Part of a permanency series featuring intersections of child welfare and mental health practice, voiced by PACC alumni
Compiled by Keely Vandre, MSW, LGSW, PACC Coordinator
Guest bloggers:
Linda Anderson, MA, MHP, LADC
Sarah Deacy, MSW, LICSW, LADC
Kara Haugen, MSW, LICS
CASCW’s 20th Annual Spring Conference co-sponsored by the Minnesota Center for Chemical and Mental Health (MNCAMH) on Understanding Substance Use and Interventions in Child Welfare underscores intersections of addiction, permanency and adoption. This month, PACC alumni across practice settings share their insight around the ways that these core issues manifest in their work, as well as strategies that are helping.
Linda Anderson specializes in co-occuring disorders in her work at Lakeview Behavioral Health in greater Minnesota, and sees the impact of trauma underlying substance use. “It all goes back to trauma; a lack of skills to deal with trauma. I work a lot with parents involved with child protection at the permanency state – they feel so overwhelmed that they don’t know how to even work the system; if a TPR is in place, they may just give up and use again. This is historical trauma – it’s is a community problem – it affects everyone.”
Kara Haugen recently moved from a child welfare setting to the field of eating disorder treatment with the Emily Program, but finds her PACC training remains critical:
“I was not expecting that my training in permanency and adoption would be so prevalent and needed [in this setting]. What I discovered was the interplay between adoption, race and ethnicity, identity, and food. These are young people dealing with the trauma of being transitioned from one system to another, but instead of addressing core issues related to adoption, their disordered eating has often become the focus of symptoms to be “fixed.”
In her work with HealthEast Mental Health & Addiction Services, Sarah Deacy also sees these histories of trauma and disruption. “There are so many repeating cycles of trauma, loss, and other difficult family dynamics that lead to the need for permanency. Many of my clients grew up in foster care; their parents had mental health or substance use issues; they were exposed to trauma at a young age. They didn’t have a stable and reliable caregiver or attachment figure.”
This lack of stability, and often-early exposure to substance use, leads parents to become involved with systems that they may have already encountered as children and youth.
“I am working with a mom who was in foster care, her mother was in foster care, and her grandmother was in a boarding school,” Linda says. She finds it can help to reframe a client’s self-identity to claim themselves as a parent despite messaging that they are not worthy of this role, working with a team to explore community and cultural resources that may provide options that maintain connection as an incentive for completing treatment:
“[This parent] has completed inpatient, now in outpatient therapy and working on reunification. While she will likely lose custody of two of her children, there is a plan for a kinship arrangement with her sister, and for her to regain custody of her other children. She feels at peace with this option to maintain interaction and relationships within her family and culture.”
Kara also sees identifying and exploring relationships around disordered eating as a key intervention:
“Childhood experiences, family and cultural systems are the foundation for creating food relationships. It is understandable then, that when a child experiences multiple placements, this relationship can become skewed or confusing. All of these experiences are considered “private matters” and people are easily offended or become defensive when they are explored. It is so important that staff across settings have the knowledge to have these conversations and identify useful resources for clients struggling with adoption and permanency-related issues.”
Though it may seem evident, Sarah finds an important touchpoint in her practice is the daily resilience she sees in her clients. “Their strength and drive to continue moving forward despite so many barriers amazes me every day. Their willingness to engage in making positive changes in their lives is truly admirable. I feel lucky to get to be a part of that process.”
There will be many opportunities to dig deeper into these practice topics and more at the conference. To learn more about keynotes and breakout session agendas, and register, visit our conference webpage.