Listen to a lively discussion with child welfare expert Morgan Ryan from the Florida Children’s Home Society. You will hear about the groundbreaking case management software and system called CaseAIM. In this podcast, we discuss how CaseAIM is blazing a new path for child welfare workers across Florida.

S2E5 - CaseAIM: Reimagining the Future of Foster Care

Listen to Chris Groeber and David DeStefano discuss how the FFPSA will change the way frontline staff will work and how the Act will ultimately improve outcomes for families.

S3E2 - How will the FFPSA Change My Work with Families?

Join us as we discuss recent federal and state child welfare policies and their implications for the future of residential group care. We will exam the FFPSA and how it affects the availability of federal dollars to specific residential care settings and places limits on placement timeframes. Dr. Pryce will speak with Dr. Shamra Boel-Studt and Ms. Zandra Odum to learn about Florida's efforts to implement the FFPSA and the new mandated accountability system.

S3E3 - Revisioning Residential Care Services for Children and Youth: FFPSA and the GCQSA

This episode explores the Kinship Caregiving and Kinship Navigator Programs. Michelle Mongeluzzo and Dr. Anna Yelick discuss the Kinship Navigator Program at Kids Central, Inc., a community-based care lead agency in Florida and the evaluative work the Florida Institute for Child Welfare has been contracted to complete. Hear the guests discuss the importance of collaboration in this type of research work, specifically, the buy-in needed from the agency-level and the support the research team needs from agency leadership.

S3E4 - Collaborating in order to meet the evaluation criteria of the Title IV-E Clearinghouse

If you are a young person with lived foster care experience on the journey to becoming a self-sufficient adult, get the low down on why Life Skills Reimagined is the most innovative curriculum and should be available to all transition-age foster youth. In this episode of Getting Plugged In, hear what Kaitlynn Hanson, a member of Camelot’s Tampa Bay Youth Empowerment Board, and Stephanie Savely, Founder of LYFT Learning, have to say about this easily accessible and very engaging online platform.

S4E1 - Love Life Skills

You gotta’ know about the resources available through Florida’s independent living programs before you turn 18. Listen to this episode of the Get Plugged In series to learn about Extended Foster Care (EFC) and Postsecondary Education Services and Support (PESS). Get the scoop on how remaining in foster care after 18 and taking advantage of PESS can assist young adults in reaching their transition goals, preparing for self-sufficiency.  Hear from Demarco Mott, Chair of the Citrus FCN Youth Advocacy Council, and Keri Flynn, Embrace Families’ Director of Youth Services.

S4E3 - Aging In To Stay Plugged In

All young people with lived foster care experience and child welfare professionals listen up! This episode of the Getting Plugged In series is one you don’t want to miss. Get tips on getting food assistance through ACCESS Florida from Rayla James, President of the Brevard Youth Leadership Council, and Patti Grogan, Director of Policy and Programs with the Office of Economic Self-Sufficiency.

S4E5 - Need Food?

Listen to this episode of the Get Plugged In series to gain wisdom and insight on accessing healthcare services so that former foster youth are better equipped to maintain their physical and emotional well-being. Diamond Whitley, OVI’s Youth Engagement Specialist, and Jenn Edgson, Healthcare Consultant with Community Based Care Integrated Health, share some tips.

https://ficw.fsu.edu/

S4E6 - Stay Healthy & Wise

Working in child welfare can be challenging, especially when up to 80% of case managers’ time is spent on paperwork and other office tasks. This takes away valuable time from the children and families in need. Listen to hear about a new time saving innovation - the CaseAIM app. In this episode of Season 5, hear from Morgan Ryan and Brianna Kobayashi of Children’s Home Society about the positive impact of this new technology.

Child Welfare Technology Solutions

S5E1 - 'There's an app for that' - CaseAIM Technology

In child welfare, collaboration among all involved parties is required, and time is of the essence. Delays in communication can be disastrous for families and workers in the child welfare system. In this episode of Season 5, hear about Stabilify - a software company working to improve efficiency in child welfare. We spoke with the President of Stabilify, Jackie Gonzalez, about their streamlining efforts. We also interviewed Esther Jacobo of Children’s Home Society, a recent partner with Stabilify, about the impact this technology has on the workforce.

S5E2 - Clearing Red Tape - Stabilify Software Improvements in Child Welfare

A cornerstone of child welfare research is including the lived experience perspective, but there are many factors to consider when collaborating with those sharing their experiences. In this episode, Dr. Lisa Magruder, the Associate Director of Research at the Institute, speaks with child welfare research experts, as well as a mother with lived expertise, to learn about ways to engage, respect, and properly value those willing to share in research studies.

S6E1 - Participatory Research and Evaluation: What is it and Why is it Important in Child Welfare?

Although Maternity homes are a small fraction of the child welfare system, they are vitally important to young mothers in care, or with nowhere else to turn. In this episode, Dr. Lisa Magruder interviews the researchers leading the Institute-funded Maternity Homes research study, a professional in the maternity homes system, and a young mother with lived experience in maternity homes.

S6E2 - Maternity Homes

For a teen in care, turning 18 can be daunting, especially when they don’t feel adequately prepared for adulthood on their own. Caregivers and child welfare professionals are meant to support youth in developing independent life skills needed for success in adulthood. As part of SB80 in 2021, the Insitute was mandated to evaluate Florida’s approach to life skills development for youth in care. . In this episode, Dr. Lisa Magruder interviews the two lead evaluators, as well as an evaluation team member with lived experience turning 18 in care.

S6E4 - Florida’s Approach to Independent Life Skills Development (SB 80)

HOPE Court (HOPE stands for Helping Older Teens Powerfully Engage) brings restorative justice-based court hearings and circles to youth in foster care throughout the year leading up to their 18th birthday and beyond, resulting in more community connection and increased hopefulness for our youth as they become adults. The Florida Institute for Child Welfare is currently funding an evaluation of HOPE Court in Broward County. In this episode, to Listen to Dr. Magruder discuss the exciting work with the evaluation team.

S6E5 - HOPE Court

Youth participatory action research is one way in which child welfare scholars can engage youth with lived experience throughout the research process. In this episode, Dr. Lisa Magruder talks to a team that used Photovoice methodology and performance art to collect, analyze, and disseminate findings related to youths’ perspectives on the transition to independent living. Learn about the Institute-funded study, its findings, and lessons learned from the research team about meaningfully engage youth with lived experience.

S6E6 - Supporting the Voice of Youth

In this episode, Drs. Melissa Radey and Lenore McWey discuss their research project Power of Parents in Child Protection, including the impetus for the study, the challenges encountered, and the joys of collaborating with parents on policy-driven research. Devin Coleman, fatherhood support advocate, also shares his perspective as a member of the study’s advisory committee.

S7E1 - Power of Parents

During the 2022 Florida Legislative Session, the Florida Department of Children and Families was tasked with contracting for the development and implementation of the Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. Specifically, Florida Statute 409.1464 reads, in part, “The initiative must provide an opportunity for every father in the state to be able to obtain information and inspiration that will motivate and enable him to enhance his abilities as a father, recognizing that some fathers have greater challenges than others and would benefit from greater support.” In this episode, Secretary Shevaun Harris discusses the Department’s recent and planned efforts to support fathers.

S7E2 - Florida Fatherhood Initiatives with Secretary Shevaun L. Harris

Parents for Parents (P4P) is an innovative parent support program in the Southwest region. In this episode, GROW Center Advisory Committee member Nathan Scott explains more about the program, and Dr. Kathy Moore shares the approach to evaluation and how it can inform the next steps for the program.

S7E3 - Parents for Parents (P4P)

A new partnership between Florida universities is helping child welfare professionals enhance services for mothers with substance use disorders. In this episode, experts Ellen Piekalkiewicz and Dr. Heather Howard share insights from their work with mothers with substance use disorders, including data-driven best practice recommendations for supporting these mothers.

S7E4 - Supporting Mothers with Substance Use Disorder

This episode explores ways to better support foster parents. Adoptive parent and former foster parent Dr. Vivian Mills shares preliminary findings from the Institute’s first foster parent survey and implications for supporting foster parent partners. Dr. Taylor Dowdy-Hazlett discusses findings from her research regarding foster parent retention.

S7E5 - Foster Parents

Researcher Elizabeth Curley discusses novel interventions for supporting parents and caregivers during incarceration, such as the recently developed INTER program, in this episode. 

S7E6 - Interventions with Incarcerated Parents

Join us for a conversation about the complicated relationship between poverty and neglect, and how new research aims to disentangle them to improve the well-being of families. Experts Clare Anderson and Luke Waldo discuss the importance of shifting support for parents to a prevention approach and offer data-informed suggestions for best practices.  

S7E7 - Prevention

What does it mean to be color-conscious?  Corey Best helps us understand how our own biases and beliefs about individuals can be in conflict with personal and organizational values.  Putting the facts in the context of the family and community strengths and resources is necessary to reach the best decision for the child.

S1E8 - Racial Equity: Taking the Blinders Off

When helping hurts. The emotional and psychological risks associated with providing direct social work services to vulnerable populations are real.  But they are referred to by so many different labels. What’s the difference between burnout, compassion fatigue, and having vicarious trauma? April Lott explains the correct terminology and provides suggestions on how to protect yourself and heal.

S1E6 - Interpreting between Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Vicarious Trauma

Listen to a victim advocate and researcher discuss the co-occurrence of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence and provide concrete recommendations on ways you can improve your collaborations with other community professionals on cases that involve both.

S1E5 - Improve collaboration with agencies for cases involving child maltreatment and IPV.

Listen in to learn how to use the tenants of Motivational Interviewing (MI) to engage parents who are ambivalent about changing their behavior. Using the “Spirit” of MI will help you build a collaborative relationship as well as compassion for the families you work with.

S1E3 - How do I use Motivational Interviewing to motivate parents on my caseload?

Listen to Dr. Cynthia Lietz, developer of the strength-based supervision model, share strategies for both supervisors and front-line case workers to engage in “courageous conversations”.  Utilizing both crisis supervision opportunities and scheduled in-depth supervision meetings can improve the supervisor-direct report relationship and thus case management practices and outcomes.

S1E2 - How do I use “courageous conversations” to improve the quality of supervision?

This episode discusses the child welfare workforce - what it is like to work in the system with families in crisis while managing and juggling competing priorities and decisions.  Listen to Dr. Dina Wilke, a child welfare workforce researcher and Timothy Morris, a child protective investigator, discuss the “impossible imperative”.  They speak frankly about caseload severity, challenges in decision making, and distinguishing between present danger and impending danger.  Some suggestions for self-care are also offered.

S1E1 - How do I balance the multiple priorities and decisions in my work?

Join us as we have an in depth discussion about how the Assessment Response Team uses strategies to give case managers more time to provide direct service to children and families in need. Our guest Miranda Slaughter, Senior Child Protective Investigator for DCF, discusses how ART helps caseworkers reduce the red tape in order to focus efforts on those families in crisis.

S2E2 - How the Assessment Response Team Can Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness in Case Management

This episode explores the impact of cutting-edge technology on the child welfare system. Join us as we have a riveting discussion with Leah Dienger about the new technological advances she and her company, IBM, have developed to assist social workers in the field. Leah's work is groundbreaking and has the potential to impact children's lives throughout Florida and globally.

S2E1 - Innovations to Enhance the Frontline

Join us as we take a deeper look into Community Participatory Action Research (CPAR). In this episode, Dr. Campbell and Tiffany Csonka share the groundbreaking work they are doing in Broward County. This episode provides a rare view of how parents are treated in and affected by the child welfare system in Florida.

S2E3 - Using Community Participatory Action Research to Include Parent and Youth Voices

A Podcast by the Florida Institute for Child Welfare at Florida State University

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