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This unit consists of nine topics addressing our resistance to adoption and family reconnection for adolescents, why teens need families, the necessity of "believing" adoption for teens is possible, the difference between placement and permanence, and the hidden messages we give to teens in concepts such as "after care" and "independent living."
Topics
1.1 Imagine Permanence Being as Intuitive as Safety — If
permanence were as intuitive as safety in child welfare services,
permanence would start at the agency's front door as safety does.
1.2 What Makes Adoption So Hard to Say? Why is it so hard to say
that adoption is a goal for every child who has no permanent family
connection?
1.3 The Label "Unadoptable" Needs to be Lifted From All Our
Children — Special needs adoption demonstrates that there is no condition or circumstance that makes a child "unadoptable."
1.4 Belief is Transformative — If we believe in permanence for teens, we
are hundreds of times more likely to achieve it.
1.5 Do We Really Want "Aftercare"? Our words reflect our action.
Consider "aftercare." We can empathize with the youth who runs away
rather that face a time after everyone has stopped caring for her.
1.6 Focusing on Permanence for Adolescents Will Achieve It - Our
ability to find permanent families for teens is hampered by our belief that they don't want new families, or that nobody wants them.
1.7 A Placement is Not Permanence — A teen's need for treatment does
not mean he/she is unadoptable; a family's need for support does not mean failure.
1.8 Families Provide "Social Capital" — Families share values, history,
ideas, experience with their children.
1.9 Independent Living Starts with Family Connections — Real
independence is a process best undertaken within families with no fixed end date.
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