CFS Team Works to Enhance Resiliency for Children and Youth in Foster Care
The AFCARS (Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System) states 560,000 children were in foster care nationally in 1998. According to the Florida Department of Children and Families, between 9,500 and 10,000 children are in foster care each month in the state of Florida. Some have been there only a few days, while others have been there as many as four years, and some their whole lives. These children, of all ages and from all backgrounds, bring emotional, and sometimes physical scars that don't go away. For many, it is a struggle to heal, not only from their reasons for being removed from their homes, but also from the removal itself.
Florida's move toward the implementation of community based care models in the child welfare systems has provided an opportunity to review current practice and to examine the role of resilience in children and youth in foster care.
For the past several months, a CFS (Department of Child and Family Studies) multi-disciplinary group has been meeting to discuss the concepts of resilience and wellness, and to review research specifically related to resilience in children who have been maltreated. The group includes individuals who have worked within child welfare systems as foster care and adoption workers, residential group care workers, and administrators. It also includes foster parents, researchers and mental health professionals who have served children exposed to abuse and neglect. They have recently completed a paper for the February 2001 Community-Based Care Conference held at USF, with hopes of wider dissemination to the state's policy makers, that include specific recommendations for change and improvement in areas including children's mental health.
"We are hoping to change practice at the systems, organizational, and child and family levels," said CFS Chair Bob Friedman. "It is important that conditions are created to better support children in achieving positive outcomes through acquiring the characteristics associated with resilience, such as strong attachments, a sense of hope and optimism, etc. This would be a major shift for foster care, but one that we think would be very helpful."
The report, Enhancing Resiliency for Children and Youth in Foster Care, provides information and examples of four primary factors that contribute to a resilient individual:
- Positive attachments and connections with caregivers and other significant individuals;
- Age-appropriate competencies and skills;
- A sense of hope and optimism, and a belief in one's ability to create their own destiny; and
- A sense of responsibility and giving to others.
As stated in the report, the ideas and suggestions provided are designed to stimulate individuals involved with all roles of the foster care system. The goal of assisting children and youth in acquiring connections, competencies, a sense of hope and optimism, as well as a sense of responsibility, will help them develop the ability to become more resilient. For additional information, or to review a copy of the report, contact Evelyn Lavizzo at 813-974-1992 or Lynn Pedraza at 813-974-0517.
The Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) is a department of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. The faculty and staff of CFS are committed to enhancing the development, mental health and well-being of children and families through leadership in integrating research, theory & practice.