These last few months have changed us in ways that we may not have imagined just a year ago. In response to restrictions with travel and size of gatherings all training providers have had to "level up" to meet the demands for training and consultation by using video conferencing platforms and other associated technology. The growing national acceptance, especially in white dominant communities, of the need for equity, racial justice and anti-racist action that has long been espoused by Black Lives Matter. Other groups and voices have added to the urgency for local and national child welfare systems to revisit the laws, values, policies, and principles that these systems were constructed on. By reviewing and actively dismantling these oppressive policies and practices we expect to reduce the unnecessary removal of children from their families, especially given the disproportionate experiences and outcomes for black and brown families.
While these events have created many uncomfortable moments of reflection and anguish, there is a commonality amongst the solutions to heal, sustain what is valued and just, and to forever dismantle what is not. Those
action-based solutions rely on love, connection, active listening, empathy and a vibrant network of relationships that help us through the good and bad times.
NIPFC continues to stress that a path towards greater equity and justice in our child welfare systems depends upon how families are valued, engaged and considered essential to the creation and delivery of solutions to the problems they face. The child welfare workforce must be consistently fluent in the engagement and support of families to live and raise their own children safely. This type of perspective is a significant pivot from how our systems were originally developed - to protect children from their families. In order for the workforce to sustain engagement all system partners need to forge alignment to the principles that require families as essential partners to solve the challenges they face.
Collective lack of willingness and action, or continued silence, to challenging obsolete notions that professionals are those best suited to provide all the answers to the problems faced by families, furthers the structural and institutional racism that families experience.
We must be diligent leaders to ensure that all facets of our systems are linked to ensure that families are not excluded from decisions that impact their kin, no matter what the venue. NIPFC training, coaching and advocacy will continue to focus on and advance these topics: our website provides a list of trainings that are geared toward the engagement and other family-involved topics.
In this issue we wanted share some important news and resources supporting change and action. First, California Judicial Council's Center for Families, Children and the Court of California contracted with Gail Johnson Vaughan (who was supported in part by NIPFC's Kelly Beck, Senior Permanency Trainer, JD), to create a set of Permanency Bench cards
entitled: "The Court's Rule in Improving Permanency Outcomes for Children and Youth in Foster Care". These judicial officer bench cards are accompanied by an Appendix that includes questions to be asked to improve permanency outcomes
that can be utilized by any stakeholder working with children and youth.
Secondly, we provide an update from "Todo Por Mi Familia", a Seneca Family of Agencies program launching a nationwide effort to connect thousands of impacted families who were separated from their children at the border due to the Zero Tolerance policy with free mental health assessments, treatment and other resources. We include information on how you can spread the word in your community of this time-limited program to people in your communities who may have been impacted by the Zero Tolerance Policy, along with a video that recently aired on Un Nuevo Dia to widely broadcast the program.
We are excited to share Kempe Center's Save the Date for the "Call for Action to Change Child Welfare" virtual conference from Monday, October 5th through Thursday, October 8th. This virtual conference will feature speakers and connect participants-over 1000 strong- with 17+ hours of content per day of keynotes, workshops and networking circles from around the world! Check out the flyer below!
We would also like to alert you to a recent article published in the Family Court Review, entitled: THE NEW ZEALAND FAMILY GROUP CONFERENCE CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTIONS: LESSONS LEARNED AND AN
APPLICATION IN U.S. CHILD WELFARE SYSTEMS by Lisa Merkel-Holguin, Allan Cooke, Denise Evans, and Kelly L. Beck.
Finally we include a link to a recorded conversation between Kevin Campbell and Dr. Bruce Perry, facilitated by Vicki Spriggs, CEO of Texas CASA for Children, entitled "Supporting Connections and Community during COVID-19."
We really want to emphasize the hope and possibilities that are emerging from some of the greatest challenges we have faced in many years.
The renewed recognition of importance of safe places to belong and live can help lead way towards reconsideration and revision of "independent living" policies and programs that ignore the essential ingredients of love, inclusion, belonging and acceptance to the success of all youth exiting care; the global recognition that what is not good for one of us, or some of us, is not good for any of us, and that only through our unity can we collectively overcome what has historically divided us can further fuel the immediate need to de and re-construct our systems towards just practices. Keep building your networks of love, health and safety for yourselves and with the children, youth and families you work with-those are the fountains of healing that restore our hope and renew our energy to continue the struggle for justice and equity.
Happy Listening and Reading!
