Every child in foster care has experienced trauma on one level or another. We can make all the difference for the children in our homes by learning as much as we can about helping children heal from trauma and by taking good care of ourselves. There is a lot of information available to help guide us on this journey. A good place to start is the work of Dr. Bruce Perry. Click here for to download a 2-page article with valuable tips. Click on the following titles to see two of his books, “The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog” or “Born to Love” .
Another important factor in bringing good outcomes for our children and youth is education. According to the National Working Group on Foster Care and Education’s October 2011 report, “Success in school can be a positive counterweight to the abuse, neglect, separation and impermanence experienced by children and youth in foster care. Education has the potential to markedly improve their life chances and their ability to contribute to society as productive adults.” Click here for the entire report.
Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do to help create bright futures for Hawaii’s children and youth. You are true HEROS!
It Takes An `Ohana (ITAO) became a part of Family Programs Hawaii’s (FPH) array of programs in 2010. The alignment of FPH’s mission, to strengthen youth and families in the child welfare system, and ITAO’s mission, to offer resources and information to those in the community concerned with protecting the interests of children and youth in out-of-home care while providing responsible advocacy, will allow ITAO to renew our concentration on our core mission with greater support and resources.
Follow this link to download handouts from the Foster Care Training Committee (FCTC) training, Improving Children’s Behavior: Re-energizing the Traumatized Brain in Children, featuring Dr. Steven Choy.
The winter 2012 newsletter of the Children, Youth, and Families Office of the American Psychological Association includes several articles about the mental health needs of children and youth who have experienced foster care, including challenges faced by adoptive families and the mental health services they have used. Follow link for more information.
According to the National Working Group on Foster Care and Education’s October 2011 report, “Success in school can be a positive counterweight to the abuse, neglect, separation and impermanence experienced by children and youth in foster care. Education has the potential to markedly improve their life chances and their ability to contribute to society as [...]
There are currently two openings on the HI H.O.P.E.S. Youth Leadership Board. APPLICATION DEADLINE is January 6, 2012. This Board is made up of current and former foster youth who provide the “youth voice” for the Hawai`i Youth Opportunities Initiative (HYOI). HYOI provides foster youth with financial literacy training. After a youth has completed the training, s/he receives help in opening savings accounts as well as matching funds. The HI H.O.P.E.S. Youth Leadership Board helps the HYOI to identify the needs of and advocate on behalf of transition-aged foster youth. Follow link to learn more and to download application.
We’ve assembled a list of some of the best books ever written about parenting, foster care and adoption and given you an easy way to read about them and purchase them online by clicking through from this website. When you do, ITAL receives a portion of the proceeds from that sale and from everything else you purchase on Amazon in that session! It’s a great way to support our work with foster and adoptive families.
Tips to make homework a more productive time.
This article describes the typical progession a child makes through a state welfare system.
The University of Hawaii-Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, Hawaii Initiative for Childhood Obesity Research and Education, and several local health care organizations have launched a campaign called the “Hawaii 5-2-1-0 Let’s Go Initiative” to tackle childhood obesity.
H.E.A.R.T. works with children and adolescents in small, supportive groups where members learn how to identify their feelings, come to understand that they are not alone in their struggles, and develop skills in supporting one another. To help facilitate this process, H.E.A.R.T. utilizes mediums that children can easily relate to such as art, yoga, horseback [...]
