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Weekly Update

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NRCPFC Weekly Update

NRCPFC Weekly Update is an electronic newsletter sent via email each Wednesday. Each issue contains six brief items of interest to child welfare professionals, foster and adoptive parents, kinship caregivers, and others who care about family-centered practice, foster care and permanency planning. Links to Internet sources for documents and more information are provided for each item.

View the current and past issue of NRCPFC Weekly Update.

Subscribe to NRCPFC Weekly Update


Items from past issues of Weekly Update are kept in searchable Excel files. While all items are included, some links may no longer be valid.
Download Weekly Update items from 10/1/2003 through 12/29/2004

Download Weekly Update items from 2005

Download Weekly Update items from 2006

Download Weekly Update items from 2007

Download Weekly Update items from 2008




Permanency Planning Today

Our newsletter, Permanency Planning Today, is published twice a year and addresses key issues in family-centered practice, foster care and permanency planning. The latest issue and archives back to the Winter 1999 edition are available by download below, using Adobe Acrobat. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please CLICK HERE.

Please let us hear from you with suggested topics for our newsletter by contacting our Executive Director, Dr. Gerald P. Mallon by e-mail at gmallon@hunter.cuny.edu or by phone at 212/452-7043.

Meaningful Family Partnerships
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Permanency Planning Today, Winter 2011
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • If I Knew Then What I Know Now by Sherry Tomlinson
  • Engaging Non-Custodial Fathers in Child Welfare by Randy Jenkins
  • A Letter to My Social Worker by Angela Braxton
  • Engaging Parents as Partners: Insights from Judi Knittel by Tracy Serdjenian
  • Insights on the Parent Advocate Initiative – Based on an Interview with Sabra Jackson by Tracy Serdjenian
  • Extreme Recruitment™: An Interview with Melanie Scheetz by Tracy Serdjenian
  • Meaningful Family Engagement: Considerations for Moving Beyond “Getting a Parent” by Pamela Marshall, Sherry Tomlinson, and Nicole Bossard
  • Resources for Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions

Inclusive Practice with LGBTQ Resource Families
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Summer 2010
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • All Children-All Families (Interview with Ellen Kahn, Family Project Director, Human Rights Campaign)
  • Making Changes in L.A. County (Interview with Diane Wagner, Division Chief, LA DCFS, Adoption & Permanency Resources)
  • Becoming a Father (A Conversation with Joe, Adoptive Father)
  • LGBTQ Resource Families (A Discussion with Terry Boggis, Director of Family Programs, LGBT Community Center, NYC)
  • Update on the Family Connections Grantees by Millicent Williams, MSW
  • Digital Stories from the Field by Joan Morse, MSW
  • Resources for Permanency Planning Today

Family Engagement
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Permanency Planning Today, Spring 2009
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • New Mexico’s Ice Breakers for Foster and Birth Parents (Reprinted from Children’s Bureau Express)
  • Familyconnect Guides: Putting the Pieces of Family Visits Together
  • Immigrants and Refugees: The Intersection of Migration and Child Welfare (From a Webcast Interview with Dr. Ilze Earner and Dr. Alan Dettlaff)
  • Highlights from An Introduction to the Practice Model Framework (Adapted from Document by NRCOI and NRCPFC)
  • Addressing Racial Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System (An Interview with Joyce James, Assistant Commissioner, Texas CPS)
  • Listening to Parents (Youshell Williams, Reprinted from Rise Magazine)
  • Willing to Listen (Sylvia Perez, Reprinted from Rise Magazine)
  • Tidbits from the States

 

Visiting
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Summer 2008
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • Visiting Strategies (from an interview with Dr. Terry Carrilio)
  • Visits with Family: Critical to the Well-Being and Permanency of Children and Youth in Care (from a webcast interview with Dr. Peg Hess)
  • What to Do and Say When a Child Asks an Unanswerable Question (Rose Marie Wentz, MPA)
  • Indiana's Youth Connections Program (Lucy Salcido Carter, Cassandra A. Porter, & Julia Deckard)
  • Tidbits from the States


Frameworks for Family-Centered Practice
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Winter 2008
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • Child Welfare Leaders Talk About Permanency
  • The Collaboration for Permanency: Options Counseling to Help Parents Plan for Their Babies (Heidi Arthur, LCSW and Corinna R. Lohser, MPH)
  • Supported Employment in Maine: Youth in Foster Care (Alfred M. Sheehy, Amy Gieseke, Tamara Harden Herrick, and Marty Zanghi)
  • Lifeboat Foster Care: The Case for Taking Responsibility (Yoni Palmor)
  • Tidbits from the States


Cross-System Collaboration
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Permanency Planning Today, Spring 2007
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • Substance Abuse and Child Welfare: Promising Practices and Ethical Dilemmas (Judy Fenster, Ph.D.)
  • States Try GPS to Protect Social Workers (Christine Vestal; reprinted from Stateline.org)
  • Domestic Violence in Child Welfare (adapted from Judy Postmus, Ph.D. in Child Welfare for the 21st Century)
  • Without a Trace? Children who are Missing from Care (Millicent Williams and Caren Kaplan)
  • Tidbits from the States
  • Pursuing Permanence (Julie Sweeney Springwater)
  • Embracing Respectful Language (Lynn Price; reprinted from Belong!)


Youth-Defined Permanence
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Permanency Planning Today, Summer 2006
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • Youth-Defined Permanency
  • Adultism and Cultural Competence (Jorge Velazquez, Jr. and Maria Garin-Jones) (Reprinted from Children's Voice)
  • Child Welfare Information Gateway
  • Race Matters in Child Welfare (Dennette Derezotes)
  • Tidbits from the States
  • Looking for Training Materials?
  • Child and Family Services Reviews - Round Two


Permanence at Times of Change
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Winter 2005/2006
  • Hurricanes & Child Welfare
  • Lighting the Fire of Urgency (interview with Kevin Campbell)
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • New Program Adaptations in Response to Growing Meth Abuse (Shane T. Raymond & Michael A. Bernstein)
  • Tidbits from the States
  • Family-Centered Practices (Rodger McDaniel & Brenden McKinney; reprinted from Residential Group Care Quarterly)
  • Visitation as a Therapeutic Intervention (Heidi Brinig & C. Lee Baker)


Family-Centered Practice and Permanency
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Summer 2005
  • From the Desk of the Director
  • What is Family-Centered Practice? (Adapted from Best Practice/Next Practice, Summer 2000)
  • Family-Centered Practice with Siblings (Susan Dougherty and Roland St. John)
  • Strengthening the Indian Child Welfare Act by Providing Resources for Families, Tribes and States (Chey Clifford-Stoltenberg and Rachel Kupcho)
  • Subsidized Guardianship: What Does it Have to do with Family-Centered Practice? (Jennifer Miller)


Permanence for Young People
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Fall 2004
  • Permanence for Young People Framework
  • Permanence for Young People Measures
  • Evaluation of a Foster Parent Training Program Yields Promising Results (Reprinted from the Children's Bureau Express, September 2004)
  • A Response to Misleading NY Times Editorial


Foster Parents Helping Children and Youth Achieve Permanency
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Permanency Planning Today, Spring 2004
  • Foster our Future: National Foster Care Month (Karl Brown)
  • Foster Parents and Permanency
  • Foster Parents Ambassadors in Utah
  • Foster Club Builds a National Network for Youth in Foster Care (Celeste Bodner)
  • Promising Practices in Reunification (Susan Dougherty)
  • Bullying and Children in the Child Welfare System (Susan Dougherty)
  • Achieving Permanency After Parental Rights are Terminated



Achieving Permanence for Children in Foster Care
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Fall 2003
  • Achieving Permanence for Children in the Child Welfare System: Pioneering Possibilities Amidst Daunting Challenges (Lorrie L. Lutz, MPP)
  • Foster Families Working with Birth Families to Help Move Children to Timely Permanency (Jane Elmore)
  • Lighting the Fire of Urgency: Families Lost & Found in America's Child Welfare System (Kevin A. Campbell, Sherry Castro, Nicole Houston, Don Koenig, Terry Roberts, John Rose, M.D. & Mary Stone Smith)
  • Permanency Hearings: Strategies to Achieve Permanence (Mimi Laver)
  • Non-Traditional Recruitment for Teens and Pre-Teens (Pat O'Brien)


Promoting Connectivity and Education
for Children & Youth in Care
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Winter 2003
  • Engaging Fathers in Permanency Planning: Early Identification of Paternal Resources (Gerald P. Mallon, DSW)
  • Visiting Between Children in Care & Their Families: A Preliminary Look at Current Policy (Peg Hess, Ph.D.)
  • Improving Educational Outcomes for Youth in Care: A National Collaboration (Elisabeth Yu)
  • Sibling Ties are Worth Preserving (Adapted from Spring 1999 "Adoptalk," the quarterly newsletter of the North American Council on Adoptable Children) (Diane Riggs)


Best Practices - States' Success Stories
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Summer 2002
  • Achieving Permanency for Children & Youth Through Skillful Case Planning: Some Lessons Learned from Child & Family Services Review Final Reports (Jerry Buie and Gerald P. Mallon, Ph.D.)
  • Supporting & Retaining Foster & Adoptive Parents (Lynhon Stout)
  • Recruitment for Foster Families in New Jersey (Vinette Tate)
  • Inter-State Placement: Impact on Time to Permanency for Children in the Public Foster Care System (Penelope L. Maza, Ph.D.)
  • Structuring Designs in Foster Care: Michigan's Family Reunification Assessment (Douglas E. Howard & Ron Caskey)


Safety, Permanence, and Well-Being
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Winter 2002
  • Meeting the Health Care Needs of Children in the Foster Care System (Jan McCarthy)
  • Promoting Adolescent Well-Being (Robin Nixon)
  • Lessons Learned About Permanency for Teens (Reprinted from "Adoptalk," a publication of the North American Council on Adoptable Children, Summer 1999 issue)
  • Best Practices in Recruitment of Resource Families (Lorrie L. Lutz)
  • In order to Get Where You're Going, You Have to Know Where You Came From: Mississippi Chocktaws Utilize the Concepts of Wrap-Around Services to Build Community (Jere Kirk land)
  • The Immigrants & Child Welfare Project (Ilze Earner)
  • Helping Children and Staff Handle Anxiety Related to September 11 (Gerald P. Mallon, DSW)



Promising Best Practices in Permanency Planning
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Spring/Summer 2001
  • New Child and Family Services Reviews
    (Reprinted from National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement Newsletter Volume 3, Number 2, Winter, 2001)
  • Dual Licensure-An Evolving Best Practice? (Lorrie L. Lutz)
  • Team Work That Meets the Challenges of Permanency Task-Centered Team Approach to Service Delivery (Joy Bailey)
  • Child Welfare Agencies: Developing Working Connections with the Community (Prof. Hilda Rivera)
  • Family Group Decision Making as a Time Limited Reunification Service (Sara McNeely)
  • Renewing Our Commitment to Permanency for Children:Permanency Practice Strategic Action Planning Forums (Judy Blunt)
  • Tips for Involving Parents in Agency Operations (Bernadette Blount and Catherine Nelson)


Finding, Preparing And Supporting
Foster And Adoptive Parent Resources
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Fall/Winter 2000
  • What Makes Foster Parents Come and Stay: Understanding the Keys to Successful Retention (Karen Jorgenson and Jayne Schooler)
  • Recruitment: A “Tool” for Permanency (Susan I. Davis)
  • Retention and Recruitment of Foster Care Resource Families: Reflections From a Veteran (Jake Terpstra)
  • Illinois Corporate Partnership for Recruitment of Adoptive Families Project (Diane DeLeonardo)
  • New Roles for Foster Parents – Keeping the Doors Open: An Interview with Gwendolyn Lawson Townsend (Linda Katz)
  • Learning Through the Experiences of a Former Foster Youth: How Family Foster Care Affects Foster Children (Sharon Karow)



Over-Representation of Poor Children and Families of Color
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Winter / Spring 2000
  • A Model for Examining Personal Biases (Pamela J. Walker)
  • From Within the System: A Parent's Point of View (Juanita Lynne Milon)
  • Tribal Perspectives on Over-Representation of Indian Children in Out-of-Home Care (Terry Cross)
  • A Different Perspective on "Disadvantaged" Populations in Foster Care (Max Moran)
  • Connecting Healthy Development & Permanency: A Pivotal Role for Child Welfare Professionals (Sheryl Dicker and Elysa Gordon)



Community-Based Practice And Family Preservation
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Spring / Summer 1999
  • Community-Based Practice and Family Preservation (Robyn Brown-Manning)
  • Family Preservation: Success Stories in the Field
    • Story #1: Working Through It Together In Alabama: IFPS and Family Service Centers (Sandra Arthur and Kathy Baker)
    • Story #2: Keeping Families Together in Richmond
    • Story #3: Black Family Development, Inc.: A Detroit IFPS Story (Anne LoPiano)
    • Story #4: Intensive Family Preservation Working in Baltimore at Pressley Ridge (Anne LoPiano)
  • Family Reunification: Necessary Components of Skillful Practice (Beverly C. Burke)
  • Family Support and Reunification: A Community Resource Model (Bogart R. Leashore)
  • Is the System Trying Hard Enough to Keep Families Together? (Matthew Dedewo)



Fulfilling The Promise Of Permanency For Youth
Download
Permanency Planning Today, Winter 1999
  • Positive Youth Development and Independent Living: Building Staff Competency and System Capacity (Robin Nixon)
  • There is a Path to Family Permanency for Adolescents (Robert Lewis)
  • Life After Foster Care: What Can Legally Free Adolescents Walk Away With? (Carol Schmidt)
  • Too Little, Too Late: We Need Help Before We Age Out! (Tieysha McVay)
  • Independent Living Should Be a Boot Camp, or Kicked to the Curb at 21! (Rick Bullard)



Best Practice/Next Practice

Best Practice/Next Practice was published by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice, a service of the Children's Bureau operated by ESI Learning Systems Group from October 1999 through September 2004. They have generously allowed us to carry their archived newsletters on our website. Each issue of Best Practice/Next Practice focuses on a particular topic in the area of family-centered practice.



Mental Health in Child Welfare: A Focus on Caregivers
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Best Practice/Next Practice, Winter 2004
  • Frontline Worker from Mars
  • Mental Health Issues in the Child Welfare System
  • The Experience from Within: Helping the Child Protective Service Caseworker (Gerard Costa, Ph.D.)
  • Childhood Abuse History, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Child Welfare Workers
  • Keeping Families Together, (Adelia Moore, Ph.D.)
  • What Does the CFSR Tell Us? Mental Health in Child Welfare
  • A System of Care: Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Children in Foster Care, (Anita W. Marshall, MSW, LCSW)
  • Impossible Chioces: Custody Relinquishment
  • "The Child is Worth All of It"
  • Empowering Families: A Legislative Approach in Missouri



Mental Health in Child Welfare: A Focus on Children and Families
Download
Best Practice/Next Practice, Summer 2003
  • Mental Health Issues in the Child Welfare System
  • Attachment and Children's Mental Health
  • A Cautionary Tale and Five Hard Lessons:Foster Families as Partners in Child Mental Health (Roger Friedman, Ph.D., LCSW)
  • Guidelines for Foster Parents in Supporting Foster Children
  • The Mental Health Service Array
  • Creating Effective Systems for Mental Health Care and Services (Jan McCarthy)
  • Helping the Invisible Children: Supporting Parents with Mental Ilness and Their Children
  • The Color of Mental Health in Child Welfare
  • Tough Questions and No Easy Answers: A Mother Talks about Children's Mental Health



Father Involvement
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Best Practice/Next Practice, Summer 2002
  • Father Involvement in Child Welfare: Estrangement and Reconciliation
  • Father and Child Maltreatment: Findings from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (Wendy Lane, MD, MPH)
  • Father Involvement in Kinship Foster Care: An Empirical Study
  • Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare Cases: A Case Manager's Perspective (Donna Hornsby, MSW)
  • A Dad's Story
  • My Baby's Father: A Family Systems Focus on Re-Involvement of Men in Meeting Family Reunification and Permanency Goals (Ross N. Ford, MSW, LCSW-C)
  • Fathers in Training: Empowering Men to Become Better Fathers
  • Fathers in Prison
  • Fatherhood or Father-in-the-Hood?
  • A Father Finds His Way
  • Fatherhood Training Curriculum



Program Improvement Plans
Download
Best Practice/Next Practice, Special Issue 2002
  • Program Improvement Plans: An Agenda for Change
  • Measuring Improvement
  • Putting Principles into Practice



Trauma and Child Welfare
Download
Best Practice/Next Practice, Winter 2002
  • Children, Families, and Workers: Facing Trauma in Child Welfare
  • Braced for the Storm: Child Welfare in New York City
  • Foster Families and Agencies Respond
  • Reaching Out to Children
  • The Importance of Helping the Helper (Roger Friedman, Ph.D., LCSW)



Differential Response in Child Welfare
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Best Practice/Next Practice, Spring 2001
  • Meeting Each Family's Needs: Using Differential Response in Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect (Patricia Schene, Ph.D.)
  • Examples of Differential Response in Several States
  • Making Differential Response Work: Lessons Learned (Patricia Schene, Ph.D.)



The CFSR
Download
Best Practice/Next Practice, Special Issue 2001
  • CFSR: Just So Darn Close"
  • PROFIT: Realizing the Benefits of the CFSR
  • Catalyst for Change
  • Tribal Involvement in CFSR: An Active Role
  • "Miracles" Started Happening in Mississippi
  • Overcoming "Judicial Phobia"



Community Collaborations in Child Welfare
Download
Best Practice/Next Practice, Fall 2000
  • Community Collaborations: A Growing Promise in Child Welfare
  • Strengthening Communities: A Family-Centered Strategy in Jacksonville, Florida (Andrew White)
  • The Patch Approach: Blending Prevention and Protection in the ASFA Era
  • Creating a Family-Centered Child Welfare Community Collaborative: The Rock Island Story
  • A Tribute to Gerald Smale (John Zalenski)



Family-Centered Practice
Download
Best Practice/Next Practice, Summer 2000
  • A New Era of Family-Centered Practice
  • Can We Put Clothes on This Emperor?
  • A Snapshot: Family-Centered Practice
  • The Children's Bureau Launches a New Approach to the Child and Family Services Review

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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