MODULE 2 Putting an Urgency on Permanency Practices
OVERVIEW:
- Residential interventions are focusing on permanency as an urgent and primary goal, consistent with research that links permanency to positive outcomes for youth.[1],[2]
- For youth with no viable permanent family, a focus on permanency means finding and building a family for that youth. As Lauren Frey of Plummer Youth Promise shares in her video clip within this module, “Our goal … is for youth to stay home, go home, or find home.”
- For residential organizations, permanency work entails providing staff with the education, skills, and program practices needed to ensure that they can support every youth with no viable family at admission or during the residential intervention to achieve successful permanency.
- The success of a residential intervention is primarily measured by whether the residential intervention helps youth to return to and successfully live with family, and, for those with no viable family, whether the residential intervention develops and supports a “forever family” or permanency.
[1] Salazar, A.M., Jones, K.R., Amemiya, J., Cherry, A., Brown, E.C., Catalano, R.F., & Monahan, K.C. (2018). Defining and achieving permanency among older youth in foster care. Children & Youth Services Review, 87, 9-16.
[2] Lister, J., Lieberman, R.E., & Sisson, K. (2016). Redefining residential: Strategic interventions to advance youth permanency. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 33, 177-185.
Putting an Urgency on Permanency Practices Resources
Best Practices for Residential Interventions for Youth and their Families: A Resource Guide for Judges and Legal Partners with Involvement in the Children’s Dependency Court System. (February, 2017). Building Bridges Initiative and Association of Children’s Residential Centers.
Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Case Study: Leading Innovation Outside the Comfort Zone: The Seneca Family of Agencies Journey. (2017). Building Bridges Initiative.
Building Bridges Self-Assessment Tool [Also Available in Spanish]. (2020, September). Building Bridges Initiative.
Caldwell, B., Beck, S., Damon, J., Hust, J., Nyreen, J., & Montes, R. (2014). Initial steps in the culture change process. In G.M. Blau, B. Caldwell, & R.E. Lieberman (Eds.), Residential interventions for children, adolescents, and families: A best practice guide. (pp. 154–169). Routledge.
Hust, J.A. & Kuppinger, A. (2014). Moving toward family-driven care in residential. In G. Blau, B. Caldwell, & R.E. Lieberman (Eds.), Residential interventions for children, adolescents, and families: A best practice guide (pp. 15–33). Routledge.
Kuppinger, A., Hust, J.A., Hunt, P., Mosby, P., Hammack, S., & Caldwell, B. (2020). Putting families first: Strategies to transform and advance family engagement and partnership. In B. Caldwell, R.E. Lieberman, J. Lebel, & G.M. Blau (Eds.), Transforming Residential Interventions: Practical Strategies and Future Directions (pp. 8–30). Routledge.
LeBel, J., Holden, M.J., Fauntleroy, D.A., Galyean, L., Martin, W.R., & Casciano-McCann, C. (2020). Residential transformation: Successful strategies and examples. In B. Caldwell, R. Lieberman, J. LeBel, & G.M. Blau (Eds.), Transforming Residential Interventions: Practical Strategies and Future Directions (pp. 75–93). Routledge.
Lieberman, R.E., LeBel, J., Caldwell, B., Hust, J.A., Collins, J., & Blau, G.M. (2020). Transforming residential interventions: A practice framework. In B. Caldwell, R. Lieberman, J. LeBel, & G.M. Blau (Eds.), Transforming Residential Interventions: Practical Strategies and Future Directions (pp. 1–7). Routledge.
Sexton, T.L., Rios, G.O., Johnson, K.A., & Plante, B.R. (2014). Clinical strategies for engaging families. In G. Blau, B. Caldwell, & R.E. Lieberman (Eds.), Residential interventions for children, adolescents, and families: A best practice guide (pp. 34-45). Routledge.
Key Concepts & Definitions
Permanency for youth means “having an enduring family relationship that is safe and meant to last a lifetime.”[1]
A family finder is a staff member charged with finding and engaging family members and natural supports for youth who have no viable permanent family. The goal of family finding is to develop for each youth a family who will provide lifelong support.
Cultural competence is “a process of learning that leads to an ability to effectively respond to the challenges and opportunities posed by the presence of culture diversity in a defined social system.”[2]
Committing to equity means providing “fair access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups.”[1]
Diversity “includes all the ways in which people differ, encompassing the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, socioeconomic status, marital status, language, physical appearance, etc.).”[2]
Inclusion is “authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities, and decision/policy making in a way that shares power.”[3]
A Family/Parent Partner is a parent with lived experience raising a child receiving mental- or behavioral-health, child-welfare, or juvenile-justice services. The Family/Parent Partner provides intentional peer support to the parent or primary caregiver of the child through strategic self-disclosure related to their own family experience. Family/Parent Partners provide non-adversarial advocacy and suspend bias and blame in all interactions with parents and professionals. They encourage parents to practice self-care and build on their strengths. Family/Parent Partners provide hope, build connections and linkages, and encourage parents to utilize their voice to be part of joint problem solving. Family/Parent Partners also participate in program and system development through their membership on planning and policy-making bodies at various levels. They may also be referred to as family partners or advocates, family peer support specialists, peer advocates, etc. BBI recommends that residential programs hire multiple (more than one) Family/Parent Partners; some residential programs have partnered with local family-run organizations (FRO) or family support groups to provide Family/Parent Partners.
A Child and Family Team is a collaborative team of residential and community providers, family members, the youth, Family/Parent Partners, Youth Partners/Peer Mentors, and natural supports (e.g., people the family chooses to involve on the team, such as a family friend, coach, teacher, religious leader, etc.). This team meets regularly to define goals, discuss progress, and refine the service and support plan to best meet the needs of the child and family. Different child and family systems use different terms for this group; for instance, child welfare providers might use the term family team conferencing.