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, we highlight innovation that can happen when the community gets creative about supporting local causes. 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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Arizona Camp Teaches Foster Children Cowboy Skills |
This video from PBS NewsHour highlights a unique opportunity for children in foster care in Arizona. Opportunity, Community, and Justice (OCJ) is a local organization that reaches out to youth in foster care and “gives them the opportunity to be cowboys.” Participating children spend time as campers at the Flying E Ranch in Wickenburg, AZ, where they have a chance to get out of the city and experience Western life with activities like horseback riding. OCJ not only creates a support system for the children while they are at camp but also sends mentors into group homes, giving all participating children the message that they are important and that people care about them.
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Foster Youth College-Bound: Minnesota Law Grants Tuition-Free Education |
A new law in Minnesota is now in effect allowing students with foster care experience to attend college for free. The Fostering Higher Education Act provides grants for the full cost of attendance, including tuition, room and board, at most of MN’s public, tribal, and even private colleges. $3.8 million in state funds have been designated to support the initiative. This article introduces readers to four students who will benefit from the waiver this fall, including Shawna Bullen-Fairbanks, who remarks, “I always wanted to go to college, but I never thought it would be a thing that would happen.”
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Dress for Success: Foster Closets Help Bridge Social Gaps for Youth |
Southeast Wyoming Foster Closets is a new non-profit organization offering a variety of clothes, shoes, accessories, and more for children in foster care. The volunteer-run closets in Laramie and Cheyenne allow foster parents to receive items for the children in their care, or for older youth, an opportunity to come in and “shop” for items. “Children can’t heal from anything and move forward unless their basic needs and necessities are met,” said Jenni Vazqueztell, director of the foster closet.
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The Kindness Cottage: A Resource for Foster Families |
In this video news segment shared to YouTube from ABC News in Northeastern Pennsylvania, viewers are introduced to a foster parent who replicated a great resource to help foster families with clothing, hygiene products, and more, called the Kindness Project. She liked the project so much, she started a second location called the “Kindness Cottage” that had a grand opening last month. She wants the Cottage to be an experience for children and parents where they feel loved and accepted. Through donations of clothing, baby items, school supplies and more, the Kindness Cottage aims to provide more convenience and support to children and families.
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Actor Christian Bale Pledges Support to Foster Youth Housing Development Project in California |
Award-winning actor Christian Bale is the founder of the SOS Children's Villages California project, which aims to create stable, loving families for vulnerable children. After about nine months of planning, a new development will soon be coming to the community of Palmdale, CA. This development will provide individual homes for foster children. The site will include care and support from a full-time, professionally trained foster parent in addition to case managers and support staff. The city of Palmdale has supported the project with $1.2 million in housing grant funding.
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Foster Care Nonprofit Opens New Digital Media Center and Sensory Room for Youth |
The Fostering Leadership Academy is a trauma-informed K-8 charter school run by the Methodist Children's Home Society Family of Services in Wayne County, Michigan. To better support their students, the school opened a new digital media center and sensory room for this school year, complete with laptops, murals, televisions, and comfortable furnishings. “At MCHS, we know that supporting youth in their time of greatest need will make a lifelong impact,” said Kevin Roach, CEO of MCHS. “We continuously are looking for ways we can advocate for our community's most vulnerable youth and families, especially during years when education is so critical.”
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The Field Center team would like to thank the staff and students who brought this newsletter together. Specifically, we recognize our Fall 2022 student Meghan Chasar for her 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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