By CASCW staff on Sep 21, 2017 11:35 am
Written by Ellie O’Neil, Title IV-E MSW Fellow
This year I will be interning in a county child protection setting. I had my first “real” day in the field on Monday where I met my supervisor at court for an “Admit/Deny” hearing where a family could either admit or deny fault for alleged abuse. The two year old child had been removed from her home because police had found her with her dad who had passed out from a drug overdose and the child showed signs of neglect. The allegations were denied so the case will be revisited in about a month.
After court, my county supervisor and I went to pick up the child from her foster home for a supervised visit with the family. When it came time to leave, the two year old child was inconsolable— she did not understand why she couldn’t go home with her parents. Of course, my heart dropped and I wanted to scoop this little girl up and tell her it was all going to be ok but, boundaries. What I did do was kneel down next to her and told her that just for now, we are going back to her foster home and she will see her parents soon. We were able to get back the car but once in the seat, she cried the whole thirty minute car ride while grasping onto the necklace her dad had given her. Once home, the foster mom retrieved the little girl from the car seat and embraced her in a way that we simply couldn’t. I had a long discussion with my supervisor afterwards about appropriate boundaries and how to navigate a professional role in the face of human pain. The young girl was truly upset and I didn’t know how I could comfort her, if it was my position to do so, and what could I possibly say to a child that just wants to go home?
I left the situation thinking ‘how much of today will this child remember?’ And, if she doesn’t remember the events, will she remember the feelings associated with today? This is all too soon to tell, of course, but I wonder about the gravity this day had on her life. I think the reality is that I will never know the answer to these questions so I have to allow myself the grace to do the best I can with what I know and when I know better, do better (thank you~Maya Angelou). I also remind myself that while this one day was more difficult than I could imagine, this young person holds within them sources of immense strength and resilience.
Read in browser »
By CASCW staff on Sep 21, 2017 11:18 am
While students are in their field placements, they are asked to write field reflections approximately every 2 weeks over the course of the academic year. Their assignment is described as follows…
An important skill for all social workers is the ability to critically reflect upon the work they are engaged in. You may reflect on your growth, experiences, strengths, challenges, difficulties, successes, supervision, etc. from the field placement. It can be very informal writing (like a journal).
Last week, students completed their first field journals and here are some of the overall themes from their writing:
- Do I deserve to be here (in the MSW program, in my internship, in the IV-E Fellowship Program)
- Am I capable? Can I really do this?
- Excitement, Open-Mindedness, Humility
- Being challenged with not knowing, not being the expert, adjustment to being a learner.
As the year moves forward, we’ll share some of the student’s field reflections with you here.
Read in browser »
By CASCW staff on Sep 18, 2017 12:46 pm
by John Lukach, MSW, LGSW
In 2014, there were 642 adoptions from the public child welfare system in Minnesota. Minnesota is currently dealing with a substantial increase in child welfare caseloads due to recent legislative action. See previous policy blogs for background on the child welfare reform efforts taking place in Minnesota. As special needs adoptions continue to increase, the challenges to adoptive families have also increased and the need for adoption preservation services is clear.
One of the unique challenges facing adoptive parents includes the public, intrusive scrutiny of the adoption process. This process can often mislead parents as to the amount of ongoing support they can expect to receive after finalizing an adoption. Adoptive placement is viewed as the “endpoint” of the adoption process for parents. When monthly caseworker visits and connections to intensive pre-adoptive services terminate, the family may feel well equipped and euphoric in the immediate term; however, service needs often remain present years after the adoption has completed. In a longitudinal study, children adopted from foster care in Nevada were found to have increased behavior problems the longer they remained in the adoptive home.
Given the importance of service continuity highlighted through research, the Post-Adoption Services Evaluation was conducted by the Child Safety and Permanency Division of the Minnesota Department of Human Services from February to April 2017. This evaluation identified accessibility to and knowledge of post-adoption services across the state. Data were collected from both adoptive families and adoption professionals. An online survey and group interviews were utilized to collect data. A total 369 participants took part in the evaluation with a response rate of 56% for families and 31% for professionals. Twelve families and six professionals also completed group interviews. Each group had representation from forty-seven counties and two tribes. This research focused around four questions detailed below:
1) What do adoptive parents need to support their families after legal finalization of an adoption?
Parents reported financial supports, training/education, and respite as being critical resources. Many families also report the significance that peer-to-peer groups have had in their lives. Parents consistently expressed the need for help navigating services available to them.
2) What do adoption professionals want to provide to families after legal finalization of an adoption?
Professionals want to provide expanding training/education options, more reliable respite services and peer-to-peer groups. They consistently expressed a desire to expand rural access and improve service navigation.
3) Do adoptive parents and professionals identify similar post-adoption needs?
Overall, adoptive parents and professionals ranked important services very similarly. The only difference of opinion came about when ranking financial assistance. Parents overwhelmingly identified this as the number one most important resource (50% vs 10%), whereas professionals identified therapeutic supports as most important (38% vs 11%).
Both groups identified interest in expanded access to support groups, centralized service intake, online services and more robust support around navigating birthparent relationships.
4) Do adoptive parents and professionals have similar levels of knowledge about post-adoption services available in their community?
Data revealed a stark difference in service awareness between parents and professionals. As one parent stated, “The services available are limited and you have to know exactly what to look for or ask for in order to get the services”. Professionals expressed that they are aware of this disconnect but can struggle to engage, “Families that know what they are looking for can find help. It is getting families to know or recognize that supports could help them is more the challenge because we are not actively reminding them that services are available”. 46% of parents responded that they know who to call for a referral to an adoption competent provider compared to 90% of professionals. This trend continued when asked if they have knowledge of agencies with post-adoption specific services (34% of parents vs 62% of professionals) and if they have knowledge of available peer-to-peer support groups (35% of parents vs 55% of professionals).
Key findings that arise from this evaluation are: (1) a knowledge gap of post-adoption services between families and professionals, (2) lack of adoption competent services in greater Minnesota, and (3) a consensus among both families and professionals regarding needs after adoption. Adoption professionals have an obligation to further educate the public on existing post-adoption services. Given the substantial lack of resources in greater Minnesota, more funding should be allocated outside of the metro area to ensure families can remain stable. Despite these needs, both families and professionals generally agree on the issues facing adoptive families.
The results of this evaluation prove to be quite timely. Effective December 1, 2018, Minnesota Statute 256N.261 compels the commissioner of human services to fund services that address the same needs identified by families and professionals in this evaluation.
View more data from the study.
Access information about the new statute.
References
AdoptUSKids. (2015). Support matters: lessons from the field on services for adoptive, foster, and kinship care families. AdoptUSKids.</p class>
Ceballo, R., Lansford, J., Abbey, A., & Stewart, A. (2004). Gaining a Child: Comparing the Experiences of Biological Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Stepparents. Family Relations, 53(1), 38-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2004.00007.x
Children’s Bureau. (2015, July). Adoptions of Children with Public Child Welfare Agency Involvement by State FY 2005-FY 2014. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/children_adopted2014.pdf
Foli, K., South, S., Lim, E., & Jarnecke, A. (2016). Post-adoption depression: Parental classes of depressive symptoms across time. Journal Of Affective Disorders, 200, 293-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.01.049
Zosky, D., Howard, J., Smith, S., Howard, A., & Shelvin, K. (2005). Investing in Adoptive Families. Adoption Quarterly, 8(3), 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/j145v08n03_01
Read in browser »
By CASCW staff on Sep 11, 2017 03:14 pm
This year, we continue our partnership with Hennepin County to be able to have an embedded field unit within Child Protection and Child Welfare units at Minnesota’s largest county. Last Tuesday, the students had their first official day at Hennepin and in between orientation sessions they attended a “Welcome lunch”, which included Hennepin Social Work Task Supervisors/mentors and IV-E alum. We had almost 40 people in attendance and it was a great opportunity to welcome the students and start off their internship with the chance to meet and connect with Hennepin Social Workers representing a wide range of child protection and child welfare units. Many thanks to Hennepin County and its fantastic social work staff for supporting a new cohort of MSW IV-E students!
Read in browser »
By CASCW staff on Sep 11, 2017 03:01 pm
Last week, 28 of our IV-E Fellows entered their field placements. This year, we have 10 students who will be interning in their foundation field placement, and they are in a variety of placement settings including metro public schools, CornerHouse, Washburn Child Guidance Center and more! We also have 18 students entering into their concentration county or DHS child welfare field placements. This year, students will be interning within Ramsey County, Washington County, Hennepin County and the Child Safety and Permanency division of DHS. We plan to share more about their field experiences with all of you as we move through the academic year. Huge shout out of gratitude to those of you who will be supporting and mentoring our students this year!
Read in browser »
Recent Articles:
|