National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning

Region VIII Youth Permanency Initiative

Sponsored by AdoptUsKids and the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning.

Initiated January, 2006; completed January, 2007.

Participating agencies:  El Paso County, Colorado Department of Human Services, with support from the Colorado State Department of Human Services  Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services  Utah Department of Human Services, Division of Child & Family Services  Wyoming Department of Family Services

Faculty representatives from:  Young alumni of care  AdoptUsKids  National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning  National Resource Center on Adoption  National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues  National Resource Center for Youth Development  Massachusetts Department of Social Services  Race Matters Consortium

Activities included:  Three all-Initiative meetings April 18-19, 2006, Denver, Colorado September 25-26, 2006, Helena, Montana January 18-19, 2007, Salt Lake City, Utah  Monthly teleconference calls  Extranet

Essential components:  Framework for Practice developed by NRCFCPPP and Casey Family Services  Active participation of young people as both team members and faculty  Technical assistance available to participating teams from the Children’s Bureau Training and Technical Assistance Network  Use of Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) method; small tests of change repeated in rapid succession leading to improved practice

PDSAs conducted in the areas of  Identifying lasting connections  Improving communication with young people in care National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning

 Empowering young people to participate in the own permanency planning  Engaging youth to participate in policy, planning, and community development activities  Providing young people with tools to achieve  Educating others about the importance of youth permanency

Major efforts related to the work of the Initiative  Statewide youth convening  Training curriculum for foster parents of adolescents  Community engagement in opening doors to young people through employment, mentoring, etc.  Development or expansion of youth advisory boards in several jurisdictions

Personal outcomes related to participation in the Initiative  One young person, who thought she was “too old” to be adopted, will soon have her adoption finalized  One young person was reunified with her birth mother and receiving support services  Several adult team members reported gaining a new understanding of the need to help young people develop life skills in addition to, not in place of, pursuing permanent connections  Lasting friendships formed

For more about the Region VIII Youth Permanency Initiative, see November 2006 and February 2007 editions of E-Notes, an electronic newsletter from AdoptUsKids, at http://216.38.216.37/adoptusa/activities.html#ENotes. The AdoptUsKids website will be adding additional information about the Intiative in the coming months.

For more information on youth permanency from the NRCFCPPP, visit: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/youth-permanency.html