Promoting Resiliency In Foster Care Youth

Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative recently released a news brief on “Promoting Development of Resilience among Young People in Foster Care.

The Core Principles they recommend, in order to support the process of developing resilience for young people in foster care include:

• Optimism:  There is no “point of no return,” from which a young person cannot return. As long as young person is living and breathing there is hope.  

• Strengths-based approach:  Look for the young person’s areas of competency and strengths. It’s not enough simply to remove one or more risk factors in their life – the next step is focusing on Developmental Assets.

• Community partnerships: Effective intervention will include awareness of resources in the local community.

In addition, when it comes to building resilience, the brief recommends both strengths-based and process-focused strategies:

• Strengths-based strategies refers to improving the number and quality of internal and external assets (i.e. tutoring, mentoring, community-based youth activities, parenting education for young parents, recreational activities and adult role models)

• Process-focused strategies focus on  helping young people develop the skills to adapt to various situations (i.e. coping strategies, interpersonal relationships, cultural traditions and building self-efficacy – belief in their own ability to succeed)

Infants, Toddlers and Trauma

Supporting Infants, Toddlers and Families Impacted by Caregiver Mental Health Problems, Substance Abuse, and Trauma – A Community Action Guide This new guide published by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) provides information to better understand and engage the community in responding to children whose caregivers are negatively impacted by mental illness, substance abuse, or trauma. (October 2012)

Impact of Trauma on Ability to Parent

The Birth Parent Subcommittee of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network has created a series of fact sheets to highlight the importance of understanding the serious consequences that trauma histories can have on birth parents, and the subsequent impact on their parenting.

How can trauma impact parenting?

•                Parents’ ability to make appraise danger and make appropriate judgments about their own/their child’s safety can be compromised --  risk of being over/under-protective

•                Parent might have difficulty forming and maintaining secure trusting relationships -- leading to disconnection and/or disruption in their children's lives 

•                Parent might personalize the child’s negative behavior -- resulting in ineffective or inappropriate discipline. 

•                Lack of ability to regulate emotion

•                Maladaptive coping strategies -- such as substance abuse or abusive intimate relationships that parents maintain because of a real or perceived lack of alternatives. 

Direct link to this resource: http://nctsn.org/sites/default/files/assets/pdfs/birth_parents_trauma_history_fact_sheet_final.pdf

Excellent article by Gary Stangler

Finding Hope After Trauma: The Remarkable Recovery of the Adolescent Brain
Gary Stangler, Executive Director of Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative

Young people who have experienced trauma are extraordinarily resilient. Whether it's a child in a homeless shelter who discovers the joy of reading or newly minted college graduates who overcame poverty - their ability to recover from traumatic events is nothing short of remarkable.

Nowhere is this clearer than among the population of young people who have been in foster care.

Having spent the last three decades working for improvements to foster care in the U.S., I am constantly inspired by the resilience I see in young people disproportionately affected by trauma. And yet, we are not doing all we can to support them.

For young people in foster care, that support network is essential, especially when you consider how significantly this population is impacted by traumatic events. In fact, a 2005 study conducted by Casey Family Programs found rates of PTSD in young people formerly in foster care to be more than twice that of U.S. war veterans.

Trauma comes in all forms, and whether the trauma young people in foster care experience is defined by physical or sexual abuse, moving from place to place, being separated from siblings and other loved ones, or living in a disjointed system -- its impact can be devastating. Without access to a supportive family or network, young people in foster care -- especially those who abruptly age out of the foster care system -- don't have the same opportunity to recover and move on.

And yet, it is precisely during that window of their young lives -- between ages 14 and 25 -- that young people have the most potential for recovery and resilience. New advances in neuroscience tell us that the brain is not "done" by age six, as previously thought. Instead, the adolescent brain continues to develop, providing a "use it or lose it" timeframe similar to that which exists in early childhood. Even after significant trauma, the brain can indeed rewire itself -- meaning that the physiological consequences of trauma can be reversed.

Systems that support young people must seize this window of opportunity.

For those in foster care, especially those placed in care following a traumatic experience, maintaining stable relationships with responsible and caring family members, teachers, or other mentors provides a critical sense of support and rootedness. Child welfare systems should encourage and create opportunities for these relationships to develop and thrive.

We must also help young people who have experienced trauma forge healthy connections with support networks that are important to their ongoing well-being. Specifically, gaining experiences that encourage them to stay in school and navigate their way to college or technical training, such as internships and part-time jobs and community-based activities, like after-school sports or music groups. These connections help build young people's self-confidence, help them see what is possible, and often provide the springboard for achieving important life goals like renting an apartment or securing a job. Through my own career working with youth leadership groups dedicated to young people in foster care, I have seen individuals emerge from quiet and reserved to articulate spokespeople on complex policy issues that have direct meaning in their lives.

Navigating through the challenges of adolescence is not easy for any young person, let alone a young person who has experienced significant trauma. Because of this, we must extend foster care beyond the age of 18. We do not assume that our own children have every support they will ever need by the time they turn 18; transitioning into adulthood is not a one-day event. We must advocate for the inclusion of supportive, age-appropriate social services for young people in foster care that more closely mirror the experiences of young people in supportive, intact families.

In an ideal world, no young person would ever experience trauma. But until that happens, let's make sure that all young people have the support necessary to rewire and recover. They deserve nothing less.

Tips to Promote Social-Emotional Health Among Young Children

Tips to Promote Social-Emotional Health Among Young Children This publication from the American Academy of Pediatrics provides tips and resources for parents, early education and child care providers, and pediatricians to promote social-emotional health among young children. It also includes a list of resources from the American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www2.aap.org/commpeds/dochs/mentalhealth/docs/SE-Tips.pdf

Measure Outcomes, Not Services

Source:
Bryan Samuels, Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Living in Chaos is a High Risk Factor for Losing Parental Custody

Source cited in a presentatio by:Bryan Samuels, Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Source of graph:
Simmel, C. (2010. Why do adolescents become involved in with the child welfare system? Exploring risk factors that affect young adolescents. School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ.

Child Trauma and the Prefrontal Cortex

Source:
Bryan Samuels, Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Trauma is the Norm for Youth in Systems

Source:
Bryan Samuels, Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The Link Between Relationships and Resilience

Source:
Bryan Samuels, Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services


* * *
Speaking as a former foster youth, another way to express this truth might be that:

• Pain came into our lives through relationships
• Healing can enter our lives that way, too

Lisa

Safety, Permanence and Well-Being

Child welfare agencies are rated by the CSFR on how well they provide foster care youth with Safety, Permanency and Well-Being.

Currently, the federal government is thoughtfully considering: 

• What exactly does "Well Being" look like? 

•  How can it be measured?

Source:
Bryan Samuels
Commissioner, Administration on Children Youth and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The Difference Between Physical And Emotional Safety

Tips for Foster Parents:

• Limit stimulation - be patient and take a slower pace in introducing newness ("welcome to your new foster home, there are all the rules, now let's meet everybody in the household"), because this speed of incoming data can be cognitively understood, but is emotionally overwhelming.
• Follow the lead of the child. 
• Follow the pace of the child.

Tips for Caseworkers:

• Be aware that Transition Points are emotional hot spots
• The internal alarm goes off, signaling danger
• Child welfare has a tendency to try to make moves as quick as possible -- this is not in the best interest of the child, in terms of making them feel safe

Goal:

• To create a place of safety for the child / teenager
• To avoid re-traumatizing the child through further abrupt disruption
• To create a place of order, rather than chaos.
• To create a sense of control, rather than instability.
• To teach the child self-regulation.

Source:
Bryan Samuels, Commissioner
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Why is Fear so Exhausting?

According to the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children:

• Understanding the physiology of the fear response may help provide you with some insight about why youth exposed to trauma are often complaining of being tired or having little energy. This knowledge can be shared with parents, teachers and others who get frustrated with youth’s behavior that appears to be driven by lack of care or motivation. Instead, we can explain that there is a real physical response happening following acute and chronic exposure to scary experiences.

• Fear is first detected in the brain’s sensory cortexes, something we see, hear or smell. It is then filtered through the thalamus, which sends a signal to the amygdala. This is what many call the “smoke detector” of our brain, which causes you to freeze before you’re even aware of the threat.

• The nervous system then releases chemicals such as cortisol, which in turn helps glucose to be released in our bodies getting us ready to fight or flee. The cortisol also helps to speed up our breathing and heart rate, which pumps oxygen into our muscles.

• Our brain then floods with opiods that mask any pain we might feel at the moment. It won’t be felt until hours or days later when the opiods wear off.

• Once the fear is past, the autonomic nervous system swings into action and calms our bodies. It often overshoots because of the intense stress it is trying to balance. This often leaves us feeling extremely exhausted and with little energy.

Social and Emotional Well-Being of Foster Care Youth

The purpose of this Information Memorandum is to explain the Administration on Children, Youth and Families priority to promote social and emotional well-being for children and youth receiving child welfare services, and to encourage child welfare agencies to focus on improving the emotional and social-emotional outcomes for children who have experienced abuse and/or neglect.

Helping Children Transition Into Adoption

Even after foster care children and teens are connected with a forever family, they often still experience loss and the aftermath of trauma.

This resource was designed to recognize and support the experiences of young people.

What You Might Not Know About Young Homeless Mothers

Did you know that young mothers who are homeless differ from the older homeless population?

Young Mothers Who Are Homeless:

• Are exposed to homelessness 10 years earlier than their older counterparts.
• Are pregnant and parenting approximately 3 years earlier than older homeless mothers.
• Are nearly 3 times more likely to have spent time in foster care.
• Have limited support networks.

(Medeiros and Vaulton, 2010)

Learn more by reading: Developing a Trauma-Informed Approach to Serving Young Homeless Families.