The first of a permanency series featuring intersections of child welfare and mental health practice, voiced by PACC alumni
Compiled by Keely Vandre, MSW, LGSW, PACC Coordinator
While November is recognized as “National Adoption Month,” those impacted personally and/or professionally know the scope of permanency is not limited by calendar or lifespan. Specialized skills to support individuals and families at all stages are at the core of the Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate (PACC) program. PACC brings together child welfare and mental health professionals across Minnesota to illuminate their many practice intersections, and offer a shared framework and language. This series endeavors to create an ongoing dialogue between these diverse alumni voices.
“Lifting Up Youth Voices” is the Children’s Bureau’s 2018 campaign and they highlight many national resources for professionals and for youth. CASCW’s searchable resource library also provides training modules and tools such as: Promoting Placement Stability in Foster Care, the Well-being Indicator Tool for Youth (WIT-Y), and the Youth Connections Scale (YCS).
Kicking off DHS’ 2nd Annual Minnesota Child Welfare Conference, Keynote Speaker Sixto Cancel shared his own experience in the foster system which helped him found “Think of Us,” an innovative approach to using digital tools and technology to empower youth in care.
In keeping with this theme, our first PACC alumni writers explore intersections of their permanency practice with foster care and transition to adulthood.
Ed Morales, MPP, MSW, LICSW Nicole Deters, MPA Mike Arieta, MSW, LICSW, LCSW
Ed Morales, founder/director of Socorro Consulting encounters “who am I?” as a primary question that arises time and again in practice with youth. “Both adoption and foster care disrupt many of the natural systems and connections we have to personal identity, so we probably shouldn’t be surprised when we find the answers hard to come by: ‘Who am I, when I’ve been separated from the family that created me? Who am I when I am placed in the home of strangers, who may not look like me, and surely don’t smell like me, and may not even know the foods I like to eat. Who am I when I go to a new school and the teacher assigns a family tree project?’ ”
Of course, it is not only the identity of the child or young adult impacted by the permanency trajectory. As CEO of Evolve , Nicole Deters sees the push for Relative-Kinship care as both positive and complex. “Placement with a known family member, friend or other important person in a child’s life decreases trauma experienced from removal from a biological family member. However, the dynamics are different– there are many gains in caring for a relative/kin child, but there is also ambiguity and loss around roles and privacy among many other unique factors.
That lack of clarity can follow many youth into their transition to adulthood. Mike Arieta sees the complexity of developmental stages for youth aging out of foster care in his work supporting University of Minnesota students with financial aid. Stress and turbulence increase for older adolescents as they are moving to independent or interdependent living. “Many times, when I am speaking with a student who has experienced the foster care system, I am very aware of the possible attachment issues that might be continuing to impact good connections with other students, roommates, teachers and the impacts of higher education.”
Trauma, grief and loss are also recurring themes. Nicole underscores the importance of helping uncover often-invisible wounds that youth in care and their families experience from the separation of biological loved ones. “These challenges must be discussed to provide a safe and loving home where a child thrives, not just survives.” Likewise, Ed reminds us that the answer to ‘who am I?’ at 12 is probably going to be very different from the answer to ‘who am I?’ at 24. It will be different at placement and it will be different at finalization. It will be different starting college, and starting a family. “There’s simply no finish line when it comes to foster and adoptive care.”
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If you are interested in guest blogging, please contact Keely Vandre.