The Good Stuff in Child Welfare
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Welcome to The Good Stuff in Child Welfare!
Our team at the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice, & Research recognizes that between the all too frequent and grim child welfare stories that make us teary-eyed, clenched-fisted, and faint-hearted, there are inspiring accomplishments and heartening endeavors taking place all over this country at every level of practice. To elevate and promote these encouraging stories, we are pleased to bring you this monthly newsletter emphasizing news stories only about “The Good Stuff” from the broad field of child welfare. This month, the stories we highlight from around the nation show individual, non-profit, corporate, and governmental creativity and passion in creating equitable and impactful human service programming. We hope this read gives you a few moments of hopefulness and a sense of possibility.
If there's something you'd like to see here, shoot us an email. Know someone who could use a little Good Stuff in Child Welfare? Send them a copy! We hope you love it as much as we do.
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Former Leadership Team of U.S. Children's Bureau Launches Family Integrity & Justice Works at Public Knowledge® |
Three former leaders of the U.S. Children's Bureau, David Kelly, Jerry Milner, and Christie Matlock, have joined national consulting firm Public Knowledge® to launch the new Family Integrity & Justice Works (FIJW). Under their leadership, FIJW will promote a radical vision for replacing the child welfare system with equitable practices that help and strengthen families. Understanding that the current child welfare system is reactive, does not support families, and often results in unnecessary family separation, FIJW will catalyze stakeholders across sectors to build a child welfare system that empowers children and families.
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Lifted by Love: New Home in Houma for Teen Moms is Already Making a Difference |
Lifted by Love is a new home in Houma, LA for teen mothers aging out of foster care. Co-founder and Executive Director Amanda Oden says the program is successfully serving its first group of residents after opening nearly seven months ago. Mothers who reside in the three-bedroom home benefit from connections to employment, mental health and educational services. Lifted by Love also hosts community parent giveaways and teen parenting programs.
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Former Foster Youth Encourages Self-Expression for Healing
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Shalonda Swanson of Cleveland, OH, recently started a supportive arts program called Yemoja Speaks to stop the cycle of generational trauma often experienced by youth in foster care. As a former foster youth herself, Swanson credits motherhood with providing her the motivation to not repeat the mistakes of her family. She believes that support groups can provide a place for self-expression and healing and will invite foster youth to her first event in August, allowing them to “[use] their creativeness to express that and to get over and deal with it, rather than avoiding whatever that pain is that’s holding them back.”
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Santa Monica Resident Helps Foster Youth Experience the Magic of Camp |
Happy Trails for Kids, a California non-profit providing outdoor learning, extracurricular activities and a highly-anticipated summer camp for children in foster care, recently added virtual components in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Through the online platform Happy Camper Live, youth can access over 400 on-demand activities, live streamed activities, and a camp blog that any child can take advantage of year round from their own home. “I had this vision of bringing summer camps to every kid in the world,” said Happy Camper Live Director Allison Miller. According to Executive Director Lindsay Elliot, “This summer we had multiple siblings at camp who had not seen each other since the start of the pandemic, so it was incredibly emotional and inspiring to begin with. But what was so incredible is we had a large group of campers who had been together in a virtual experience, who were united in person and already had such deep friendships.”
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DCS Pushes to Disburse $7 Million to Former Foster Care Children After Months-Long Delay |
Tennessee recently joined the growing list of states disbursing direct cash assistance payments in pandemic stimulus money for youth who have aged out of the foster care system. The funds of up to $1,200 per person are intended to help qualified former foster youth (in care after age 14 and currently ages 18-26) with any mechanism that they need to be stable, including paying rent, purchasing a car or paying their car note, or groceries. Over 300 people so far have applied for the funds, which are now rolling out. The application to apply in TN before the deadline of July 31 is here.
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New York City Boosts Funding for Foster Youth Mentorship Program |
The Fair Futures initiative in New York City began in 2019 to provide coaching and mentorship to children and young adults in the foster care system. After launching with $10 million in funding, the program was nearly dropped last year during the pandemic. However, NYC’s recently-passed budget now includes $20 million allocated to the program for this fiscal year and $12 million to continue funding it in subsequent years. “This announcement underscores the de Blasio Administration’s commitment to providing youth in foster care with the services and support they need to succeed in all aspects of their lives, including school and work, and to transition to successful adulthood,” said David Hansell, commissioner for the Administration for Children’s Services.
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'I am Excited': Milledgeville Nurse Uses Own Money to Start Youth Development Center in Baldwin County |
Georgia native Arlene Simmons used her lengthy experience in nursing to help fight coronavirus in New York City for two months last year. She then used the earnings from that work to help kids in her own town of Midgeville, GA by purchasing a 6,000 sq. ft. building to start a youth development center. The center will host everything from tutoring and resume writing to self-defense and cooking classes, a foster care orientation program for adults, and a job readiness program for 16-24-year-olds. There’s also before and after-school help for children. A ribbon cutting is planned for July 24th. “Who I am is just who I am. I go where I am needed,” said Simmons.
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The Field Center team would like to thank the staff who brought this newsletter together and their contributions in providing readers with this uplifting content. Many thanks to our Program Manager Sarah Wasch for editing and our Administrative Coordinator Felicia Saunders for handling design and distribution. Special thanks to our Managing Faculty Director, Dr. Johanna Greeson for her idea to curate the “good news stories” happening in child welfare! |
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