Published by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development at the University of Oklahoma OUTREACH College of Continuing Education

Editor:
Eddie Screechowl, MA

IN THIS ISSUE

 

1 | 2007 Pathways to Adulthood Conference

2 | Children’s Bureau Discretionary Grant Announcement

3 | National Foster Care Month

4 |Resources and Publications

 

The 2007 National Pathways to Adulthood Independent Living/Transitional Living Conference

The 2007 National Pathways to Adulthood Conference, now in it’s 13th year, will be held in Minneapolis, MN, at the Minneapolis Hilton, on May 9-11, 2007.  The conference is sponsored by The United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS); Administration on Children, Youth and Families; Administration for Children and Families; Children’s Bureau; Family and Youth Services Bureau and coordinated by The University of Oklahoma National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development (NCWRCYD), service of the USDHHS Children’s Bureau.

Keynote presentations will be offered by Administration officials including Dr. Susan Orr and Harry Wilson, the Youth Leadership Advisory Team, from Portland, ME, Jennifer Kemp, Senior Policy Analyst, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, and H. J. David Ambroz, Esq., Executive Director, Los Angeles City College Foundation.

For more information,please visit the conference website at http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/conferences/npta07/.

back to top

Children’s Bureau Discretionary Grant Announcement

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children's Bureau has made its first discretionary grant announcement for fiscal year 2007. The funding opportunity is for a multifaceted national AdoptUsKids program designed to assist states and tribes in the recruitment and support of foster and adoptive families for children in public foster care.

AdoptUsKids is responsible for the following activities:

  • Training and technical assistance to states and tribes
  • Maintenance of a national adoption Internet photolisting service
  • Operation of a National Adoption Information Exchange System that helps locate and recruit prospective adoptive parents for the adoption of children from foster care and assists in making connections between public and private agencies
  • Assisting states and tribes to carry out fulfillment activities in response to a national multimedia adoptive and foster home recruitment campaign
  • Implementing adoptive family support activities

Grant applications are due on May 15, 2007. For more information, click here.

back to top

May is National Foster Care Month

This May join Casey Family Programs and 14 of the nation’s largest child welfare agencies in bringing brighter futures to youth in foster care.  National Foster Care Month will serve as a platform for connecting vulnerable youth to concerned, nurturing adults who, no matter how much time they have to give, can do something that will change a lifetime for a young person in foster care.  For more information on how to get involved visit http://www.fostercaremonth.org/.

back to top

Coping with Disasters and Strengthening Systems

Coping with Disasters and Strengthening Systems: A Framework for Child Welfare Agencies, developed by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement, a service of the Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides child welfare agencies a framework for dealing with disasters.  Through an extensive review of the available literature and recent presentations and consoluntations with state staff who have experienced disasters, the report offers steps that should be taken before, during, and after a disaster.  The publication was released to help managers think through what they might put in place to cope with disasters, and to highlight how taking these steps can improve systems for serving children and families.  To access the document, click here.

Medicaid Coverage for Youth in Foster Care

Medicaid Access for Youth Aging out of Foster Care, published by the American Public Human Services Association, indicates that since 1999, 22 states have taken, or plan to do so soon, the Chafee option to extend Medicaid to youth 18-21 who were in foster care.  The report covers current programs that are being used to cover former foster youth, the estimated costs with extending the Chafee option, and how the Deficit Reduction Act can be used to create a program to cover these youth.  To access the report, click here.

Migration: A Critical Issue for Child Welfare

The Migration and Child Welfare National Network recently issued a report which contains an analysis of issues impacting immigrant families and children, using the framework of the national child welfare goals of safety, permanency and well being.  Also presented is an analysis across the domains of research, workforce and training, cross-systems collaboration and field integration, policy, and advocacy. You can download the report here.

Our Story, Our Words

In a new publication, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy asked youth to share what they want to know about teen pregnancy.  Our Story, Our Words:  Youth Speak Out on Sex, Love, and Teen Pregnancy gives youth a voice in offering advice to future generations that will spend time in foster care.  This publication offers tips from foster youth, facts about sexuality, and information on where to find further resources and support.  To view the document, click here.

back to top