Moving Child Welfare Forward
Achieving Positive Outcomes for Children, Youth and Families
Class Three:
Adolescent Services -- Fostering Connections
Topics
- Needs of adolescents in the child welfare system
- Practice strategies
for youth transitioning out of care
Learning Objectives
When this class is complete the student should
be able to:
- Describe the child and adolescent development process
- Explain
what ‘permanency’ means for adolescents
in care
- Employ successful approaches to preparing youth
to transition to adulthood
- Value having youth in care involved
in their permanency planning process.
Suggested Assignments
- Student paper, 3 double spaced pages: Students
will be asked to respond to the questions: ‘Adolescents
and children in out of home care need safety,
permanency and well-being. Do the needs of these two groups
differ? If so, how? and come to class prepared
to discuss.
- Analyze and come to class prepared
to discuss Lake Snell Parry & Associates study, Former
Foster Children Speak Out About Their Experiences
in Foster Care and Priorities for Change in
the Foster Care System.
Suggested In-class Activities
Suggested Readings
- Bernstein, Nina. (2001). The Lost Children
of Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change Foster Care. New
York: Random House. Part three.
- Charles, Kristi, & Nelson,
Jennifer. Permanency Planning: Creating
Life Long Connections.
Tulsa, OK . The University of Oklahoma, College of Continuing
Education, National Resource Center for Youth Development.
Provides a framework for thinking about the specific needs
of older youth in the foster care system.
- Harden, Brenda Jones.
(Winter 2004). Safety and Stability for Foster Children: A
Developmental Perspective in The Future
of Children: Children, Families and Foster Care. The Woodrow
Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton
University and The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.,
Vol. 14, No.1., pp.31 -47. Discusses how the presence or absence
of family stability influences child development.
- Lake Snell
Perry & Associates, Inc. (2004). Former Foster
Children Speak Out About Their Experiences in Foster Care and
Priorities for Change in the Foster Care System in The Future
of Children Journal,
1-8, i-v. Comments from former foster children on how the system
could be improved.
- Massinga, Ruth & Pecora, Peter. (Winter
2004) Providing Better Opportunities for Older Children in the
Child Welfare System in The Future of
Children: Children, Families and Foster Care. The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution,
Washington, D.C. Vol. 14, No., pp 151-173. Looks at developmental
needs and outcomes of older youths.
Supplemental Reference Material
Readings
- Bernotavicz, F.D., Jordan, PA, Zanghi, M. and Jacobus,
M. (2001) A Competency Model for Adolescent
Caseworkers: Partnering with Youth as They Transition to
Independence. Portland, ME:
University of Southern Maine, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service.
- Kessler,
Michele. (2004). The Transition
Years: Serving Current and Former Foster Youth Ages Eighteen
to Twenty-One.
Tulsa, OK . The University of Oklahoma, National Resource Center
for Youth Services.
On-Line Resources
- www.cdipage.com provides
information on child development.
- www.nrcys.ou.edu provides
information on the National Resource Center for Youth Services,
including publications, training opportunities and resources.
- www.theplaceofourown.org provides resource information and answers to questions asked
by youth who live(d) in a foster home or a group home and
are eager to learn about the possibilities for the future.
Introduction
Objectives
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