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Casey Family Services

The following resources are published by Casey Family Services, the private, non-profit child welfare agency of the Casey Foundation. Find more resources on the Casey Family Services website. 

A Call to Action: An Integrated Approach to Youth Permanency and Preparation for Adulthood

Children who ‘age out’ of the child welfare system without a permanent family and/or adequate preparation for adulthood often do not have the supports needed to thrive independently. This report highlights efforts to ensure that youth currently in the foster system benefit from the most strategic preparation and supports for entering adulthood.  more >>

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A Guide for Children and Youth in Foster Care

This booklet, written for youth in foster care, highlights some of the ways children can cope with the challenges that arise. Special emphasis is placed on building confidence, assuming responsibilities, and becoming a self-advocate.    more >>

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A Study of the State of Connecticut's Probate Courts and the Management of Children's Matters Involving Custody and Guardianship

This report examines how custody and guardianship issues are managed in Connecticut’s Probate Courts compared to Probate Courts in other states. Additionally, a series of recommendations are presented on how to improve the current state of operations in Connecticut’s Probate Courts.  more >>

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Articles Recommended by the Casey Family Services Research Department

This annotated bibliography compiled by Casey Family Services gives recommendations for resources related to foster care, child abuse and neglect, and child psychology. more >>

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Casey Family Services 2001 at a Glance: Touching Lives…Leading Change

This report details the work of Casey Family Services in 2001 in their efforts to provide foster care, post-adoption services and family-base programs.  more >>

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Casey Family Services Testifies about Post-Adoption Services before House Committee

Contained in this document are the expert testimonies of Casey Family Services Executive Director, Raymond Torres, and adoptive parent Sonya Merrill before the House subcommittee on Human Resources. Both testimonies argue for the need for comprehensive post-adoption services and the need for a more comprehensive approach to strengthening families and communities touched by adoption.  more >>

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Casey Family Services: At A Glance 2004-2005

This publication describes the many ways families can build meaningful and enduring connections. It serves as the 2004-2005 annual report for Casey Family Services, the direct services agency of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  more >>

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Casey Family Services: Five-Year Plan

This plan outlines Casey Family Services’ vision and goals to address the continually emerging and changing needs of two vulnerable populations: children who are in need of stable families and families who are in need of stable, supportive communities.  more >>

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Close-up with Harry Spence

This document is an interview with Harry Spence, the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services. It documents, in question and answer format, the changes toward permanence and other department goals for a more humane child welfare system. more >>

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Connections Count

Produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services, Connections Count is an electronic newsletter focusing on best practices information, tools, research, and data emerging on youth permanency in child welfare at local, state, and national levels. Connections Count highlights successful youth permanency work achieved by states following their participation in the 2006 National Convening on Youth Permanence; strategies for overcoming barriers to permanence; and peer-to-peer exchanges about successes and challenges reported by on-the-ground staff, administrators, youth, and their families. more >>

Developing Community Responses to Domestic Violence

This report details approaches, program models, and resources to respond to domestic violence through prevention, education, interventions, advocacy, and other community supports including the police and the courts. Part of the TARC Resource Guide series.  more >>

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Emergency Preparedness Guide: A Resource for Families

Understanding that disasters can be devastating for families and communities, this guide highlights steps that individuals and communities can use to prepare in times of an emergency. more >>

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Ensuring that Adoptions Succeed is in Everyone’s Best Interest

While numerous adoptive children find themselves in happy, stable, supportive homes there has been an increasing trend of failed adoptions. This article makes the case for the availability of post-adoptive services to the foster parents and child in order to increase the number of successful adoptions.  more >>

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Evaluating Post-Adoption Services: Knowledge from the Past, Plans for the Future

This article presents the findings from a Casey Family Services’ evaluation of its Post-Adoption Services program. Findings focused on families’ needs, services received, and the children who are served.  more >>

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Fact Sheet One: Defining Family Permanence

This fact sheet from Casey Family Services defines elements of family permanence important to older youth aging out of foster care, and lists steps child welfare agencies can take to ensure family permanence for these youth. more >>

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Fact Sheet Three: Making Families for Life and Permanence a Priority

This fact sheet from Casey Family Services presents evidence showing that family permanence is achievable for older children and youth in foster care. It also suggests strategies that are critical to system reform efforts that prioritize family permanence. more >>

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Fact Sheet Two: Why Family Permanence is Critical for Older Children and Youth in Foster Care

This fact sheet highlights statistics regarding older children and youth in the foster care system and what happens when they don't have a family that cares. more >>

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First Jobs: A Win-Win for Youth and Business

This article from Casey Family Services' Voice publication describes the experiences of youth involved in First Jobs Maine. Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, with technical support from Casey Family Services and the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School, First Jobs provides initial and transitional employment opportunities at Hannaford for youth ranging in age from 15-21. more >>

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Foster Care Adoption in the United States: A State by State Analysis of Barriers and Promising Approaches

This report describes the complexities, progress and struggles states are experiencing in implementing new Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) policies to move children toward adoption. It also offers policymakers a first-time comprehensive look into the barriers and progress at the national and state levels, and provides practitioners with the opportunity to learn from each other’s challenges and successes.  more >>

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Foster Care Adoption in the United States: An Analysis of Interest in Adoption and a Review of State Recruitment Strategies

This report provides an overview of adoption recruitment in the United States. It examines levels of interest in adoption, demographic trends in the clients of adoption services, and reviews the processes behind foster care adoption.   more >>

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Foster Care Program Needs Assessment: Results of the Foster Parent and Foster Youth Interview

In today’s world it is important that all young adults entering the workforce be technologically literate. Unfortunately, children in the child welfare system often have less computer access and use due to residential instability, educational discontinuity, and other environmental obstacles. This report summarizes interviews from foster parents and teens in Bridgeport, Connecticutregarding the implications of the ‘digital divide’.  more >>

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Graduation: Nightmare for Foster Children?

For many teenagers graduation from high school is a time of celebration and independence; however, for foster youth graduation and aging out of the system means a loss of stability and other supports. This article recounts the story of one former foster youth who persevered and overcame the obstacles she faced upon exiting the system.  more >>

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Homework Club Getting Good Grades

This news article details the success of Casey Family Services’ Homework Club, an after-school program where children can gather with friends and complete their homework with the help of teachers.  more >>

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In Their Own Voices: Searching for Lifelong Family Connections

In these video clips, kids, birth parents, foster parents, and practitioners talk about real experiences – challenges, setbacks, and victories – in building lifelong family connections.  more >>

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Independent Living Framework

This document outlines Casey Family Services’ approach to helping foster children develop life skills. It details the practice principles and program components behind an independent living framework.  more >>

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International Adoption: Romania

This article examines Romania’s child welfare system from the perspective of a Casey Family Services’ team leader. Specifically, this article focuses on Romanian orphanages, and the national and international adoption process.  more >>

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Life Skills: Tools for Survival and Prosperity

This article details Casey Family Services’ efforts to assist in the transition of older youth from foster care into adulthood. This article specifically highlights the newly implemented Life Skills Work Group, which provides youth a framework for independence and the acquisition of life skills.  more >>

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Making Permanence a Reality for Children and Youth in Foster Care: Strengthening Policy at the Federal Level

Permanent family relationships should be a goal for every child as they are critical to children’s growth and development. For children in the child welfare system, the best permanency option for the majority of them is to remain safely with their families when possible. For children who have been removed from their families and placed in foster care, the goal should be to ensure children permanent families through reunification with their families, subsidized guardianship, or adoption. This report focuses on children already in foster care and describes important recommendations to inform federal policy choices to promote permanence for these children. more >>

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Merging Permanency and Independent Living: Lifelong Family Relationships and Life Skills for Older Youth

This article clarifies a best practice definition of permanency as a family relationship that is intended to last a lifetime. It challenges child welfare practitioners and policy-makers to concurrently prioritize permanency outcomes along with safety and well-being outcomes for older youth. Eight core principles are identified as foundational to successfully integrating family permanency with life skills, long-term supports and transitional services for the oldest youth in our foster care system.  more >>

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Multicultural Adoption: Drew and Lisa's Family

This article profiles the journey of one couple to adopt internationally and nationally. It also details their usage and the benefits received from post-adoption services provided by Casey Family Services.  more >>

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National Convening on Youth Permanence to Show the Power of Families for Life

This brochure highlights the goals and anticipated outcomes of the 2006 National Convening on Youth Permanence. The convening, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Services, is intended to promote research, policy, and practice strategies for increasing the number of older children (ages 11 to 12) and youth (ages 13 to 18) who leave foster care with the enduring family relationships they need to be successful and fulfilled in adulthood. more >>

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New Training Curriculum

Foster parenting is different from parenting a child that one has raised from birth. This curriculum was created in order to ease the transition and promote healthy foster family environments.  more >>

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Painting from the Heart Workshop

Process art has been found to be a therapeutic outlet for children in the foster care system. This document details Casey Family Services’ use of process art to improve communication between parents and small children in the Bridgeport, Connecticut branch.  more >>

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Permanence for Young People: Framework

This paper presents a framework that can guide child welfare agencies across the country to help young people achieve and maintain permanent family relationships. It also proposes six key components of successfully identifying and supporting permanent family relationships for young people in out-of-home care. more >>

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Planning Children’s Futures: Meeting the Needs of Children, Adolescents, and Families Affected by HIV/AIDS- Executive Summary

This summary reviews the learnings of a Casey Family Services’ Conference on families and children affected with HIV/AIDS. Key issues, strategies, and policies implications for families affected with HIV/AIDS were discussed.  more >>

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Post-Adoption Services

This document reviews the services provided by Casey Family Services’ Post-Adoption Services program, specifically highlighting the program’s referral system, service planning, and counseling services.  more >>

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Proceedings from the Research Roundtable - National Convening on Child Welfare and Permanence

On September 12-13, 2006, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and its direct services agency, Casey Family Services, brought together leading child welfare researchers from across the United States to lend their collective expertise to the urgent need of achieving family permanence for older children and youth in foster care.The report offers an overview of the research roundtable on how to document and understand youth permanence strategies for children in foster care.  more >>

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Reflections on Foster Care, Families and Diversity: Excerpts from Remarks by Actress and Former Foster Child Victoria Rowell at Casey Family Services Foster Care 2000 Conference

This document contains excerpts from remarks by actress and former foster child Victoria Rowell at Casey Family Services Foster Care 2000 Conference. Rowell talks about her own experiences in foster care and recommends teaching foster children communication skills, developing their interests, and confronting the issue of race.  more >>

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School-to-Career Partnership Brochure

This brochure gives an overview of the Connecticut School-to-Career Partnership, which helps businesses, government agencies and social service organizations collaborate to support young people in completing their education and in entering the workforce.  more >>

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Selected Web-based Resources: Achieving Permanence for Older Children and Youth

This document is a developing list of selected web-based resources related to achieving family permanence for older children and youth in foster care. more >>

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Siblings Unite at a Camp to Belong

Many times when children travel through the child welfare system they not only suffer the loss of a parent but also the loss of siblings. Understanding the importance of sibling and family bonds to a child’s healthy development, Camp to Belong tries to reunite those siblings who have been separated. This document details some encounters at such reunification camps.  more >>

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Someone to Care, A Place to Belong: Adolescents and Foster Care in Massachusetts

This document summarizes the findings from a legislative briefing on teen foster care in Massachusetts. It provides recommendations for ways social workers can improve outcomes for teens currently in foster care and those who have recently exited.    more >>

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Someone to Care, A Place to Belong: Adolescents and Foster Care in Massachusetts (Summary)

This document summarizes the findings from a legislative briefing on teen foster care in Massachusetts. It provides recommendations for ways social workers can improve outcomes for teens currently in foster care and those who have recently exited.    more >>

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Strengthening Families and Communities: An Approach to Post-Adoption Services

Children no longer living with their biological parents are especially in need of additional supports and services to assure that they have every opportunity to grow up with a stable, permanent family. This white paper addresses the need for policies and practices in achieving and sustaining stability and permanence for children through adoption.  more >>

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Stress Management With Humor And Practicality

This document highlights excerpts from an address delivered by nationally known speaker and author, Naomi Haines Griffith, at Casey Family Services Foster Parent 2000 conference. Griffithtalks about giving and receiving empathy, achieving incremental changes, and having a sense of humor when parenting.  more >>

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Support Services Lacking After Families Adopt Kids

This article exposes some unfortunate truths about adoption in Maryland. While adoption rates continue to rise funding and utilization of support services for adoptive families are on the decline. This article iterates the importance of social service agencies to find a balance between giving new adoptive families their independence while at the same time providing the necessary support services.  more >>

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Taking Stock of What Foster Care Has Taught Us

This article details Casey Family Services’ long-term foster care model that has been found to be successful at reducing common barriers faced by state child welfare systems. Through their many collaborative efforts with states and the use of this model, Casey Family Services has been able to provide extensive training, support, and reimbursements as well as limit the number of children in a home.       more >>

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Team Approach To Recruitment/Retention Working In New Hampshire

This document reports on how Casey Family Services was selected to aid the State of New Hampshirein devising a team approach to improve the recruitment and retention of foster parents.  more >>

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The Road to Independence: Transitioning Youth in Foster Care to Independence: Foster Care Alumni Study

This investigation focused on the adaptation of former foster youth during their young adulthood. The project also examined the relationships between children’s backgrounds and special needs, their experience in the care of Casey Family Services, and the intermediate and long-term outcomes. more >>

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The Road to Success: Summary of Life-Skills Activities and Principles

Each of Casey Family Services’ nine divisions is responsible for assessing the life-skills capabilities of its youth in foster care, developing goals with each child, and designing individualized strategies with each child to achieve permanency. This paper reviews the many programs and activities offered to increase and enhance the life skills of youth in care. more >>

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Voice: Spring 2009, Volume 10, Issue 2

In light of the current economic crisis and its implications for struggling families, it is imperative that the child welfare system adopt policy reforms aimed at improving the outcomes for vulnerable children and families. This issue of Voice details how the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, passed in 2008, and other polices that promote permanence and equity can be implemented effectively. more >>

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Voice: Summer/Fall 2008: Volume 9, Issue Two

This issue of Voice highlights Casey Family Services' 2008 National Convening on Youth Permanence as well as the outcomes and implications of the 2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book. more >>

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Voice: Winter 2008, Volume 9, Issue 3

This edition of Casey Family Services' Voice newsletter focuses on critical issues of stability for children, in particular financial stability and poverty. Financial insecurity and the consequences of poverty place children at risk for child neglect. Within this edition are stories and strategies aimed at helping families strengthen their financial base. more >>

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Voice: Winter 2008, Volume 9, Issue One

This issue of Voice focuses on efforts by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Services to promote financial stability among vulnerable families by offering free tax preparation services and job opportunities for foster youth. This issue specifically highlights the work of First Jobs Maine, a Casey-sponsored program that prepares foster youth for entering the workforce, and discusses common myths related to poverty and child neglect. more >>

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Volunteer Program Provides Important Support

This brief details the evolution of the volunteer program in Casey Family Services’ Bridgeport, Connecticutbranch. It highlights how the previously non-existent volunteer program has burgeoned into a program that provides services from tutoring to mentoring to program implementation.  more >>

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What is Trauma?

This article examines the symptomatic differences between trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It also reviews ways that both trauma and PTSD intersect with child abuse and neglect.  more >>

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Youth Who "Age Out" of Foster Care: Troubled Lives, Troubling Prospects

This brief notes that many problems evidenced by foster children have roots in experiences that occurred before they entered the foster care system. It suggests helping young adults who are aging out of foster care to overcome the difficulties they may face. more >>

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