Upcoming Training: Basic African American Hair Care

Are you confused about how to care for your African American child’s hair? You are not alone! Come learn the history of its importance and basics from the expert, Rhoda Jordan.

One of the aspects that can be a challenge for foster and adoptive parents is knowing how to care for their children’s skin and hair if it’s different than their own.

Appearance matters to a child’s self-image and self-esteem. Poor appearance makes your child a target for teasing and bullying. Not only does appearance matter, but by learning some of the shared techniques, you will also be honoring your foster or adopted child’s culture. This course will go over history, basic care, products, and tips. It’s a great starting point or refresher class.
About the Trainer: Rhoda Jordan
Rhoda Jordan is a native of Milwaukee, WI and graduate of UW Madison, where she received a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Sociology and African American Studies. She served as the Assistant Director of Diversity Programs at UW Madison for 3 years, where she worked towards diversity and inclusion for underrepresented students in the residence halls. She continues to make an impact on her community as the Lead Care Coordinator position for the Wraparound REACH Program at My Home Your Home. Rhoda shares, “I love working with my community and empowering youth and families. I do believe in my agency’s mission statement, that we can ‘bring families hope one individual at a time.'”

Basic African American Hair Care
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
6-8 p.m.
$15/participant or $60/agency group

Attend in person at the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families, 6682 W. Greenfield Avenue, Suite 310, Milwaukee, or attend via webinar

Attend in person and be entered to win a door prize!

Register online, contact info@coalitionforcyf.org, or call 414-475-1246

World Wide Wednesday, November 26, 2014

It’s World Wide Wednesday! Here’s what’s news in the world of foster care and adoption around the web:

• The Child I Didn’t Adopt: It was something about the phrasing that got to me. Something about the cadence of his words, the staccato of his speech. “Nobody loves me. Not even my mother who gave birth to me.” It is an odd turn of  phrase, isn’t it? Not even my mother who gave birth to me.  Continue reading
  
• The 5 Best Strategies for Preventing Misbehavior: Unfortunately, a two year old’s frontal cortex is still developing the ability to control his
  emotions and behavior. That means they throw food, break things, have meltdowns, bite when they’re mad, and scribble on the furniture. In other words, they act like two year olds.

  But since the brain is still developing through the teen years, kids of all ages sometimes lack the rational control to behave as we’d like. Sometimes even 15 year olds act like 2 year olds!  Continue reading

• New Website – Advocates for Families First: Enhancing Support and Advocacy for Children in Kinship, Foster, Adoptive Families: The mission of Advocates for Families First is to build a unified national movement in support of kinship, foster, and adoptive families who care for children and youth, promote their healing, and help them thrive. We envision a world where children and youth who need out of home care have a family – kinship, foster, or adoptive – who can most effectively help them thrive, meet their needs and assist them in becoming successful adults.
• Infographic: The Truth about ACEs: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is part of a growing network of leaders working to increase awareness and understanding of the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the need to develop effective innovative interventions. Learn more about ACEs and share the infographic with others.

Have news you’d like to share? Please post in our comments!

World Wide Wednesday, November 19, 2014

It’s World Wide Wednesday! Here’s what’s news in the world of foster care and adoption around the web:

• The Potential Trauma of Family Tree Projects: Many adopted persons particularly in closed adoptions, cringe at the thought of creating a family tree that most students will have assigned to them in high school or college. The fear and discomfort from adoptees creating a family tree stems from not having access to their original birth certificate and not knowing their biological family history. Feelings of grief, abandonment, and loss are a few emotions that an adoptee can experience while trying to complete a family tree project.  Continue reading

• Foster parents can help their students succeed in school: In order for a child in foster care to succeed in school, his foster parents must be leading the charge and blazing a path as his advocate, fighting for his every chance. In truth, it is likely that the foster student will have no other person fighting for him, as his caseworker’s work load is an overwhelming one, and his teachers may be too busy to reach out with information, or may not have the necessary information about the child that they need in order to meet his needs. Therefore, it is up to the foster parent to be proactive in the child’s life at school.
• Foster Children and Celebrating Birthdays: Helping children in foster care enjoy and share memories while celebrating birthdays.
• Fostering or Adopting? Two Critical Things Biological Children Need to Hear From You: Our biological daughter was 11 years old when we made the decision to add to our family through foster care adoption. To say that she was excited would be a gross understatement – she couldn’t wait to have a sister! At 11 years old she was extremely weary of being the only child. She had known for years that we couldn’t have any brothers or sisters. Adoption had always been an option we said we “might” do someday. So, by the time we asked her opinion of older child adoption through our state’s foster care system, she was our biggest supporter.

Have news you’d like to share? Please post in our comments!

World Wide Wednesday, November 12, 2014

It’s World Wide Wednesday! Here’s what’s news in the world of foster care and adoption around the web:

• National Adoption Month Website: The Children’s Bureau, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, created the 2014 National Adoption Month website, created in partnership with AdoptUSKids.

  National Adoption Month (NAM) draws attention to the urgent need for permanent families for the more than 102,000 children and youth waiting for adoption in foster care. This year’s NAM theme, “Promoting and Supporting Sibling Connections,” emphasizes the critical role sibling relationships play in helping to promote permanency for children in care. The NAM website offers a variety of audience-specific resources.

  Professionals can find information to help them promote and support sibling connections, recruit adoptive families, and see examples of how other States are promoting permanency for siblings and youth. Adoptive parents can find information on adopting siblings from foster care, learn what permanency means, and view powerful videos from youth and other adoptive families. Adopted people can find information on openness in adoption and search and reunion. Birth parents can find information on kinship adoption/adoption by relatives, openness in adoption, and search and reunion. Youth can learn about how to get involved in their permanency plans, stay connected with adults and other teens through social media, find out about the benefits of being safe online, and more

• New Law Passed:  H.R. 4980 Becomes Law: On September 29, 2014, President Obama signed the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act. Among other things, this bipartisan legislation will:
  • Require states to better track children at risk of being victims of sex trafficking (including children who run away from foster care) and report any children who are victims of trafficking;
  • Require states to develop a process by which foster parents and other caregivers have permission to grant children and youth in care the opportunity to participate in the normal activities of childhood;
  • Limit the use of Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) for children under 16;
  • Provide children 14 and up the opportunity to participate in their case planning process;
  • Fund Family Connections Grants for one more year;
  • Renew and enhance the Adoption Incentive program, creating a guardianship incentive and, over time, transitioning to an incentive system based on the rate of adoptions, rather than a baseline number; and,
  • Require states to spend 30% of the funds they save as a result of the Fostering Connections Act’s expansion of federal adoption assistance eligibility on post-adoption, post-guardianship, and other family support services.

   

• Adoption at the Movies: Guides to recently released movies including Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, ReMoved, and The Book of Life.

Have news you’d like to share? Please post in our comments!

World Wide Wednesday, November 5, 2014

It’s World Wide Wednesday! Here’s what’s happening the world of foster care and adoption around the web:

• The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services have partnered to develop resources and guidance to support educators, child welfare professionals, and others in their work to improve the education and well-being outcomes for students in foster care. A dedicated webpage, Students in Foster Care, has been launched on the Department of Education’s website. This new webpage provides information on relevant laws, guidance, and technical assistance materials on topics ranging from the roles and responsibilities of child welfare and education agencies in ensuring the school stability of students in foster care to postsecondary education supports.
• 6 Foster Care Skills You Need to Know Before Becoming a Foster Parent: The following 6 statements describe the basic knowledge base of successful foster parents. Of course there is more to being a foster parent, but these 6 points are a great place to start.
  
• Families adopting older children via public or intercountry adoption face a unique set of challenges, as do the agencies that seek to serve and support them. In the October 2014 issue of NCFA’s Adoption Advocate, former NCFA Legal Fellow Jamel Rowe collects and analyzes results from an older child adoption survey conducted in 2013 by Melissa Blauvelt and Rhonda Jarema. Participating adoptive families and adoption agencies identified several areas of concern, with a particular emphasis on pre-adoption preparation and post-adoption support.
• Before You EXPLODE, Do This: A Simple Secret to Surviving the Tough Times in Foster Care and Adoption

  Have news you’d like to share? Please post in our comments!