- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Through a novel integration of child welfare data, policy analysis, and evidence-informed youth permanency practice, the essays in this volume show how to achieve and sustain family permanence for older children and youth in foster care. Researchers examine what is known about permanency outcomes for youth in foster care, how the existing knowledge base can be applied to improve these outcomes, and the directions that future research should take to strengthen youth permanence practice and policy. Part 1 examines child welfare data concerning reunification, adoption, and relative custody and guardianship and the implications for practice and policy. Part 2 addresses law, regulation, court reform, and resource allocation as vital components in achieving and sustaining family permanence. Contributors examine the impact of policy change created by court reform and propose new federal and state policy directions. Part 3 outlines a range of practices designed to achieve family permanence for youth in foster care: preserving families through community-based services, reunification, adoption, and custody and guardianship arrangements with relatives. As growing numbers of youth continue to "age out" of foster care without permanent families, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers have increasingly focused on developing evidence-informed policies, practices, services and supports to improve outcomes for youth. Edited by leading professionals in the field, this text recommends the most relevant and effective methods for improving family permanency outcomes for older youth in foster care.
I recommend this book as a must-have for all child welfare agencies and child welfare professionals in the field.
This book will be a good resource for anyone interested in the population of older foster children and youth... Highly recommended.
I recommend this book as a must-have for all child welfare agencies and child welfare professionals in the field.
— Lidwinner machado, Child Welfare Program, social service specialist
— Lidwinner machado, Child Welfare Program, social service specialist
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I Describing the Problem 9
1 Foster Youth in Context Fred Wulczyn 13
2 A Comparative Examination of Foster Youth Who Did and Did Not Achieve Permanency Penelope L. Maza 32
3 Outcomes for Older Youth Exiting the Foster Care System in the United States Mark E. Courtney 40
4 Outcomes for Youth Exiting the Foster Care System: Extending What We Know and What Needs to Be Done with Selected Data Peter J. Pecora 75
5 Permanence and Impermanence for Youth in Out-of-Home Care Richard P. Barth Laura K. Chintapalli 88
6 Permanence Is a State of Security and Attachment Gretta Cushing Benjamin Kerman 109
Part II Policy Responses to the Permanency Needs of Youth 123
7 Permanence for Older Children and Youth: Law, Policy, and Research Madelyn Freundlich 127
8 Federal Law and Child Welfare Reform: The Research-Policy Interface in Promoting Permanence for Older Children and Youth Rosemary J. Avery 147
9 Guardianship and Youth Permanence Robert B. Hill 156
10 A Fine Balancing Act: Kinship Care, Subsidized Guardianship, and Outcomes Aron Shlonsky 176
11 Dependency Court Reform Addressing the Permanency Needs of Youth in Foster Care: National Evaluation of the Court Improvement Program Karl Ensign Sabrina A. Davis Elizabeth Lee 210
12 Facilitation of Systems Reform: Learning from Model Court Jurisdictions Shirley A. Dobbin 210
Part III Practice Responses to the Permanency Needs of Youth 219
13 Permanent Families for Adolescents: Applying Lessons Learned from a Family Reunification Demonstration Program Barbara A. Pine Robin Spath 223
14 Youth Permanence Through Adoption Ruth G. McRoy Elissa Madden 244
15Family-Involvement Meetings with Older Children in Foster Care: Promising Practices and the Challenge of Child Welfare Reform David Crampton Joan Pennell 266
16 Developmentally Appropriate Community-Based Responses to the Permanency Needs of Older Youth Involved in the Child Welfare System Sandra Stukes Chipungu Laura G. Daughtery Benjamin Kerman 291
17 Social and Life Skills Development: Preparing and Facilitating Youth for Transition into Young Adults Hewitt B. Clark Kimberly A. Crosland 313
18 From Research to Practice: Improving Permanency Outcomes for Youth in Foster Care Madelyn Freundlich Lauren Frey Benjamin Kerman Sarah B. Greenblatt 337
Afterword: Making Families Permanent and Cases Closed-Concluding Thoughts and Recommendations 357
Contributors 369
Index 375
Overview
Through a novel integration of child welfare data, policy analysis, and evidence-informed youth permanency practice, the essays in this volume show how to achieve and sustain family permanence for older children and youth in foster care. Researchers examine what is known about permanency outcomes for youth in foster care, how the existing knowledge base can be applied to improve these outcomes, and the directions that future research should take to strengthen youth permanence practice and policy. Part 1 examines ...