Knowledge Is Power

Becoming and thriving as a foster or adoptive parent can present many challenges. Child welfare agencies dedicate time and resources to train prospective foster and adoptive parents to manage the challenges and develop parenting skills to support children and youth within the child welfare system. These children and youth may have experienced trauma, grief, and loss; have mental health considerations; and demonstrate different behavior patterns. However, the available training programs can vary on the competencies stressed, depth of content, and availability of posttraining resources and support.  

This episode explores the National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC) for Foster and Adoptive Parents, funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NTDC was developed to provide free curriculum and resources for potential foster or adoptive parents so they will have the information and tools needed to parent a child who has experienced trauma, separation, or loss. NTDC offers classroom-based trainings that cover 23 themes; 4 of which are specific to either kinship caregivers or families who adopt private domestically or via the intercountry process.

CWIG Podcast Series

Building Parenting Skills to Address Trauma, Grief, and Mental Health

Lived experience is a representation and understanding of an individual’s human experiences, choices, and options and how those factors influence one’s perception of knowledge” from one’s own life. Those with lived experience in child welfare have a unique, firsthand perspective on issues that can inform partnerships, policies, and solutions that best meet the needs of children and families.  

This episode provides strategies and examples of how child welfare agencies should respectfully engage individuals with lived experience for assistance. Agencies should prepare their staff to ask appropriate questions of those with lived experience and to create a safe space for them to share their stories. When collaborating with individuals who have lived experience, agencies should be flexible when scheduling times to talk, consider how the person would like to share their story, and provide appropriate compensation. 

This episode presents a session from the Capacity Building Center for State’s 2022 Child Welfare Virtual Expo. The speakers discuss why integrating lived expertise into the workforce is so beneficial to child welfare agencies as well as considerations for integrating people with lived expertise into the workplace.

Creating the Space for People With Lived Experience to Thrive

Lived experience means the representation and understanding of an individual’s human experiences, choices, and options and how those factors influence one’s perception of knowledge from one’s own life. Those with lived experience in child welfare have a unique, firsthand perspective on issues that can inform partnerships, policies, and solutions that best meet the needs of children and families.  

Child welfare agencies and organizations should prioritize collaborating with individuals who have lived experience to gain a better understanding of how people are affected by the social issue. The ways in which agencies choose to engage in this collaboration must be authentic and intentional in order to prevent harm. 

This episode presents a panel discussion from the Capacity Building Center for State’s 2022 Child Welfare Virtual Expo. The panel members provide an array of approaches for organizations to engage people with lived experience.

Authentically and Respectfully Engaging Lived Experience in Storytelling

Youth can face many challenges as they transition to living independently as adults. For youth in foster care, overcoming obstacles may require additional support and skills to be self-reliant. Caseworkers and child welfare professionals assist youth with securing employment, secondary education, housing, financial literacy, and other needs. However, additional support is needed to provide encouragement and stability as youth transition to adulthood. Support systems consisting of helpful, stable adults reinforce the goal of self-sufficiency and give youth a sense of community.

This episode explores how Alternative Family Services (AFS) successfully creates effective support systems for youth in foster care. AFS supports northern Californian families, children, and youth in foster, adoptive, and extended family settings. The AFS clinical model focuses on a highly individualized social support model with a goal of safety, stability, and well-being.

What Does an Effective Support System Look Like?

Restorative justice is an approach that focuses on collaboration between the offender and the community. It requires the offender to accept responsibility for their decisions and the impact of their offenses on the victim and the community. For juvenile offenders who are involved in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, restorative practices often involve teaching skills to live independently and develop healthy relationships.

This episode shares how Alternative Family Services provides highly individualized supportive services to help youth as they transition out of the foster care system. The goals of the programs are to improve outcomes for youth in foster care who are involved in the juvenile justice system by placing them in homes with trained resource parents and reducing the placement of youth in detention facilities that may not have the intensive services they need.

In-Home Restorative Justice

The Child Welfare Information Gateway Podcast shares the innovations, lessons, and perspectives from those working to improve child welfare system. Our mission is to help adoption, foster care, and child safety caseworkers by exploring new ideas and practices making a difference in the lives of children, youth and families. Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.