin Hicks. This June, the 17 students of Arise Academy’s graduating class will beat the odds as they receive their diplomas. This is because the students of Arise, a unique Philadelphia charter school
Featured Article: Evidence for and models of postadoption services to help families succeed Published in January/February, 2010 by Meghan Williams The Colorado Post-Adoption Resources Center, a public-private partnership, includes a day for adoptive families to get a family portrait free of charge. Photo Courtesy of Lisa Tokpa/Coparc Each and every time, it's a meaningful and emotional
Featured Article: Collaborations between faith-based organizations and child welfare help kids in need Published in Fall/Winter, 2011 by Jennifer Michael When youth from the foster care system visit the recreation center at Mariners Church for the first time, they usually enter in the same way: eyes cast down, feet shuffling along the floor, disengaged. Then, one of the
Featured Article: Lessons about starting services early, parenting with parents, finding skilled workers, and measuring outcomes Published in January/February, 2010 by Meghan Williams The early education and child welfare systems have much in common: an ongoing challenge of reconciling a national commitment but local implementation; an uphill battle to define and then implement best practices; an underpaid workforce
Featured Article: How to implement organizational change Published in March/April, 2010 by Beth Caldwell and Janice LeBel Solomon, a sensitive 16-year-old, nervously held the microphone and began to offer his advice in a low voice and somber tone. Speaking to fellow residential peers who have experienced restraint and seclusion, Solomon shared his strategy for managing in
Featured Article:Foster child turned country music star walks across America to raise awareness for Homeless Youth Published in May/June, 2010 by Emily Shenk Jimmy Wayne, a 37-year-old rising country music star, didn't always have a spotlight shining over him. His dark childhood was marked with abuse, abandonment, and instability. With his mother in and out of prison, he
Featured Article: Nurseries for incarcerated mothers and their children he Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, has been glamorized by the famous: Tokyo Rose, Billie Holiday, Squeaky Fromme, and recently, Martha Stewart. But to me, Alderson is no more than my first home; it's my birthplace. My mother, a heroin addict and single at
Featured Article: Advocacy groups help youth turn their experiences into expertise Published in September/October, 2010 by Erin Borg he facts are these: more than 25,000 children age out of the foster care system each year. Of these, 25% don't have a high school diploma or GED. Almost 30% will be incarcerated. And more than half will experience homelessness.
Featured Article: How can adoption fit into a social worker's personal life without overlapping with his or her professional career? By Jennifer Michael and Madeleine Goldstein Last fall, Tara Moser bumped into another social worker at a hospital health fair. An infant adoption specialist at a private agency, the social worker told Moser she had
Featured Article: How one small community found families for 82 Texas foster children By Kathleen Belanger Diann Sparks was the first parent from the Bennett Chapel community to adopt from the foster care system. Her sons Randy, left, and Nino are thriving. When asked what the future holds for her family, Diann replied, "I want
