Over the last decade there has been much attention on America’s school-to-prison pipeline problem.  Scholars, activists, child advocates, and the legal community have looked at a confluence of forces, including the increasing criminalization of adolescence and zero-tolerance policies that push disadvantaged children out of school and in into the criminal justice system.  But few have stopped to ask: what proportion of those children who end up in the juvenile and adult prison systems are either foster children or have had contact with the foster care system?

Nationally, one-quarter of foster youth and two-thirds of “crossover youth” have a jail stay in early adulthood.  And some states have reported that nearly 70% of adults in their prisons have had contact with foster care.  Children in foster care are at greater risk for involvement in the justice system due to abuse, neglect and home removal that stem from conditions of poverty, community instability, parental incarceration and parental substance abuse and mental health issues. Academic struggles and behavioral problems cause nearly 30% of foster children to “cross over” into the juvenile delinquency system by their early teen years.  Often, they spiral lower, drop out of school and face unemployment, homelessness and incarceration.

In this workshop attendees will learn who these youth are, confront the debilitating obstacles that often push foster youth into the juvenile and adult prison systems, and discuss ways that social service providers, legal professionals, child advocates, clinicians and educators can cooperatively limit the overall number of referrals to juvenile court and reducing the disproportionate contact students of color have with school/foster care discipline and the juvenile justice system.

Abuse, neglect, and separation from important people in their lives can have profound effects on children placed in foster care. Like adults, children undergo stages of transition when their lives have been changed, particularly against their will.  It is often difficult for foster children to adjust to a new home with new people and new rules and to be subjected to supervised visits with their parents.

Children react to these new changes in a variety of ways and most typically express their feelings through behavior, not with words.  Some create problems or act out while others withdraw from the people around them.  Still other children react by being model children.  Although these outward behaviors are very different, children feel many of the same things when they are placed outside of their homes.  They may feel confused about why they have been separated from their families, and upset about what happened to them.  Some children feel angry, fearful, and powerless.  Each child works through the process of grieving and separation at their own pace.  This process may seem to move forward but then stall; it may take days, weeks, or even years.

This workshop is designed to help social workers, supervised visitation professionals, court appointed special advocates, counselors and other direct care providers understand the stages or phases of grief and ways that children may act during these stages.  Through interactive exercises and discussions participants will learn how to identify and appropriately document the behaviors that children demonstrate as they move through stages of grief and loss and develop strategies on how to respond not only to the behaviors but also the emotions behind the behaviors.

Even at a young age, poverty and racism can have negative consequences for child health and well-being. These nefarious factors impact children both directly and indirectly, and can leave lifelong marks on the child’s mental and physical functioning. For example, systemic racism disproportionately places low income minority children into unsafe neighborhoods and housing, and under resourced schools, while racist and discriminatory interactions leave a child prone to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.  Further, racism and poverty reduce minority parents’ mental and physical well-being, resulting in less supportive, and more punitive, parenting practices. These disengaged or harsh parenting strategies disrupt children’s emotional and cognitive development. This curriculum will help practitioners understand the negative forces surrounding racism and poverty which influence child development, as well as understand the specific implications for child well-being.

The early years are marked by rapid biological, social, emotional, and cognitive development. For example, infants are born with few capacities to control their behaviors or emotions (e.g., soothe themselves when distressed), but by the time they are five many children are able to wait their turn, share their toys, and sit still to listen to a story. This workshop will help practitioners better understand typical developmental processes, and the general timing of developmental milestones. Further, for children to reach their full potential they require specific kinds of experiences and stimulations. For example, a child’s development of emotional control is strongly influenced by their parents’ ability to sensitively respond to their emotional needs. This curriculum will also describe the contexts that support children’s optimal development.