Innovative Tools for Achieving Permanency

Visitation practices Regular and frequent visitations increase the likelihood of successful reunification, reduce time in out of home placement, and reduce that negatives effects of separation for a child. Family connections  Placement with family  Supports for families  Eliminate/ reduce barriers  Diligent search early on  Support kinship placements  Consistency in caseworker Identifying and overcoming systemic barriers Frequent oversight by the Judge / Court Team Increase array of services to address MH / behavioral needs of children and families Best Practices for Achieving Permanency 2

The child-parent relationship is core to a child’s development 3

Attachment The central theme of attachment theory is that mothers who are available and responsive to their infant's needs establish a sense of security. The infant knows that the caregiver is dependable, which creates a secure base from which the child can explore the world. Attachment is an emotional bond to another person (Bowlby, 1969). What do we know? 4

Parents of maltreated infants often have increased risks including poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, disabilities, violence and limited social support (Larrieau, 2000) Maltreated infants and toddlers are at risk of developing disorganized attachment and later psychopathology Optimizing early child development for children in the child welfare system requires the provision of a corrective attachment experience 5

 Our interventions focus on helping parents stay connected to their children, learn about their child’s needs, respond appropriately to those needs, recognize the impact of their behavior / emotional availability, make better decisions to have healthier lives for themselves and their children. 6

Our goal Safe Happy Healthy 7

Vulnerabilities – Risk Factors Domestic Violence Trauma Insecure/ disruptive relationships Learning disabilities Abuse/ neglect Mental illness Intellectual developmental disabilities Social isolation Financial stressors 8

Visitation - Connections How can we use visitation to help us reach our goals? Redesign visitation as an opportunity for:  Teaching / Education  Assessing  Intervening  Supporting attachment / rebuilding corrective attachment  Support  Engagement / therapeutic relationship 9

What the research tells us? More days of parental visitation per week improves permanency Each day of visitation tripled the odds of permanent placement within the one year time period Frequency, length, and timing of visits promote attachment. Frequency, length and timing of visits should be age and developmentally appropriate Connections – Visitation 10

Visits should be long enough to promote parent-child attachment. The length of visits should gradually increase as the parent shows the ability to respond to the child(ren)’s cues in consistent and nurturing ways, soothe the child(ren), and attend to the child(ren)’s needs. During the initial phase, limiting visits to one-to-two hours allows the parent to experience small successes without becoming overwhelmed. By the transition phase, as the family approaches reunification, unsupervised all-day, overnight, and weekend visits should be completed. Sources: Smariga, M. (2007). Practice & policy brief: Visitation with infants and toddlers in foster care: What judges and attorneys need to know (pp. 11). Washington, DC: American Bar Association and Zero to Three. National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information. (2005). Concurrent planning: What the evidence shows (pp. 3). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Connections – Visitation 11

Physical proximity with the caregiver is central to the attachment process for infants and toddlers – ideally an infant should spend time with the parent(s) daily, and a toddler should see the parent(s) at least every two-to-three days To reduce the trauma of sudden separation, the first parent-child visit should occur as soon as possible after the child(ren) is removed from the home ( e.g., 48 hours). Ensure the child’s safety Connections – Visitation 12

Visitation and Infant Toddler Court Visitation is a core component of the ITC Visitation practices are redesigned to:  meet the child’s developmental and emotional needs  enhance the parents capacity to learn about and respond to their child’s needs  provide the child an opportunity to heal from trauma  support the child and the parent 13

Visitation Practices - ITC Visit Coaching Model - developed by Marty Beyer, PhD Model developed for visits with children in out of home care - modifications for ITC Visits Coaching principles Empowerment Empathy Responsiveness Active Parenting 14

Visitation Practices - ITC Fort Bend - Positive and Productive Visitation Developed and implemented by FB CASA CASA volunteers and staff train and support CASA volunteers to provide “Positive and Productive Visitation” Visitation house Harris County - Visit Coaching Model (modified) Harris County Protective Services Works closely with assessment, clinical staff and the FIC/ITC teams 15

Visitation Practices - ITC What we’ve learned: Families have multiple needs and significant skills deficits (organization and life skills) Coordination of services is essential / communication with the team Siblings and multiple children Flexibility and delivery of services in the home Maximizing the visitation opportunities to support the parent-child bond, assess the parent-child bond and provide needed skills training and support to the parent. 16

Visitation Practices - ITC Next steps:  Recruit and train volunteers to assist with visitation services ( e.g., visit coaching) and implementation  Expand natural supports and wraparound around services  Develop a network of visitation sites:  Visitation house – home like environment where the family can engage in routine home activities/ child care  Partner with children’s museum, libraries 17

Visitation – Best Practices Summary:  Ensure Visitation Plan is developed  Includes: visitation frequency, responsible persons, length, transportation, plan for handling emergencies, signature of persons involved etc.  Revisit visitation plan on a regular basis  Assess child’s developmental stage  Assess parent’s capacity / knowledge  Prepare parent/ child for visit 18

Visitation – Best Practices  Prepare parent/ child for visit  Consistent schedule  Materials/ toys/ activities – visitation bags  Empower parent during visit  Coach/ guide/ direct/ teach  REFLECT  Debrief after visit  Review/ prepare for next visit  Evaluate 19

Contact Information M Connie Almeida, PhD Thank you 20