Foster/Adoption/Kinship


Conferences

Upcoming national conferences on adoption and child welfare through August 2009 include:

July 2009
  • Generations United 15th International Conference
    Because We're Stronger Together
    July 27–31, Washington, DC
    www.gu.org/GU_Co7281494.asp
August 2009

Further details about national and regional adoption and child welfare conferences can be found through the Conference Calendar Search feature on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website:
www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm

Webcast Series: Child Welfare

The NGA Center, in partnership with Casey Family Programs, is pleased to announce a series of web casts on improving outcomes for children and youth in the child welfare system.
Visit the website for more information.

What a great way to attend a seminar right from your very own home.

Joint Council proudly offers webinars for adoptive families and prospective adoptive families on the first Tuesday and Thursday of every month.  Webinars are held from 7 pm – 8 pm EST and cost is $10/family. 

 Go to this website to register: http://www.jcics.org/webinar.htm

If you adopted an unrelated child from foster care, your input is needed for a survey on post adoption birthparent contact. Michelle Roberts, a foster and adoptive parent herself, is doing a graduate thesis on post adoption contact in foster care adoptions. Even if you have had no contact with your child's birthparents, your input is valuable to the study. The online survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete and contains no identifying information. As a special thank you, you will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to the store of your choice. Please take a moment to help with this study. Go to www.AdoptionStudy.org for the online survey or contact Michelle at meroberts2@eiu.edu if you would prefer to have a paper survey mailed to you. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Grandparents Visitation Rights - Reunite Grandchildren and Grandparents in California
Visit the website to sign the petition

Education of Foster Youth in California

Seventy-five percent of California foster youth perform below grade level standards, and by third grade 83 percent of foster youth have had to repeat a grade. We believe the state and local programs must reprioritize the way existing funds are spent in order to improve educational opportunities for foster youth. We recommend changing guidelines to provide certain services to all current and recent foster youth, expanding programs to include academic counseling and completion of education passports, and consolidating programs at County Offices of Educations. We also suggest convening a workgroup to address the transportation needs of K-12 and postsecondary foster youth.

The presentation is available at this link:
http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/PubDetails.aspx?id=2069
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/LAOFosterYouthEducation

Victor Valley Parenting Classes July - Dec 2009
View Calendar

Adoptalk
FASD: Advocacy Advice from the Experts
by Vicky McKinney

The Independent Living Program Survey Results of Youth in Foster Care
Sandra Wakcher, Statistical Analyst
Legislation and Research Unit
County of San Bernardino

California Youth Connection (CYC) is guided, focused and driven by current and former foster youth with the assistance of other committed community members. CYC promotes the participation of foster youth in policy development and legislative change to improve the foster care system, and strives to improve social work practice and child welfare policy. CYC Chapters in counties throughout the state identify local issues and use grassroots and community organizing to create change.

http://www.calyouthconn.org/site/cyc/

Caregivers and the Courts

The Caregivers and the Courts Program of the Center for Families, Children & the Courts is aimed at ensuring that information from caregivers about dependent children's needs is made available to judicial officers for the court decision-making process.

MENTORING PROGRAM
The SBCUSD-Family Resource Center is partnering with Life Changing Mentoring Program to provide mentoring support and guidance to students of incarcerated parent's ages 7 to 18 years of age. Through this program, mentors will dedicate a minimum of one hour a week for a minimum of one year to form relationships that can improve positive educational and social outcomes for our students. Mentor Training and Live Scan has been rescheduled for July 18th. For more information visit www.reclaimingageneration.org.

Child Welfare/Family Support

Article:  Drug Exposed Children: Tips and Tools for Working with Children and Families Impacted by Alcohol and Other Drug Dependency

Application: Strength-Based, Solution-Focused Approach to Child Welfare Practice

Foster Parent College--With Scholarships!

Foster Parent College (FPC) provides research-based training for foster, adoptive, and kinship parents and caregivers. Recently, Casey Family Programs partnered with FPC to provide up to four training courses to qualified caregivers at no expense.

Since 2005, FPC has administered more than 40,000 online training sessions. All of the trainings are Internet-based and self-driven. Many FPC training classes also are available on DVD. FPC courses are designed by experts in the fields of parenting, pediatrics, psychology, psychiatry, and education and include both self-paced courses and advanced parenting workshops.
Self-paced courses include:
  • Visual instruction
  • Printable handouts
  • Question and answer sessions with immediate feedback
Advanced parenting workshops provide:
  • Extended in-depth 3-week courses
  • 24/7 access for participants for the duration of the course
  • Community discussion board to interact with other participants
  • Tested problem-solving approaches
For more information on Casey Family Programs' scholarship eligibility, as well as available trainings, how to register with FPC, and resources, visit the FPC website.
www.fosterparentcollege.com

Foster Transitioning Information


Foster Parent/Kinship Care Associations
  • Tri-Valley Foster Parents Association (Fontana)
    909-428-4182               trivalleyparents@aol.com
  • Sunshine Foster/Kinship Support Group (Ontario)
     323-236-6504
  • F.A.R.E. (High Desert)
    760-949-0830                rlmang@msn.com
  • California State Foster Parents Association (Chino)
     909-902-9969
  • California State Care Providers Association (San Bernardino)
    760-345-2072

FOSTER PARENTING
California State Foster Parents Association: CSFPAonline.org
The National Voice of Foster Parents: NFPAinc.org

FOR SOCIAL WORKERS - We are proud to be celebrating twenty-three years of providing adoption, foster and relative care services to the children and families of California, primarily within the Child Welfare system - kinshipcenter.org/adoption_child_california_socialworker.html

Articles:

Caregivers and the Court: A primer on Juvenile Dependency Proceedings for California Foster Parents and Relative Caregivers.


The County of San Bernardino has compiled a comparison of financial benefits & legal and physiological factors that care givers need to be aware of when choosing adoption, legal guardianship and foster care

Respite Care Services for Families Who Adopt Children With Special Needs: Synthesis of Demonstration Program Final Reports

Post-Legal Adoption Services for Children With Special Needs and Their Families: Challenges and Lessons Learned

Voice Magazine - Spring 2009

Junior League of Los Angeles Community Leadership Forum on Foster Care - summary of the event that includes the panelist's discussions, the Q&A session, and information on the resource fair participants.