National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice

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