News:
NEW! Resources for Child Welfare Managers, Supervisors and Aministrators
(Information courtesy of NRCPFC for Permanency and Family Connections Web site)
Child Welfare Information Gateway has added an entirely new section to its website: Management and Supervision. This new section provides the resources that help child welfare managers and supervisors provide effective leadership and build and maintain a skilled workforce. The new Management and Supervision section, which can be found on the left navigation bar of the Information Gateway website, addresses a vast array of topics relevant to the delivery of effective child welfare services, which include: Administering and Managing Child Welfare Agencies and Programs; Ethical Practice and Client Rights; Evaluating Program, Practice, and Service Effectiveness; Disaster Preparedness and Response; Funding; Information Systems and Data; Service Improvement; Supervising Child Welfare Services; System Reform; Training; and, Workforce. Access the resources of the Management and Supervision website section by clicking the link below.
http://www.childwelfare.gov/management/
NEW! West Coast Child Welfare Trainers Conference
(Information courtesy of NRCPFC for Permanency and Family Connections Web site)
Date/Location: August 11-13, 2010, Albuquerque, NM
The West Coast Child Welfare Trainer’s Conference is a dynamic forum for trainers within the field of child welfare and foster care to exchange ideas, improve skills, and support each other in the effort to improve the care that families receive from the staff we train. 2010 celebrates the 20th year fro this convening! In past years, participants have come from Boston, Quebec, Hawaii, North Carolina, Minnesota, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Alaska and all of the West Coast States! Workshop presenters and facilitators maintain a wide-range of skills and experiences. The program’s focus is on participants learning from each other, where presenters and facilitators provide additional ideas and strategies and tools to consider. By visiting the website below, you can access information on the conference schedule, facilitators’ biographies, conference registration, hotel registration, and more.
http://www.nmsu.edu/~socwork/2010-west-coast-child-we.html
Watch the 2010 VDSS Family Engagement Video
Do You Have Promising Practices?
Do you know of a new practice, strategy or approach that is being used in your locality to improve the support of and provision of services to Virginia’s children and families? If so, we want to know! We are working to collect promising practices from across Virginia so that localities can learn from one another about what has been working as we strive to transform our child serving systems. Share your localities promising practices.
Talking Transformation
Alexandria Gazette Parket :Foster Care System Needs More Parents
Terry Wright, a social worker at T.C. Williams High School, often wonders why she of all people made it out.
She became a foster child when she was four months old. And while nearly 50 children cycled through her foster family, Wright was one of the few kids to finish high school, college and graduate school. "I don’t want to be the exception; I want more kids to succeed," she said.
To read more, click here.
Richmond Times-Dispatch :Reforms help states cut number of foster-care kids
No single youngster can be the poster child for America's foster-care system, with its mix of happy endings and heartache. Yet Tatiana Fowler's smile, as she embraces the woman who adopted her, gives a hint at the groundswell of change that is altering that mix for the better.To read more, click here.
Richmond Times-Dispatch :Celebrating 110 Years of Service
This year, UMFS (United Methodist Family Services) celebrates 110 years of helping children, youth and families. Founded in 1900 as an orphanage, UMFS now delivers 53 percent of its services to children and families in their communities. The agency is still based at 3900 W. Broad St. in Richmond, with a total of 12 locations across Virginia.