|
Guidebook for Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare System Coordination and Integration: Framework for Improved Outcomes Janet Wiig and John Tuell are the authors of this publication recently released by the CWLA. The guidebook addresses barriers to improving services across multiple youth-serving systems and provides strategies, tolls, and resources for overcoming these barriers. 112 page pdf file. John Tuell also wrote and CWLA published Promoting a Coordinated and Integrated Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice System, an eight page action strategy outlining a planning process for developing a coordinated and integrated youth-serving system. ++++++++++ Developing and Supporting a Continuum of Child Welfare Services This publication from The Finance Project provides examples of the implementation of a continuum of care in states and localities around the country. ++++++++++ Best Practice Next Practice – Family Centered Child Welfare A Martian asks, ‘"How do you keep your children safe?"
A Human responds: "Well, we hire a group of 24-year-olds, we give them a month of training, we send them to look at incredibly complex and deeply disturbing, distressed families for a few hours a month, we tell them to make life or death decisions, and if they are wrong, remind them that something terrible will happen in the family and that they will be publicly crucified. That’s how we do it."
From Frontline Worker from Mars, introductory anecdote to this issue.
The Winter 2004 issue of this newsletter from the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice focuses on mental health in child welfare. Among the articles in this 30+ page newsletter are these: Mental health Issues in the Child Welfare System, Custody Relinquishment, Empowering Families: A Legislative Approach in Missouri. ++++++++++ State Fact Sheets on Child Welfare Funding The Children’s Defense Funds presents fact sheets that clarify the complex financing structure of child welfare services in the states. To access information for any state, click on the map or the table on this page. ++++++++++ CWLA’s Competence on Call Teleconference Series The first session of the 2005 CWLA teleconference series on child trauma will be held January 20, 2005. The subject of the first call is the impact of traumatic stress on children. The calls are one and a half hours in length. For details and registration information click on the link above. ++++++++++ Online Tutorial – Child Welfare and Dependency Court: A Guide for Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals The National Center for Substance Abuse and Child Welfare has completed the first of a series of online self-tutorials designed to teach baseline knowledge on the subjects of substance abuse and child welfare to support and facilitate cross-systems work. The free tutorial takes approximately 4 hours to complete. It is appropriate for new treatment counselors and as online training for individuals who have been working in the field, but could benefit from a better understanding how the child welfare system and dependency court operate. The National Association of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors will provide 4 continuing education units (CEUs) for successful completion of the tutorial’s post-test. The link above will take you to the first tutorial and a list of upcoming self-tutorial subjects. A tutorial for judicial officers is expected to be ready in Spring 2005 and one for legislators in Spring 2006. ++++++++++ Covering Kids and Families Covering Kids and Families is a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation intended to increase the number of children and adults who benefit from federal and state health coverage programs. More than 8.5 million kids in the United States do not have health coverage although many of them are eligible for low-cost or free coverage through SCHIP or Medicaid. The Covering Kids and Families campaign has tips and templates to conduct enrollment events and free materials available to distribute to potentially eligible families, including fliers and posters. Covering Kids and Families will conduct its annual back-to-school campaign later this summer. ++++++++++ Children of Prisoners Bill of Rights The resources available at the Federal Resource Center for Children of Prisoners at the CWLA web site include a downloadable pdf file of the Children of Prisoners Bill of Rights created by the San Francisco Partnership for Incarcerated parents. ++++++++++ Abuse Claims Involving a Mother’s Boyfriend to be Labeled High Risk New Jersey Human Services has responded to an increase in the number of children allegedly killed by the mothers’ boyfriends by identifying as high risk any child abuse or neglect claim that involves a parent’s partner. Under the new policy: - Any case of suspected child abuse that DYFS believes involves a boyfriend, girlfriend or step-parent will be automatically referred to law enforcement officials and medical experts.
- DYFS workers also must interview the parent and partner separately,
- All children must be interviewed outside the home without the parent present.
- More home visits will be required for these cases, and
- If the case cannot be substantiated, DYFS staff must re-interview the person who made the complaint before they close the case.
++++++++++ Child Deaths in Nebraska The Omaha World-Herald published a five-part series last week that examines the deaths of 20 children in the state since 2000 and questions how Nebraska protects its children. The reports include online copies of police reports and court documents and a harrowing recording of the 911 call by the mother of the child who was profiled in the series (See sidebar in Part Four). The little girl died before the paramedics arrived. There are a number of sidebar articles in this series professionals will find of interest. See particularly “Crowded system is short on foster-care alternatives” and “Investigative Report: Children’s lawyers often ignore duties.” ++++++++++ Spring 2004 issue of The Judges’ Page Newsletter-- ICWA Issues Click on the link above to read a series of articles about ICWA: implementation, ethics and ICWA, the Zuni Tribal Court, and a series of internet links to ICWA-related sites on the internet. The Judges’ Page is a newsletter published by NCJFCJ and the National CASA Association for judges who hear child welfare cases. If you are a judge, there is a special section of the newsletter reserved for you. ++++++++++ UK Rethinks Its Child Protection Policy Britain has taken a tough line on child protection over the past generation, resulting in the removal of thousands of children from their families. But in two recent high-profile cases, mothers convicted last year of killing their babies have been set free. Two months ago the British government ordered a review of hundreds of other cases. ++++++++++ The Judges’ Page – A Web Page for Judges Who Hear Child Welfare Cases A new web site launched jointly by the National Council and the National CASA Association brings resources, research, best court practices and cutting edge programs that will assist judges in improving outcomes for children who have been abused or neglected. The Judges’ Page is the brainchild of retired Virginia judge and past president of NCJFCJ, J. Dean Lewis, who brought our organizations together in support of the work of dependency court judges. ++++++++++ Report on the Development of Statewide Automated Child Welfare Systems The link above will take you to a brief one-page summary of this new GAO report. The report reviews states’ experiences in developing these systems, the reliability of the data states collect, HHS’ role in ensuring the reliability of data, and how child welfare agencies overcome challenges associated with this process. ++++++++++ Safe & Sound: Models for Collaboration Between the Child Welfare & Addiction Treatment Systems This new manual profiles local collaboration – among the addiction treatment, child welfare, and family court systems – to implement ASFA in two counties that had recognized the role of parental addiction in the child welfare system. If would appear to be very useful to the addiction and the child welfare fields. The report includes a preliminary model for policies and practices for addressing addiction in the child welfare system that may help other states and counties as they address this challenge. 40+ page pdf file. ++++++++++ National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare SAMHSA is the sponsor of this new site intended to bring together the experience and knowledge of the substance abuse and child abuse and neglect fields with the courts of the country. NCSACW will provide technical assistance to states and communities, including collecting, developing, and disseminating information, and conducting regional meetings on special topics. The Permanency Planning for Children Department (PPCD) of the National Council is a member of the National Consortium of organizations providing support and assistance to this special five year project. For more information about NCJFCJ’s role in this project click here . ++++++++++ +++++++++ Safe and Sound: Models for Collaboration Between the Child Welfare & Addiction Treatment Systems The State Association of Addiction Services has just released this report which presents a model for addressing the needs of addicted parents involved in the child welfare system. Model elements, which are presented in some detail, include: - Collaborative local planning and monitoring
- Identification of funding available for needed services
- Information sharing and continuing communication and collaboration
- Development of criteria for assessments
- Cross-training
- Evaluation of partnership, policies and practices
++++++++++ Children of Incarcerated Parents Recently I brought to your attention an article about crime in the family. At that time I quoted these Bureau of Justice Statistics figures. I figure it can’t hurt to repeat them: - Forty-seven percent of inmates in state prisons have a parent or other close relative who has also been incarcerated.
- The link between generations is so powerful that half of all juveniles in custody have a father, mother or other close relative who has been in jail or prison.
Below you will find links to information about and programs for the children of incarcerated parents. CWLA Federal Resource Center for Children of Prisoners – Tons of information at this site. Here’s an example of what you will find at this site: What Happens to Children? National Institute of Justice Publications Children of Incarcerated Parents Web Sites: CCIP – Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents 2001 Fact Sheet From the fact sheet: - About three quarters of all female prisoners and two thirds of all male prisoners are parents with an average of 2.4 and 2.0 children each, respectively.
- Almost all children of female prisoners who lived with their mothers prior to maternal incarceration lived in a single-parent household.
- Most prisoners’ children live with single/elderly women.
- A majority of children in long-term foster care have experienced parental incarceration.
- Over half of all children of prisoners never visit their incarcerated parents.
AIM Inc. – Aid to Inmate Mothers More facts from this site: - Between 70 and 80 percent of women in prison are mothers.
- Children of imprisoned mothers are five times more likely than their peers to end up in jail.
- The majority of the 90,000 women in prison in the U.S. are there for economic crimes.
- Eighty percent of inmate women report an income of less than $2000 in the year before their arrest.
- Sixty to seventy percent of arrested women have substance abuse problems that are likely to resurface after release without family or social support.
++++++++++ United Friends of the Children - Service to Youth in Foster Care and Youth Who Have Aged Out United Friends of the Children is an organization committed to ensuring that foster youth, and former foster youth, have access to education and opportunities. Among other services, the organization provides financial assistance to emancipating foster youth to aid them in attending college. The College Sponsorship and College Readiness programs provide support service and assistance in educational matters. The Career Center helps emancipated young adults develop skills and work place values. The Housing program provides transitional living with a strong social services program and a goal to serve up to 300 youth at one time. It is a 12 to 18 month program. ++++++++++ Youth Who “Age Out” of Foster Care: Troubled Lives, Troubling Prospects Kids in foster care who turn 18 are on their own, ready or not. This Child Trends report talks about their emotional, behavioral, developmental, and health problems – commonly linked to abuse or neglect. In 2000 more than 19,000 children left foster care for life on their own. ++++++++++ Kinship Care The Children’s Defense Fund web offer state-by-state kinship care fact sheets. The fact sheets include newly available Census data on the number of grandparent caregivers, a list of kinship care family resources and services, state kinship care laws, and other information on kinship care. 2000 Census data tell us that: - 2.4 million grandparents are taking on primary responsibility for their grandchildren’s basic needs, and that
- more than six million children are living in households headed by grandparents or other relatives.
++++++++++++ Permanency Mediation The MFFK (Massachusetts Families for Kids) Permanency Mediation model is intended to: - reduce the time spent by children in foster care,
- increase the number of children in legalized permanent living arrangements,
- decrease the number of moves children have while in foster care,
- and increase the identification and availability of family members.
To read a description of the program, go to Children’s Services of Roxbury, Inc. website and click on Permanency Mediation. The organization offers a really interesting and impressive array of training and educational opportunities for professionals and family members too. Click here to see both. ++++++++++ Kinship Care WSIPP, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy has just published a new report on Kinship Care in Washington State. The report describes the prevalence, challenges, and needs of kinship caregivers and provides policy options to address those needs. It is accompanied by two technical appendices that provide detail on the challenges and needs of caregivers, one on focus groups and the second a summary of caregiver responses. Kinship Care in Washington State is a downloadable pdf file. It is 66 pages long. Also new from WSIPP, The 1997 Revisions to Washington ’s Juvenile Offender Sentencing Law: An Evaluation of the Effect of Location Detention on Crime Rates ++++++++++ Add It Up: Teen Parents and Welfare…Undercounted, Oversanctioned, Underserved CLASP, the Center for Law and Society Policy, undertook to survey and collect state data on teen parents who received TANF assistance. The survey also sought insight and opinions from administrators of TANF teen parent programs. Here’s what they found: · The number of teen parents in TANF may be significantly higher than the 108,000 officially reported by the federal government. · Responding states often were unable to produce answers to basic questions related to the status of participating teen parents. · It appears that teen parents may be disproportionately sanctioned compared to the TANF population overall. · Nearly all responding states identified at least one unmet service need of teen parents who are mandated to meet the school and living arrangement requirements. Add It Up is a 48 page pdf. File. The Executive Summary may be found at pages 4-7. +++++++++++ Health Care Needs of Children in the Foster Care System The Georgetown University Child Development Center has completed a three-year study to identify and describe promising approaches for meeting the health care needs of children in the foster care system. The study collected information on 100 different approaches and presents them at this site. As more products are complete they will appear on the site. Information here includes individual site visit reports and fact sheets about each. Here’s a sample of the type of information you’ll find: Click here to look at Arkansas Foster Care: Project for Adolescent and Child Evaluation (three pages). You can also read Framework for a Comprehensive Approach: Critical Components, a four page report with 11 recommendations for health care for foster children. ++++++++++ Promising Practices in Welfare The Welfare Information Network has published Promising Practices, a listing of 50+ programs and projects that serve as models for state and local implementation decisions. Click on each program or project to read a description about its purpose, administrative structure, funding sources, evaluation and outcome measure and resource contacts |
Subject Library 
