News From the Field (March 2021)
National child welfare policy, practice and research
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Over a year ago, we started planning a community symposium about the role of interdisciplinary legal representation for parents in improving outcomes for children. Of course, we could not have known all that would transpire over the next year as the global pandemic exposed deeply rooted racial disparities in health, housing, employment and child welfare. When we reconvened for our virtual community symposium this month, it was against a backdrop of renewed attention to the issues of family separation, calls for abolition of the child welfare system and a national reckoning to address systemic racism.
At the symposium, Prof. Martin Guggenheim and Tim Ross described the results of their groundbreaking study of providers of parent representation in New York City which concluded that children spent less time in foster care—four months less—when their parents were represented by an interdisciplinary legal office. The decrease in time spent in foster care significantly improves outcomes for children and provides considerable savings to the City. The study conclusively demonstrates that investing in quality representation for parents in the child welfare system should be a mandate for all agencies, counties and states.
Advocates from the Family Advocacy Unit of Community Legal Services presented how the interdisciplinary model works in practice emphasizing the robust nature of the representation pairing lawyers, social workers and peer parent advocates to support a parent navigating a dependency case in Philadelphia Family Court. Kathleen Creamer, Managing Attorney and Maggie Potter, Social Worker, introduced their model of supporting parents through a non-judgmental and trauma informed practice. April Lee, a peer parent advocate, recounted how she fought to regain custody of her children who were her entire world and now supports parents in the same situation with the goal of connecting them to resources and supports.
In reflecting on her role as a peer parent advocate, Ms. Lee described how she first engages with a parent represented by her interdisciplinary legal unit asking simply “How can we help? How can we serve you? And what is the solution to keep this family together and not find reasons to keep this family apart?” I can’t think of a better way for all of us to approach our work in child welfare regardless of our role.
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Kara R. Finck, Esq.
Faculty Director
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INTERDISCIPLINARY PARENT REPRESENTATION AND IMPROVED OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN
By Chih McDermott, Field Center Lerner Fellow
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Federal law requires courts to provide parents free legal counsel when their children are removed and placed in foster care, but it fails to define the type of representation to which parents are entitled. An emergent type of representation utilizes interdisciplinary teams, often including a lawyer, social worker, and a parent advocate with first-hand child welfare experience. A 2019 New York study (the largest study of parent representation in family courts) found that interdisciplinary representation safely reduces children’s time in foster care by, on average, nearly four months, thereby saving potentially millions of government dollars.
On Friday, March 5, 2021, the Field Center partnered with The University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School to host a virtual symposium titled Family Defense and Child Welfare: Exploring the Role of Representation for Parents in Improving Outcomes for Children. The symposium brought together two authors of the 2019 study with interdisciplinary practitioners from Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS). The panelists from CLS gave their own insight into the efficacy of interdisciplinary representation, sharing data and anecdotes from their experience in the field. As one panelist put it, “we’re going to pay [for parent representation] either way. Do you want to pay for bad outcomes or outcomes that actually work?”
Over 200 people attended the virtual event which was followed by a robust Q&A session. Attendees overwhelmingly agreed that the symposium enhanced their knowledge of interdisciplinary representation. To view a recording of the virtual symposium, click here.
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The Good Stuff in Child Welfare!
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The Field Center has started publishing a monthly newsletter elevating and promoting news stories about “The Good Stuff” from the broad field of child welfare. Each issue will feature inspiring accomplishments and heartening endeavors taking place all over the country at every level of practice.
Click here to view the inaugural February 2021 issue.
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Help advance the work of the Field Center
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Now more than ever, in this moment of great need and in support on behalf of those most vulnerable, please consider a donation to the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research. All donations will be generously matched by the Joseph and Marie Field Foundation. This vital work is only possible with you.
You can make your gift online here.
To learn more about how you can support our work, please contact Director of Development
Hannah Rawdin at
or (267) 432-9938.
For more information click
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Upcoming Child Welfare Conferences, Trainings, & Events
39th Annual Protecting Our Children National American Indian Conference
April 11-14, 2021
Virtual
CWLA 2021 Virtual Conference, Lessons Learned from 2020: Reaching New Heights for Children and Families
May 4-6, 2021
Virtual
Janet Reno Conference 2021: A Better Path Forward: Restructuring Systems to Support Crossover Youth
July 26-29, 2021
Virtual
NACC's 44th National Child Welfare Law Conference: From Crisis to Innovation: Toward a Family-Centered Justice System
August 13-17, 2021
Virtual
Florida Department of Children and Families 2021 Child Protection Summit
Sept 8-10
Orlando, FL
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NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH: PREVENTION WITH PURPOSE
By Sirui Chen, MSW Graduate Student
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April is National Child Abuse Prevention month – a time for rethinking strategies to support child and family well-being and raising awareness for preventing child maltreatment. This year, the theme for National Child Abuse Prevention Month is “Thriving Children and Families: Prevention With Purpose.” The Field Center is committed to understanding the history of child abuse prevention efforts and recognizing present-day challenges, with the goal of advocating for effective child abuse prevention.
Child Abuse Prevention Month is the result of a decades-long commitment to identifying and implementing solutions to child abuse. The history of recognizing the need to protect children from abuse dates back to 1874 with the case of Mary Ellen Wilson. One hundred years later, in 1974, the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was passed and the federal government started providing funding to stop and prevent child maltreatment. Recognizing the continued alarming rate of child abuse and neglect in the 1980s, Congress called for enhanced efforts in child maltreatment prevention, and in 1982, the week of June 6-12 became the first National Child Abuse Prevention Week. Finally, in 1983, April was designated as the first Child Abuse Prevention Month, and since then, awareness activities have been promoted nationwide during April every year.
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39th Annual Michigan Statewide Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect: Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment
Oct 25-26
Plymouth, MI
JuST (Juvenile Sex Trafficking) Conference
Nov 17-19, 2021
Washington, DC
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Stay Connected and Stay Informed
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Stay up to date with the latest in child welfare by following the Field Center on social media. Click the buttons below to follow The Field Center
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COVID-19 & CHILD WELFARE ONE YEAR LATER
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In January, Field Center scholars participated in the 25 th annual conference of the Society for Social Work and Research. Our research e-poster presented findings from our national survey of current and former foster youth, highlighting the material and financial needs of this vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research, summarized in an abstract available here, underscores the considerable difficulties many young people have experienced since the onset of COVID-19 in the United States. In particular, the study found that females, minority race youth, and youth who aged out of foster care were comparatively more likely to experience pandemic-related adversities such as housing instability, food insecurity, and financial difficulties.
Our survey results have been cited, shared, and presented by researchers, advocates, policymakers and practitioners in pursuit of meeting the needs of older youth with foster care experience during the pandemic.
We also embarked on a new partnership with Think of Us, a nonprofit, systems-change firm focused on transforming child welfare and dedicated to leveraging the lived experience of people with foster care experiences. In response to the widespread need reported by this population, Think of Us is currently disbursing $550,000 in micro-grants between $500 and $1000 to current and former foster youth. With round 1 of the initiative generating 27,000 applications for financial assistance, The Field Center is providing support and mentorship around analysis and interpretation of the data received through the application process. Preliminary data from the grant application is available here.
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FIELD CENTER ADVISORY BOARD UPDATE
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We are thrilled to highlight Advisory Board member Klair Fitzpatrick. Klair is a partner in the Labor and Employment Group of Morgan Lewis & Bockius, an international law firm based in Philadelphia. Klair specializes in defending employers in complex employment litigation, single-plaintiff discrimination cases, and whistleblower investigations. Klair received her B.A, cum laude, from University of Pennsylvania in 2005 and her J.D, cum laude, from University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2010.
Klair initially learned about the Field Center from a former board member and friend, Andrew Whitney, and was impressed with the cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary approach used to solve some of the most persistent problems facing children. As the daughter of a Philadelphia public school teacher and a Philadelphia police detective, she heard daily about the hardships that many children face. Later, she saw firsthand the catastrophic results of failures in the child welfare system.
As an intern at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Klair assisted with the investigation into the tragic death of Danieal Kelly, a fourteen-year-old who died of starvation while under the protection of the city’s human services agency. Along with her fellow interns, she helped build the case that that proved that the agency tasked with monitoring the wellbeing of Daniel and many other children had been utterly derelict in their duties to protect these vulnerable children. As a result, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to assist the Field Center in fulfilling its mission of working to enhance and assure the well-being of abused and neglected children.
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CHILD WELFARE, SOCIAL WORK, AND RESPONDING TO COVID-19 By Jessi Nguyen, Field Center Undergraduate Intern
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March of 2021 marks the passage of a full year since the US has been in its ongoing battle against the coronavirus. The unprecedented shift from pre-pandemic living to the domestic and global lockdowns in pursuit of containing the virus undeniably altered everyone’s community, routines, and relationships. As systems nationwide have adapted to this “new normal”, the Field Center team is specifically interested in how the pandemic has impacted our child welfare system throughout the last twelve months.
Since the very beginning of the health crisis, many experts, professionals, and researchers raised concerns that children would experience new or exacerbated risk for maltreatment. This prediction stems from a fear that social isolation, families being confined to their homes, school closures, and the reduction or closure of available health and other community services would prevent the identification of child maltreatment. Another major domain taken into consideration by advocates is financial strain – families experienced many changes in employment conditions, working hours were cut nationwide, job losses occurred in all sectors, many families earned lower incomes, and unemployment rates rose. Pressures on families to uphold their financial responsibilities, restrictions on mobility within the community, and a growing fear of exposure to the coronavirus lead experts to suspect that there may be an increase in family stress.
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2020-2021 SPRING STUDENT INTRODUCTION
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Through the Multidisciplinary Student Training Institute, The Field Center provides internship and field placement opportunities for selected students across multiple disciplines. Students receive training, career mentorship, and hands-on work opportunities within the field of child welfare. Meet three of our Spring 2021 student interns below (Full bios here):
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Daphne Chimbel joined the Field Center as a volunteer intern for the 2020-2021 Academic Year. She is an Advanced Standing MSW student from the School of Social Policy and Practice with a clinical concentration. She received her Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Missouri in 2018. Before attending Penn, Daphne worked for Missouri Alliance for Children and Families as a Care Manager where she supported youth in foster care who had mental health and behavioral care needs.
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Jennifer Kwon joined the Field Center in January 2021. She is an Advanced Standing MSW intern from the School of Social Policy and Practice with a clinical concentration, volunteering with the Field Center. Jennifer graduated from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work in 2019. She was a fellow in the Child Welfare Education for Baccalaureates Program and has experience in Allegheny County’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families and Delaware County’s Children and Youth Services.
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Xuan-Phuc (Jessi) Nguyen joined the Field Center as an undergraduate intern through The Philadelphia Center in February 2021. She is an international student in her junior year at Beloit College in Wisconsin double majoring in Education & Youth Studies and International Relations. Jessi has worked with the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Vietnam which provides support to child victims of trafficking and their families.
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FIELD CENTER RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
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Field Center experts recently published the following:
Greeson, J. K. P., Gyourko, J. R., Jaffee, S., & Wasch, S. (2021, January). The experiences of older youth in foster care and aged out of foster care during COVID-19. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research. Abstract available at https://sswr.confex.com/sswr/2021/webprogram/Paper42255.html
What lessons can the child welfare system take from the COVID-19 pandemic? (2021). American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. By Sarah A. Font. Cosigners: Elizabeth Bartholet, Bob J. Bruder-Mattson, Maura Corrigan, Mark Daley, James G. Dwyer, Greg McKay, Jedd Medefind, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Thea Ramirez, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Cassie Statuto Bevan (Field Center Child Welfare Fellow), and John Walters.
Brumley, L. D., Nauphal, M., Schwartz, L. A., & Jaffee, S. R. (2021). Psychosocial Correlates and Consequences of Adolescents’ Self‐Generated Academic Goals and Appraisals. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(1), 204-217. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12593
Chaiyachati, B., Henrickson, S., Jaffee, S., Wood, J., Gur, R., & Hakonarson, H. (2021). Inflammatory consequences of child maltreatment. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 147(2), AB248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2020.12.046
Ho, J., Susser, P., Christian, C., DeLisser, H., Scott, M. J., Pauls, L. A., Huffenberger, A. M., Hanson, C. W., Chandler, J.M., Fleisher, L. A., & Laudanski, K. (2021, January). Developing the eMedical Student (eMS)—A Pilot Project Integrating Medical Students into the Tele-ICU during the COVID-19 Pandemic and beyond. In Healthcare (Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 73). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9010073
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The Field Center in the Media:
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COVID-19 and Women in the Workforce
Penn Today
Johanna K.P. Greeson, associate professor, School of Social Policy & Practice [shares that] since the COVID-19 crisis began, young women in and aged out of foster care have been more likely to report that the pandemic was having a major impact on their financial stability than their male counterparts.
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The Experiences of Older Youth in and Aged Out of Foster Care During COVID-19
Children's Bureau Express
COVID-19 has had a large impact on all levels of society. It has exposed weaknesses in systems and exacerbated disparities among the most vulnerable. The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on older youth in foster care and those who have recently aged out.
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Protecting Children, Preserving Dreams
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The Field Center is a member of
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