Connect for Kids / Child Advocacy 360 / Youth Policy Action Center - Foster Care

Foster Care 2008: What We Know, Where We're Going (a Q&A with Experts)

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:19:07 -0500

(2008) May is Foster Care Month, and for the 20th anniversary celebration of the campaign, Connect for Kids spoke with Candice Douglass, communications director with Casey Family Programs, to get the latest on foster care and child well-being, and emerging trends we should all know about. We also got the scoop the Kinship Caregiver Support Act currently in Congress and an innovative approach to permanency for teens in a Q&A with Celeste Bodner, executive director of FosterClub, the national network for young people in foster care. Find out what’s new, what’s working, and how you can make a difference no matter how much time you’ve got to give.

Recommendations for Policy, Practice and Research on Youth Permanence

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:56:00 -0500

Casey Family Services has released a report from the research roundtable held during the last National Convening on Youth Permanence in 2006. The report offers an overview from national experts of how

Youth with Disabilities in the Foster Care System: Barriers to Success and Proposed Policy Solutions

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:54:32 -0500

At least one-third of children in foster care have physical or mental disabilities and are at higher risk for poor educational, employment and well-being outcomes. This report from the National Council on Disability finds that federal investments are undercut by lack of coordination across programs and agencies.

Foster Care Central

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:52:47 -0500

Here's a nonprofit social network (think MySpace or Facebook) for social workers, foster parents and others interested in improving the lives of foster and adoptive youth.

Getting Beyond the Foster Care System: What Works for Teens

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:47:19 -0600

Could you have made it entirely on your own at 18 or 21? Each year, roughly 25,000 young people “age out” of the foster care system, many without family or economic supports. Without connection to a caring adult and support to plan and prepare, these youth face steep challenges, including higher rates of unemployment, poor educational attainment, health issues, incarceration, and homelessness. But those are the problems, the statistics—what about the potential of these teens, and their desire to succeed? We spoke with Betsy Krebs, co-director of the New York City-based Youth Advocacy Center, about what works to help teens aging out of foster care succeed. There’s room for the whole community...

“In the first place, why on earth is the city government involved with foster care?”

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:09:51 -0600

In keeping with our promise to track the responses the New York Times had to its “A History of Neglect” series on foster care in New York, we selected a core question from the fourth and final week of responses.

In Mississippi: A Sweeping Legal Victory for Kids

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:18:15 -0600

Mississippi plans a serious overhaul of its child welfare system to do more to protect the approximately 3,400 abused and neglected children in its care. Here's an overview of the details of this comprehensive reform plan, developed as a settlement of a class action lawsuit brought against the state by Children's Rights.

NY Times' "A History of Neglect" Series: a Major Contribution on Issues Affecting Minority-run Foster Care Agencies

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:07:31 -0600

In November 2007, the New York Times ran a three-part series on the struggles of minority-run foster care agencies in New York City that found "a trail of scandals and disappointments, as well as a new commitment to better caring for the city’s vulnerable black and Latino children." The online version includes reader commentary and questions for reporters and experts. Connect for Kids will join and track these online conversations for our readers.

Who's Doing What That Works: Readers' Choice Stories

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:27:12 -0500

October 2007—Our partner Child Advocacy 360 brings you "Readers' Choice Stories," in which readers vote with their eyes, clicks and emails on the best of Who's Doing What That Works.

Telling Stories that Teach, and Heal

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 14:26:51 -0500

Teenagers in foster care often have stories to tell � but lack the tools to tell them. Martha Pitts reports on how the Center for Digital Storytelling has provided those tools to participants in their program, and helped create valuable teaching tools for those who work with teens in care.

Ten Years of Leaving Foster Children Behind

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:07:27 -0500

CFK Reports From: Ten Years of Leaving Foster Children Behind
Event: Press Conference
Organized By: Child Welfare League of America
Where/When: Murrow Room, National Press Club; July 17, 2006

An outdated eligibility requirement for foster kids to receive federal assistance under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is leaving out nearly 50,000 children per year, according to a report by the Child Welfare League of America.

Looking for Balance in Foster Care Views

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:03:13 -0500

When you learn that a teen is in foster care, what is your reaction? Empathy? Curiosity? Apprehension? News stories and popular media portrayals of young people involved with the child welfare system, paired with selective statistics about how this population is faring, can feed apprehension at the expense of a more positive view of the strength that can come from overcoming adversity. La Terra Cole, an intern with Connect For Kids, reflects on some recent �mainstream media� portrayals of foster care.

Treatment Foster Care: Withstanding the Test of Time

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 15:05:29 -0500

Start: Jul 16 2006 - 8:30am

End: Jul 19 2006 - 2:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT+5

The Foster Family-based Treatment Association (FFTA) celebrates 20 years of professional achievement at its annual conference, to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Voices from the Other Side of Foster Care

Mon, 22 May 2006 11:25:40 -0500

The parents of children in the child welfare system are often vilified and rarely heard from. Youth Communication is working to change that, with a new magazine called Rise, written by and for such parents. Its mission is to help parents advocate for themselves and their children. In her story from issue #3, Philneia Timmons tells a tough story from a perspective that�s too often missing from our view of foster care.

Foster Youth Speak Out

Wed, 24 May 2006 18:33:27 -0500

Transcript of live chat (5/24/2006)

Young men and women who have first-hand experience of foster care are an under-utilized resource in our efforts to understand and improve a system that has more than 500,000 children in its care. What can recent graduates of �the system� teach us about how to make it better? On May 24th in recognition of Foster Care Month, Connect for Kids hosted a Talktime Live! online chat with Foster Club alums Theresa Moy and Schylar Canfield.