Serving Diverse Young Adults of Transition Age at the Practice Level Presented by Mary Jo Whitfield, MSW Vice President of Behavioral Health Jewish Family & Children’s Service Phoenix, Arizona

Children’s Action Alliance – The Color of Foster Care: Racial Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System in Maricopa County, May 2008

Children’s Action Alliance – Racial Disproportionality in the Juvenile Justice System in Maricopa County, May 2008

Jewish Family & Children’s Service Transition to Independence Program Utilize the Transition to Independence Process (Hewitt B. “Rusty” Clark, Ph.D., Nicole Deschenes, M.Ed. – National Network on Youth Transition for Behavioral Health, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida). Strengths, needs and cultural discovery from the youth’s point of view as part of our service delivery system.

Racial & Ethnic Identity Youth in care face issues such as the “lack of protective messages to face prejudice” when foster parents are not of the same racial or ethnic background. Our program emphasizes and works with youth to support and develop a healthy racial and ethnic identity.

Specialized Recruitment/Training Staff are recruited from the communities via Hispanic and African American media. Candidates are interviewed by current staff and youth who participate in the program as part of the hiring process. All staff are required to complete cultural competence training that promotes self awareness and development of multi-cultural competence.

Thank You! Gracías! Mary Jo Whitfield Telephone