Partnerships in fostering: a newsletter of the Georgia DHR Foster Care Unit, Winter 2001

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Contacting Legislator
Children
Georgia's Child Welfare

Part 'J'~ g A DHR Fr NEWSLETTER OF THE GEORGIA

New Ways
of Helping Children

The ways foster parents and agencies work is changing because families, children and law have changed.
"The families and children we serve are different than they were even 10 years ago," said Jane Jones, Cobb County DFCS director. "More people are becoming parents when they're very young, and more parents have serious problems with drugs and alcohol. We work with more children who have mental health needs or have serious medical conditions. Also new federal law requires us to find permanent living situations for children in foster care much more quickly - basically within a year. So to be successful, we're changing how we work doing more planning and working more intensively with families."
Immediately Learning More
To increase speed and effectiveness in helping children, DFCS in the past year has adopted a policy of carrying out comprehensive assessments of all children entering foster care. This means DFCS agencies hire private agencies to obtain important information about each child (such as the child's school background, family and other significant relations, as well as the child's professional connections such as with medical specialists). Also the private agencies arrange for children to be evaluated medically and psychologically. Such information greatly aids foster care teams in knowing how best to help each child and family.
"In the past, the case manager was the main person who took

responsibility for helping at-risk families," said Linda Campo, Cobb County DFCS social services administrator. "But one thing we've really come to see is the case manager can't do everything."
The Need for Teams
Like other DFCS agencies throughout Georgia during the past year, Cobb County DFCS has been adjusting to a new way of doing things. Instead of the case manager thinking of himself or herself as a "lone ranger" in helping families, case managers are focusing on bringing teams together. These teams join in thinking of a plan by which a family might make needed changes, as well as supporting the family in making those changes.
"We find out who the important people are for the child and family and invite them to be part of the meeting to work with us and the family in putting together their 30day case plan," Campo explained. "These meetings include the child's foster parents, professionals like the parents' or child's therapists, as well as the private agency's staff member who did the child's assessment. We'll invite grandparents or other family relations or neighbors who have been supportive to the parents or are important to the child. We've sometimes invited teachers or ministers. Really, we invite almost anybody we know who has information about or can be a support to the family."
At the meeting, these team members will help the family think about their strengths they can build on, as well as needed areas of change.
{Continued on page 3)

IA happy childhood is priceless .

Contacting
Your Legislator

Georganna Sinkfield State Capitol, Room 4 16 Atlanta, GA 30334 404.656.9210
General Info and to Order a Free Booklet Listing Georgia Legislators: 404.656.5082 (House) 404.656.0028 (Senate)
State Website: http://www.state.ga.us

Does Georgia's child welfare system need changes? If you think so, then express yourself! You might make a difference, according to Representative Georganna Sinkfield who chairs the Committee on Children and Youth, as well as the Appropriations Subcommittee on Human Development which is responsible for the DHR/DFCS budget.
Who and how to contact: "You can express your ideas to elected officials, such as your senator, representative, the lieutenant governor or the governor," said Sinkfield. "You can telephone them or send them letters or e-mails." You can find out who your legislators are and their contact information by phoning the general information numbers or visiting the state website (see info in this page's margin).

You can make a difference, declares Representative Georganna Sinkfield.

Open meeting: "People concerned about child welfare issues will want to know that every December the Human Development Subcommittee holds a hearing that's open to the public at the state capitol building in Atlanta," she explained. "We'd love to have foster parents and child welfare staff come and bring up any issues they want. You can call my office to find out the date."

Invite them: "Also you can invite your legislator to your local community," said Sinkfield. "A lot of legislators wouldn't think to go to a foster parent association meeting, but they'd probably be glad to come if the local group invited them. Then you'd have an excellent opportunity to inform him or her about your group's situation and needs."

Plan first: "There are so many people telling us about their issues, it's important for you to think carefully about what you want to ask us to try to do," she advised. "Before contacting an elected official, foster parents might talk together about what's most important to them as a group. Maybe when they meet in their foster parent associations, they can discuss what they see as their key problems. Then they can consider which ones they might be able to fix themselves and which ones would be most appropriate to present to their legislators."
Be courteous and factual: "In contacting a legislator, use the same courtesies you'd expect to be shown by someone who walked into your office or phoned you," Sinkfield counseled. "Sometimes people have been worried or angry about a problem for years. Then when they talk to or write a legislator, they let out all their frustrations. They might vent or act angry at us instead of helping us understand their issue or suggesting ways we might help. Usually you don't win people over or influence them that way. We're just people, and sometimes we're overwhelmed just like anyone can be. But we ran for office because we want to help and to make a difference."
Persist: "The government has only so many resources and so many dollars to budget, so you may not get what you ask for the first time," Sinkfield cautioned, "but it's the people who are persistent and have a real case who eventually win. Even we legislators don't get our bills passed all the time - I remember it took us five years to get the mammogram bill passed. When you read history, you'll find that most successful people never gave up because they cared enough to just keep plugging away at it. Eventually, if it's cream, it rises to the top!"
In November at the Child Placement Conference in Savannah, Sinkfield received the first Annual Award for Public Service for her leadership and commitment to children and families.

2

New ways (Continued from page 7)

The Foster Child's Need for Birth Family

Hopefully several of these team members will also offer support to the family. Even if a team member agrees to do something as small as occasionally driving a parent without a car to work, such little boosts can add up to make big differences. Hopefully, some of these team members will continue being supportive to the family long after their involvement with DFCS has ended.
Jones noted, "Most of our case managers are young women, which is typical in most county DFCS agencies. In the past, I think their natural tendency has too often been to deal mostly with a child's mother. But now these team meetings bring together in one room a family's whole system of people who might offer them support. So we can't help but meet that whole group, and they meet each other. That opens up a lot more positive options for these families ."
Jones and Campo said changing from familiar work habits is challenging, especially at first. Yet they both agreed these new approaches greatly help in carrying out the law's requirement to reunite families or find other permanent living situations more swiftly for children, thus sparing them the trauma of drifting in the foster care system for years, as regularly occurred in the past.
As a foster parent, you might be asked to participate as a member at team meetings. Many foster parents have already been involved. You may learn more by calling your case manager or other foster parents who have participated. These new procedures will also be discussed at the 2001 Foster Parent and Staff Development Institutes.
Par~roW~ri ng
Newsletter Production Supervisor: Jayne Bachman
Editorial Committee Members: Kathleen Rinehart and Doris Walker
Writer/Editor/Publisher: Dan Corrie
Do you like this newsletter? Do you have ideas for how it could be better? Send your comments to:
Jayne Bachman DFCS Foster Care Unit, 18-222 Two Peachtree St., NW Atlanta, GA 30303-3142 404.657.3570

When youths near adulthood and are aging out of foster care, they especially need your (their foster parents') understanding and patience. They might seem unusually distant, which might feel bad for you. Often, though, they distance themselves because you are so important to them, and they feel threatened and vulnerable to be leaving. This is a way of protecting themselves emotionally.
Also this is a time when many youths attempt reconnecting with their birth family, even if they have fallen out of touch with them for a long time and even if their past with them had been hurtful. You might feel emotionally confused by this, but, again, they need your support and understanding.
Emotionally healthy youths have two major tasks: 1) to achieve a strong positive identity or sense of themselves and 2) to build intimate connections with others. These stages of development are challenging for youths in foster care. To have a positive identity, we need to know our history. We all need roots, and youths in foster care can feel desperate to reconnect with their past. Many have remained connected through visits with
their parents and/or siblings. Many have siblings who remained with the
birth parents. Many remember living with their birth family.
They need us to understand their need to reach out to their beginnings. Many of us grew up with parents who had serious problems, yet we still love them and are often deeply connected and loyal to our "sick and crazy families." Remembering this helps us show respect for troubled family members, in both words and attitude. The youth carries that family in his or her genes, memory and heart.
We can support youths by normalizing their wish to connect with their families of origin - in other words, acting with the youth as if we feel such wishes are normal and natural, which they are. Children do not
belong to fosterI adoptive families: we provide care, love, support and
guidance, but not ownership. It helps the youth when you can be comfortable with accepting all positive and negative feelings the youth shares about birth family.
Many youth need to reconnect with birth family in order to move forward. Some seek facts and information. Some connect with relatives who are more functional than their birth parents. Others return home for unhealthy reasons, perhaps having a traumatic bond with family. Remember the search is a journey belonging to your youth. Do not take it over. The foster parent's job is to be a sounding board, a listening ear and loving arms. Foster parents can be a safety net if the dreamed-of reunion results in rejection or dashed hopes.
Our youths are moving toward their future. We need to give them roots and wings. We need to give them guidance, love and support. We cannot give them answers. We have been blessed with the gift of guiding them in youth. We can walk beside them into adulthood, but we cannot complete their journey.

Whitfield County Pioneers the Way:
Georgia's New Child Welfare

Foster parents and child welfare professionals throughout Georgia are currently learning to work in new ways (see this newsletter's front-page article). Whitfield County DFCS is pioneering these approaches which all counties will soon be routinely using.

Meanwhile, these kids were too challenging for their foster families and moved from family to family, which is hard on both children and families."
Partnering With Private Agencies

Diane O'Brien (left) and Suzanne Baggett collaborate for families .

Knowing Much More
The first major innovation in Georgia child welfare during the past year is that every child entering foster care now receives a comprehensive assessment. As described in this issue's front-page

As mentioned, local DFCS agencies contract with private agencies to carry out these comprehensive assessments. Using funding available for every child in care in Georgia, the Whitfield County DFCS contracts with ProFamily Associates.
As part of this fee, ProFamily Associates also brings together a group of professionals, family and other concerned individuals to serve as each family's foster care team. By contrast, some county DFCS agencies prefer their own staff to assemble this team, sometimes because a qualified private agency is not available in their community.

Building Foster Care Teams

"For the meeting with the birth family, we

invite the child's caregivers - the foster parents

or emergency shelter worker," explained Diane

O'Brien, director of ProFamily Associates. "We

invite the psychologists and physicians who eval-

uated the child for the comprehensive assessment.

article, this means DFCS agencies hire private agencies to do an in-depth evaluation of each child entering foster care, including medical and psychological evaluations and gathering information about the family.

We might invite the child's teacher, school counselor or school social worker. We try to bring in any professionals in the family's lives, such as homestead clinicians or parent aides, as well as the CASA and panel coordinator for the juvenile court. We try to get anyone to come who has or

"In my 16 years with DFCS, I've never seen a might have the well being of the child and family

process that gives us so much important informa- in mind, from kin to neighbors. We encourage the

tion so quickly about children and families,"

birth parents to invite anyone who will make

declared Suzanne Baggett, Whitfield County

them feel more comfortable and supported at the

DFCS social services supervisor. "In the past, case meeting."

managers just didn't have the time or training to find out nearly this much about families. For

Getting Informed Opinions

example, these assessments diagnose children's

neurological problems we probably wouldn't

Everyone in this group knows some or all of

have recognized in the past - so we've been able the family members from a unique perspective.

to move them quickly in their schools to having

During the meeting, the meeting's leader (usually

educational plans for their special needs. The

O'Brien) invites each person to share his or her

assessments also help us know much sooner when ideas about the family's 1) strengths upon which

some children need to be in residential treatment they might build to create a safer, more stable

4

facilities instead of with foster families. In the past home for the child and 2) their areas of needed

we would take much longer to figure that out.

change. The team's ideas serve as a basis for the

birth family's plan for what needs to change by

when in order for the children to be able to return home.
If, for example, a doctor is too busy to come to the meeting, he or she might share thoughts over the speaker phone. Sometimes these meetings are held at mid-day so a busy psychologist can attend a meeting as a working lunch. Baggett noted, "They care about this process and are willing to attend meetings without fee if we provide lunch. We pay for these lunches with mini-grant funds."
Individualizing Plans
By contrast, in the past, one DFCS case manager would meet with the birth parents - or even with only one of the birth parents - to work out such a plan. Case managers usually had limited knowledge of each birth family and were rushed

with large caseloads so, too often, their plans for many families would tend to look similar verging on being generic, one-size-fits-all plans.
"Every time I'm in one of these meetings, I'm so impressed with what a difference it makes," Baggett emphasized. "With the information from the comprehensive assessment and with the team's input, we're able to tailor very detailed case plans for each family. It's impressive and persuasive hearing from such a range of people who are there on behalf of the birth family and their child, and I've seen some parents really come face to face with their issues in a way that empowers them to begin dealing with those issues. I've also seen parents become fully and realistically aware they're unable at that time in their lives to meet their children's needs. So we're better able to reach sound decisions faster."

With approximately 13,000 children in care and 3,500 foster parents, Georgia needs new foster parents. Current foster parents can greatly help in this, emphasized Linda Darter and Richard Dietz of the Center for the Support of Families.
Many potential foster parents prefer talking first with a foster parent in their community or church before approaching a DFCS office, explained Darter and Dietz. Thus, foster parents can play a major role in strengthening our child welfare system.
lips for recruiting foster parents:
Notice opportunities. Most of us are drawn to other people with similar values and beliefs. At a church picnic or softball game, you might be standing next to someone who, like you, cares about children and helping. If you mention you foster, people will show if they want to know more.
Share what fulfills you about fostering. This might include talking about the family-like feeling you have with other foster parents, being part of your foster parent association, or (while

respecting confidentiality - not mentioning names) some of your successes in helping children and families.
Be factual. They will want a clear, realistic understanding of what day-to-day fostering is like, such as meeting challenges with children, interacting with DFCS, and finding mutual support with other foster parents.
Become a speaker. Contact your county DFCS or foster parent organization if you are willing to share your fostering experiences at PI'A meetings, at the Y, at churches or to be listed with the local speakers bureau. Your DFCS agency might be able to offer brochures and advice about what to say in your speeches. You could make a big difference!

Richard Dietz and Linda Darter

New Help_
for Vulnerable Youths

Tips for Foster Parents:

A little extra help can be crucial, says Wanda Taylor.
For further information, call: Gloria Choo 404.875.4551
ext. 275
or Wanda Taylor 912.847 .4545
6

A new project addresses dangers which have long threatened some of Georgia's most vulnerable youths. These youths have extreme emotional difficulties, mental illness and/ or retardation, whose behavior has been so severe they have been admitted to live in treatment facilities.
Their treatment is funded by MATCH (MultiAgency Team for Children). When they turn 18, however, most of them are no longer eligible for this funding and must move from the stable

To help these youths, DFCS recently began providing funds to two facilities: the Georgia Center for Youth (servicing the state's southern half) and Atlanta's Hillside Residential Treatment (servicing the state's northern half). Case managers from these facilities travel throughout the state to the youths' communities to help them adjust to living on their own.
"Our case managers stay in a youth's community for maybe two or three days to do what needs to be done at that time, then return as needed," Taylor explained. "We have pretty intensive contact with them for the first month to 90 days. First we help them with immediate needs - food, shelter, clothing. Then we focus on life skills and job preparation, maybe coaching them in doing crucial things like filling out job applications or using a calendar to remember to go to mental health appointments for their medication. We help them connect with programs they're eligible for, like food stamps. We help them find recreational and community programs - church or civic groups or 12-step programs - so they'll fit in better and meet supportive friends. Many of them have limited or no family supports, and we help them build family connections where appropriate."

Before It's Too Late

supervision of their treatment facilities, even though many of them still are unprepared to be on their own.
Nowhere to Go
"Almost all youths find it hard adjusting to living on their own - challenges which can be far too much for these youths with their impairments," emphasized Wanda Taylor, project manager of the Georgia Center for Youth in Reynolds. "When these youths leave state care, many of them have no place to go. Some move from place to place, their living situations too unstable for them to begin finding supportive friends or sorting out their lives. They're at risk of becoming homeless, vulnerable to drugs, prostitution, pregnancy and AIDS. They can be easy targets for unscrupulous people, who might talk them into doing criminal acts for a little food."

In the past, most adult health services have served older, chronically mentally ill adults. Few services have been available for young adults between the ages of 18 to 25.
"Trying to ensure these young people have a better start into adulthood costs Georgia's taxpayers so much less than to wait a few years then paying for the pregnancies, diseases and incarcerations in the criminal justice system," stated Gloria Choo, director of community programs at Hillside.
You Can Help
"There's a desperate need for people who'll allow these youths to stay in their homes," explained Taylor. "Many of them receive Social Security which they can contribute toward rent and living costs. Others have jobs. At this critical time of transition, they could deeply benefit from living in the homes of patient, caring adults who could help in guiding them toward a more independent future."

Youths can greatly benefit from their foster parents teaching them life skills, which can also be fun ways for the parents and youths to spend quality time together, according to Kathy Gass, program manager of Mentor Child and Adolescent Services in Atlanta.
"Foster parents can really enjoy doing learning activities with youths," Gass shared. "While parents are teaching, they often find they're learning things they didn't know, like how to obtain a Social Security card. The process can be an adventure for both of them."
Gass offered teaching tips to foster parents.
- - "We routinely do so many basic, everyday things that these kids need help learning about," Gass said. "They might know very little about simple life skills that can make a major difference in whether other children want to be their friends or how effectively they make the transition into living on their own. They might know very little about how to act with good manners in public, maintain acceptable personal appearance and hygiene, eat healthily, keep house, avoid safety hazards, or have acceptable work habits so they won't get fired from a job. In choosing which skills to teach kids, foster parents can pay attention to what basic skills or even habits they themselves rely on from day to day."
....__..... "A good place to start is simply to ask youths if they've been wanting to know about anything," Gass recommended. "For example, I find most kids are interested in learning about money management. Most will readily admit they don't know about things like starting a bank account, budgeting, or balancing a checkbook. Or they might need guidance with basics like telling the difference between luxuries and necessities."
- "It's important parents teach on the youth's level," Gass emphasized. "If you focus on teaching kids skills they already have, they'll get bored and you'll lose them. If you start out over their heads, they'll feel discouraged. While teaching, you can keep checking with them, saying, 'Can you do this?' and,

'Do you know anything about this?' Then, for example, if you're helping the youth learn about riding the bus, you'll know whether you need to start out with the basics, like letting them know how much the bus fare is, or whether you can start with more advanced things, like helping them learn to read maps of bus routes."
"Kids can get bored or confused by too much talk," Gass explained. "Sometimes they learn better by trying to do things themselves or by watching how you do things. As usual, start at their level. If the youth has some limitations and you're teaching about money management, you might start by showing different coins and coaching the youth in naming them. For higher-functioning kids, you might pretend they're a cashier and you're a customer buying things from them, so they can practice counting back the correct amount of change. If you're teaching youths about riding the bus, go with them on the bus instead of just talking about it."
..._-LI'"-... "It's important not to cover too much ground too fast," Gass advised. "It's important to break things down into steps for several reasons. First, that breaks learning into 'bite-size' pieces so the youth won't get confused. Also this gives kids little experiences of success along the way, which they need because a lot of them have self-esteem issues. If they begin a task and right away get overwhelmed, a lot of them will give up."
..................."""'"I:,,.. ....................... "Give them lots of positive feedback and encouragement for what they learn or show they already know," Gass noted. "If we focus only on what they don't know, they can easily get disheartened. Many kids in care would rather just not deal with something if they don't already know about it because they're afraid of making mistakes and looking foolish. But instead of saying they're scared, they'll say something like, 'I don't want to do this anymore.' It's a runaway instinct. That's why positive feedback is so important. Anytime you catch them doing something well, praise them on the spot."

Teaching brings together kids and foster parents, says Kathy Gass.
To shop for videos and
books full of learning
ideas:

Foster Care
Georgia Department of Human Resources D ivisio n of Family and Children Services
Suite 18-222 Two Peachtree Street, NW Atlanta, GA 30303-3180

BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE
PAID ATLANTA, GA PERMIT NO. 5823

- - -----

_,

The 2001 Foster Parent and Staff Development Institutes:
Joining Together for Children

Joining together for children in foster care: that is the purpose of the 2001 Foster Parent and Staff Development Institutes. Foster parents and staff associated with DFCS or private providers are all welcome. There are no limits to the number of foster parents and staff who can attend. As in past years, the Institute will offer a selection of sessions

with a practical focus that will help foster parents work with the children in their home.
Institutes will be held on Fridays and Saturdays at three different locations throughout the state. Foster parents who attend will earn annual parent development training hours and will be reimbursed for expenses. Staff will also be reimbursed for expenses.

Catch u with the Institute
May 11-12 ........................ .Decatur Holiday Inn June 8-9 ............................ .Macon Centreplex September 28-29 .... .Savannah Hyatt Regency Riverwalk

Institute registration brochures will be mailed to foster parents by March. Foster parents and staff are asked to coordinate their attendance with

I

their local DFCS. If local DFCS agencies cannot

answer a question about the Institutes, call

800.227.3410 for questions about attending the

Institute; for all other questions, call 404.657.3454.