Tag Archives: youth

YouthThrive

August 14, 2012CA&N Resourceschild welfare, child well-being, Foster Care, policy, program, youthMiPSAC

Center for the Study of Social Policy: This multi-year initiative examines ways to support foster youth that advance healthy development and well-being and reduce the impact of negative life experiences.

Youth Thrive has two goals:

To give child welfare agencies and their partners a way to translate the federal mandate for child well-being into actions that will secure the healthy development of youth in foster care. CSSP has examined the research knowledge-base to identify protective and promotive factors that build healthy development and well-being for youth as they move through adolescence into adulthood. The synthesis of the research and the Youth Thrive Protective and Promotive Factors Framework will be shared with the field, and used to fashion policies, programs and interventions that promote health and well-being. CSSP anticipates creating tools and trainings for practitioners working with at-risk youth, parents, foster parents and relatives caring for youth, group homes and other facilities and child welfare agencies.
To disseminate this information to parents, caregivers, families and communities so that they will better understand how they – in their respective roles – can prioritize healthy development for young people to grow into successful, productive and caring members of society.

Link to Youthrive Web Page

Michigan College Support Guide for Foster Care Alumni

August 14, 2012CA&N ResourcesAging Out, college, Ferris State, Foster Care, Michigan State, programs, scholarships, students, support, University, University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, youthMiPSAC

This guide is for by anyone who is interested in learning more about programming and scholarship support resources on Michigan’s higher education campuses. This includes, but is not limited to:

● Youth and alumni of foster care

● DHS case managers and education planners

● Local College Access Network coordinators

● Foster parents and caregivers

● High school counselors and college advisors

Includes: Ferris State, Michigan State, University of Michigan and Western Michigan University. http://www.detroitcollegepromise.com/fostercare.pdf

Substance Abuse and Child Welfare: Models of Hope and Recovery

August 14, 2012CA&N Resourceschild welfare, children, collaboration, courts, families, mental health, NCSACW, SAMHSA, substance abuse, treatment, youthMiPSAC

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) produced a DVD to help States, Tribes, and communities strengthen linkages among child welfare, mental health, substance abuse treatment, and court systems. The DVD features the NCSACW’s 10-Element Framework: Elements of System Linkages and demonstrates strategies for increased multidisciplinary collaboration to better serve children, youth, and families across systems.

The 30-minute video begins with an introduction from H. Westley Clark, Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, who discusses the importance of cross-sector collaboration. The framework is demonstrated through programs in Miami, Dade County, FL, and Sacramento County, CA, both of which have experienced positive outcomes. The video features interviews with service recipients, program directors, child protection professionals, dependency court coordinators, and more .

Bringing Families Together: Models of Hope and Recovery is available for desktop or mobile download on the NCSACW website:

http://www.ncsacw.samhsa.gov/improving/improving-video.aspx

The Michigan Department of Human Services (MDHS) Health Oversight and Coordination Plan

August 8, 2012CA&N Resourceschildren, CHIP, dental, Department of Human Services, Foster Care, Foster Care Public Health Nurses, health, Health Liaison Officers, Health Screenings, Medicaid, medical, Mental Health Services, monitoring, preventive care, psychiatric, youthMiPSAC

December 7, 2011: In Michigan, the modified settlement agreement, Dwayne B. v. Rick Snyder et al. emphasizes the importance of MDHS monitoring the provision of health services to foster children to determine whether they are of appropriate quality and are having the intended effect. This MDHS Health Oversight and Coordination Plan is developed to establish continuity of health care for children in foster care and to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated treatment approach by all professionals involved in their care.

MDHS is committed to improving the delivery of health care services to children. The Health Oversight and Coordination Plan ensures forward movement to improved health care delivery while an infrastructure is put in place to sustain these efforts and yield an improved health care delivery system that meets the physical and mental health needs of every child in foster care. MDHS will continue to monitor best practices and propose changes to the MDHS health plan when new strategies provide promising outcomes. Link to pdf Plan

New CDC Data Highlight Differences in HIV-Related Risk Behavior Trends Among Racial/Ethnic Subgroups of U.S. Adolescents

August 1, 2012CA&N ResourcesAIDS Conference, CDC, condom use, disease, ethnic differences, high school students, HIV, multiple partners, youthMiPSAC

July 24, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: New data released by CDC this week during the 2012 International AIDS Conference indicate fewer U.S. high school students overall are engaging in sexual behaviors that put them at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. According to the 20-year trend analysis, African-American youth achieved the greatest declines in risk behavior. Overall progress, however, has stalled in recent years, and black youth still report higher levels of sexual risk behaviors than youth of other racial or ethnic groups. Reducing sexual risk behaviors among America’s youth is critical to achieving the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which calls for educating all young people on HIV, as well as intensified prevention efforts for populations at greatest risk, including youth. Link to Article on CDC Web Site

Measuring Happiness

August 1, 2012CA&N Resourceschild welfare, children, happiness, scale, youthMiPSAC

Report by the Children’s Rights Director for England: At the start of our work on ‘happiness’, we wanted to get an idea of what children from care and children living in residential and boarding schools themselves thought ‘happiness’ was. To help us do this, we held two separate focus discussion groups with children to discuss the subject of happiness, and what they thought it meant. We have summarized what all these groups of children and young people told us. The resulting scale is also presented. Link to pdf Report