Policymakers in Minnesota have increasingly been focusing on policies that positively impact young children and promote overall child well-being. Not only did the House of Representatives create a committee devoted to early childhood and youth development policy in 2013, but both the education and health and human services omnibus bills included several large provisions that [...]
Here are a few scattered notes from a seminar entitled, “The Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma: Recovering Humanity; Repairing Generations,” held Saturday, October 5th, at the Law School at the University of Minnesota. What drew my attention was not only the subject, “transmission of trauma,” a child welfare issue of central importance, but also the auspices [...]
This post is written by the Stability, Permanency, and Adoption MSW Intern, Andrea Brubaker. Scientific evidence shows the detrimental impact of institutionalized care on brain development in children. While many governments in other countries want to place children in permanent homes they often don't have the resources to do so. As a result, many children [...]
This blog post was written by Joan Riebel, LICSW, Executive Director of Family Alternatives in Minnesota. Family Alternatives is a licensed foster care and adoption agency. Andrea Brubaker's blog post on San Pasqual Academy caused me to share our experiences as well. For any child, being removed from her family is a traumatic experience, regardless [...]
This post is written by the Stability, Permanency, and Adoption MSW Intern, Andrea Brubaker. As an alternative design to placing children in foster care in permanent families, the non-profit group home San Pasqual Academy near San Diego, CA offers a place for youth in foster care to live, attend high school, learn job skills, and [...]
In a case similar to the controversial "Baby Veronica" situation, another Oklahoma father is fighting to have his baby daughter returned. Baby Desirai's pre-adoptive parents have refused to turn the child over to the Absentee Shawnee tribe, despite an Oklahoma's court ruling last month in favor of the tribe, according to Oklahoma's News One 6. [...]
We often talk about the "adoption triad" and yet most of our attention is spent on the adopted child and the adoptive parent. There are few resources available for the birth parent who places the child for adoption and what needs they will have after the adoption is finalized. While pregnancy counseling is available through [...]
November is only a few weeks away and to herald the beginning of National Adpotion Month, Minnesota Adoption Resource Network (MARN) is celebrating families that have adopted Minnesota Waiting Children with its annual Circus of the Heart on November 3rd. Funded by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Circus of the Heart has fun activities [...]
