Summary of Family First Prevention Act

Signed into law in February 2018, the Family First Prevention Act reforms child welfare funding streams and focuses on prevention supports for families “at risk” of foster care, and adds supports for kinship navigation and other kinship initiatives.

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  Summary by First Focus Campaign for Children

Children and Trauma: What Can You Do? FFF Fact Sheet

Child traumatic stress refers to the physical and emotional responses of a child to events that threaten the life or physical integrity of the child or of someone critically important to the child (such as a parent or sibling). Traumatic events can overwhelm a child’s capacity to cope. Children may feel terror and powerlessness; they may act out. The fact sheet provides information to understand the types of trauma, potential responses to the trauma and ways to support a child who has experienced trauma.

Virginia Code section regarding enrolling kinship children in school: Section § 22.1-3

Virginia Code section regarding enrolling kinship children in school: § 22.1-3. Persons to whom public schools shall be free.

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  Virginia Code § 22.1-3

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Kinship Care and School Enrollment in Virginia, report for the Virginia Commission on Youth

Kinship Care and School Enrollment in Virginia, report for the Virginia Commission on Youth.

Power of Attorneys: Introduction, from Legal Aid Justice Center

Introduction to Power of Attorney including answering what is a Power of Attorney, what are the benefits of executing (completing and signing) a Power of Attorney.

Instructions for Power Of Attorney including steps for the agent to perform.

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  Introduction to Powers of Attorney

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  Instructions for Power Of Attorney

Education for Immigrant Students and Children of Immigrants, from Legal Aid Justice Center

National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment

The National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment, NRCDR website closed on September 29, 2017. The NRCDR website is not being maintained but resources on diligent recruitment remain available.

The Grandparent’s and Other Relative Caregiver’s Guide to Raising Children with Disabilities from the Children’s Defense Fund

Children’s Defense Fund Guide to Resources for Kinship Families

Kinship webpage from Child Welfare Information Gateway

Responding to Children Impacted by Trauma FFF fact sheet

It is often difficult for parents and caregivers to know how best to respond to their children’s behavioral and emotional needs. Download our fact sheet for proven strategies for responding to children impacted by trauma.

Kinship Care Options brochure from Virginia Department of Social Services

Kinship care is a way for children to stay connected to family when they have been voluntarily or involuntarily removed from the care of their parents. Removal may become necessary due to a parent’s illness, incarceration, lack of housing, insufficient income, abuse or neglect. Regardless of the reason for kinship care,most children fare better when connections to family and loved ones are maintained.

Grandfamilies.org

Grandfamilies.org, a collaboration of Generations United, the American Bar Association Center for Children and the Law, and Casey Family Programs.

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  Grandfamilies

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  Generations United

Foster Families: Did You know?

• Your child with a disability can get educational services
• You should help make important educational decisions for your foster child.
• You should be informed when decisions are to be made.
• Your child’s school should be helping solve behavior problems.
• School records from previous schools should be sent to a new school.

Adoptive Families: Did You Know?

• Your child with a disability can get educational services.
• You should help make important educational decisions about your child.
• You should be informed when decisions are to be made.
• Your child may get support services to benefit from special education.
• Your child’s school should be helping solve behavior problems.

Mental Health Needs in Formed Families

For a PDF version of this fact sheet, click HERE.

MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS in FORMED FAMILIES

Virginia families formed by foster care, adoption and kinship care are much more likely than other families to need mental health care and supports.

The children and youth we care for are 3 to 4 times more likely to have behavioral and emotional disorders than children raised by birth families.

In addition, because of their mental health needs, our children and youth are at increased risk of facing inappropriate educational placements, inadequate specialized services and poor long-term outcomes.

• Students in foster care experience significant challenges with the lack of stability in their lives. Many have serious academic needs including learning gaps, poor attendance and serious emotional and behavioral problems. These problems faced by youth in foster care often go unnoticed, unassessed and unserved (Zetlin, Weinberg & Shea, 2010)
• Children who were involved with child protective services who were in out of home care are disproportionately more likely to be identified with an “emotional disorder” classification in school than students for whom there were no substantiated reports of maltreatment (Smithgall et al, 2004).
• The rate of school discipline incidents is higher for students in out-of-home care than for students with no substantiated maltreatment, and students with ED classifications had the highest rates of disciplinary incidents (Smithgall et al, 2005).
• US adolescents who had been adopted in infancy are more likely than nonadoptees to have teacher, parent, and child-reported mental health problems, particularly externalizing problems. Adoptees were more than twice as likely to have had contact with a mental health professional than nonadoptees (Keyes et al, 2008)
• 26% of adoptive parents report their adopted children age 6 and older were ever diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (vs. 10% in birth families). (National Survey Adopted Parents, HHS, 2007)
• 38% of parents who adopted from domestic foster care report their children age 6 and up were ever diagnosed with ADHD (National Survey Adopted Parents, HHS, 2007)

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  Mental Health Needs in Formed Families Fact Sheet

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

• What do parents and caregivers need to know?
• Does PBIS look the same for all students?
• What should be part of every school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports approach?

Download our fact sheet for the answers.

Kinship Care: Rights and Responsibilities

In this fact sheet from FFF, Virginia-specific information about rights and responsibilities for families providing informal and formal kinship care.

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  Kinship Rights and Responsibilities Fact Sheet

Kinship Families: Did You Know?

• The child you care for can get educational services.
• You should help make important educational decisions about the child you care for
• You should be informed when decisions are to be made.
• Your child’s school should be helping solve behavior problems.
• School records from previous schools should be sent to a new school.