Deep Dive into Due Diligence: Kin-first and Relative Placement Preference Webinar

We are distributing a new webinar video, A Deep Dive into Due Diligence: Kin-first and Relative Placement Preference, supported by and in conjunction with the Judicial Council of California. The video is located on the Judicial Council’s website/JCART (watch the video here), and also on Seneca’s YouTube channel (watch the video here). This webinar intersects conversations and a presentation about the legal Due Diligence requirements by Kelly Lynn Beck, attorney and senior permanency trainer, with information on due diligence and SenecaSearch provided by Clif Venable. It also features an interview with Kaiulu Ramirez, Family Finding Supervisor with Seneca, about the supervision of practice, along with Judge Denine Guy with the Superior Court of Santa Cruz County about the responsibility and opportunity for the bench to oversee and support the work. Director Bob Friend facilitates the conversation, which includes Mike Mertz who has participated, supervised, trained coached and consulted on this practice nationally and internationally for almost 2 decades.  

Demystifying Due Diligence

Kelly Lynn Beck recently completed an article, "Demystifying Due Diligence," and a supplemental attachment with sample questions, "Suggested Opportunities and Questions to Gather Additional Information to Build the Network of Support." The article addresses many misconceptions surrounding the term due diligence (to identify, locate and notice relatives/NREFMs) and how it is and should be applied in child welfare and delinquency systems. Building a network of support for children and youth begins at or before the initial hearing and judicial officers have a unique opportunity to ensure this mandate is being met with thoroughness to bring together those who can support the family.

• View the article here: Demystifying Due Diligence

• And supplemental attachment here: Suggested Opportunities and Questions to Gather Additional Information to Build the Network of Support

Engaging and Building Family Networks: The Key to True “Permanency” Presentation to the Supreme Court of Ohio 

Bob Friend and Kelly Beck’s March 2023 presentation to the Supreme Court of Ohio Summit on Children 2023 Conference on “Engaging and Building Family Networks: The Key to True ‘Permanency’” was recently posted to the Child Welfare Information Gateway Library. You can view the presentation slides here: Engaging and Building Family Networks: The Key to True “Permanency.”

Abstract: This slide presentation explains relational and legal permanency, barriers to reunification, and the need to rethink adoption practice to safely preserve children’s key attachments and support them as they build new attachments with resource parents and new permanent caregivers. It notes visitation with parents, as appropriate, and frequent time with siblings should be included as part of final guardianship orders to ensure that those connections continue. The slides highlight a national shift from a model designed to protect children from their families to one that helps families to keep their children safe. Reasons for the shift are reviewed, including better short and long-term outcomes in kinship care and evidence that collaborative practice produces better results.

New, First of Its Kind Report Presents a Transformative Vision for Extended Foster Care by the Year 2035

In the United States today, over 600,000 children and youth pass through the foster care system over the course of a year, many of whom face uncertain futures. The newly published report from the Youth Law Center On the Threshold of Change (Report) addresses this critical issue, presenting a transformative vision for extended foster care. In addition, there is a companion film available to view here: On the Threshold of Change (Film). Combining the harsh realities of today and transformational future forces, this report contains the historical information and futures-oriented visions needed to collectively design new pathways for extended foster care in which all youth can thrive. 

In 2008, Congress authorized the option for states to utilize federal funds to extend foster care to age 21. This seismic shift was intended to be a safety net for the most vulnerable youth exiting the foster care system. The advocates across the country who rallied for extended foster care intended it to be a transformative structure that met the needs of young adults in a very different way so that they would be provided the family and community relationships, concrete economic supports and other resources, and connections to the services that would ensure a successful transition out of foster care to adulthood. Unfortunately, ten years of quantitative and qualitative data reveal that many youth who have experienced extended foster care are still experiencing homelessness, incarceration, mental and physical health challenges, loneliness, and isolation while in care and when they age out.

Looking out over the next decade, the Youth Law Center envisions an extended foster care approach that supports youth through consideration of forces such as ongoing climate disasters, the rise of emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) in daily life, and the shifting labor and housing markets, ensuring that youth and young-adult serving systems are future-ready. 

Advocates, supporters of youth, and policymakers have the opportunity to take action to shape the transformational forces outlined in the report that could ensure youth are prepared to thrive in 2035. Youth Law Center invites you to take a look at the report and join them as they begin to develop an advocacy plan that could impact state and federal policy. They are happy to present to your organization to share the report and how you can use foresight thinking to power your advocacy agenda generally. For more updates, please visit https://www.ylc.org/on-the-threshold-of-change/ and contact Jenny Pokempner at jpokempner@ylc.org for more information.