When does Confidentiality become an impediment rather than a pathway to meeting the educational needs of students in the foster care system?

The benefits of public, child welfare and education collaborations are numerous. However, different privacy laws that dictate professional practice within each respective system may cause tensions to surface across service agencies in the interpretation and implementation of these policies. A new perspective on the interpretation of these confidentiality policies is offered to guide the child welfare and education workforce in cross-disciplinary decision-making that maximizes the educational well-being of children in care

Child safety and children in the education system: Prioritizing the need for statewide anti-bullying policies

This study was conducted to explore the responses of 380 students enrolled at Michigan State University who had experienced bullying in high school as victims, perpetrators, and witnesses. Findings included significant predictors of bullying behavior. For example, male students were more likely to bully than their female counterparts; and bystanders who witnessed bullying incidents were more likely to become both victims and/or perpetrators of bullying. The MSU students offered recommendations for policymakers to create anti-bullying legislation with enforcement guidelines and other methods of improving school culture to reduce future bullying incidents

Child Welfare and Children in the Education System: Prioritizing the Need for Statewide Anti-bullying Policies

This study was conducted to explore the responses of 380 students enrolled at Michigan State University who had experienced bullying in high school as victims, perpetrators, and witnesses. Findings included significant predictors of bullying behavior. For example, male students were more likely to bully than their female counterparts; and bystanders who witnessed bullying incidents were more likely to become both victims and/or perpetrators of bullying. The MSU students offered recommendations for policymakers to create anti-bullying legislation with enforcement guidelines and other methods of improving school culture to reduce future bullying incidents

Circumstances and Suggestions of Youth Who Run from Out-of-home Care

Th is study examined the preceding circumstances of youth that ran from out-of-home care. Youth off ered suggestions for preventing future running episodes. Data was drawn from 111 case records of three county courts in southeastern Lower Michigan. Data were also drawn from four focus groups of youth living in out-of-home care (n=24). Circumstances that preceded youth running included female gender, African- American ethnicity, more restrictive placements, prior running episodes, and separations from siblings and children. Focus group youth expressed concerns about placement disruptions, rules, chores, diff erential treatment, loss of control, safety, and especially, feeling that “no one cares about me.” To prevent running, youth recommended caring adults, helping others, active roles in case planning, knowledge of resources, and maintaining family connections

How Does Michigan Fare in the Fight to Improve Outcomes for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care? A Response from the State and One of Its Communities

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, one-half-million children are in foster care at any given time, some of whom are over the age of 16. Every year, typically at the age of 18, approximately 20,000 of these children will age out of the foster care system. Many of these youths fi nd themselves making an abrupt transition to adulthood and independence with little or no assistance from their caregivers, biological families, or the child welfare system. Unlike their same-age peers in the general population, they have no safety net if they fail to succeed at navigating the adult world. Eyster and Oldmixon (2007) note that in the general population, approximately half of the youth ages 18-24 continue to live at home. At the same time, some form of parental support is provided for young adults in their early 20s whether they live at home or not

Keeping Families Together? Exploring placement of children with severe emotional disturbances in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems

Mona, a parent of five children all diagnosed with several emotional disturbances (SED), describes the moment she made the decision to place her daughter (age 16) into the juvenile justice system: “…her behaviors were so bad she was assaultive to her younger siblings…in order to protect them and to make sure that her medical needs were met, because she was eloping at the time. I had to take her to court, um, file charges against her…” Mona’s name is a pseudonym, but her story is real. In this study, parents describe the circumstances preceding their decisions to voluntarily relinquish custody of their children and place them into the child welfare or juvenile justice system. This paper introduces some of the trends and an initial socioeconomic picture of this phenomenon in Michigan. Parents’ perspectives on the circumstances that led them to relinquish custody are shared, as well as their suggestions for support that might have prevented them from having to make this difficult decision

American Indian and Alaska Native Grandfamilies: The Impact on Child Development

Traditionally, grandparents and other family members have assumed integral roles in raising children within American Indian/Alaska Native communities. The existence of an extensive support system assisted parents in passing on to their children the knowledge of customs, culture, and language essential to community survival and well-being. An increasing number of children are now being raised in “grandfamilies,” a type of family constellation where grandparents take on the role of sole or primary caregiver for their grandchildren under eighteen years of age

Parents Describe Finding Income and Resources for Their Medicaid-Eligible Children With Disabilities

In the U.S. social system, the roles of work and parenthood are often in conflict, and this conflict is especially problematic for parents of children with special needs. This study was designed to give parents an opportunity to describe their experiences in finding income and resources while caring for a Medicaid-eligible child with a chronic illness or disability. Three themes emerged: work and parenting responsibilities constantly intersected; resources for families were often insufficient or unavailable; and when parents received help, the helpers took extraordinary measures. Findings were compared to those of emerging literature; in addition, parents offered many practice and policy suggestions. Ecological and social construction theory frames were supported, including a need for family-focused perspectives

Coming Full Circle: From Child Victim to Childcare Professional

Like so many American kids reared by abusive and neglectful parents, I did not know the simple joys of childhood, nor was I permitted the normalcy of a stable family life. By my ninth birthday, I had heard about the “Great American Dream,” and although I wanted to believe in it - desperately - it was nothing more than a little girls wistful fantasy In my world, nightmares dominated dreams, and fantasies existed only briefly, extinguished by the daily horrors of cruel reality What did manage to persist unabated was physical and mental abuse given freely and in abundance by a mother who should have loved and protected us

Developing Cross-System Communication to Promote Educational Well-Being in Foster Care Youth: Recommendations for a National Research, Practice, and Policy Agenda

This study captures the voices of school-based behavioral specialists who are employed across the state of Michigan to share how well schools and child welfare agencies communicate and collaborate to address the educational well-being of foster care children on their caseloads. This includes knowledge of federal policies and how they support and hinder communication across systems. Participants included a total of 249 K-12 employed school psychologists, counselors, and social workers. Survey methodology was used and both inferential and narrative analyses revealed that these school practitioners were highly unaware of how to identify the foster care children in their schools, and what supports they need. The three groups of school-based professionals were similarly unaware, minimal communication is occurring with outside agencies, and they largely do not take initiative in reaching out to communicate and collaborate with community-based agencies outside the school. Despite that, collectively, the work of child welfare and education professionals could have a substantial impact on retention and the overall student performance of children who are living in out of home care. Implications of this lack communication and awareness are discussed. Recommendations to guide a national research agenda for advocacy and policy efforts are also identified