Listen as Family Voices United members share their perspectives about how the current COVID19 crisis affects the everyday lives of families and constituents connected to the child welfare system!
Podcast Features:
Elian Ortiz, FosterClub Young Leader from California
Bette Hoxie, GRANDVoices Network Member from Maine
Alishia Agee-Cooper, Birth Parent National Network Member from Washington
Family Voices United is a campaign dedicated to ensuring the voices of those with firsthand experience are heard across the child welfare system. We bring together the voices of young people, birth parents and relative caregivers - so we can inform other folks in the child welfare field including policymakers and other stakeholders.
The current COVID-19 crisis is having a huge impact on the lives and wellbeing of families with lived experience and connections to the child welfare system. In this podcast we hear first-hand from constituents about their immediate concerns during the current crisis, what resources they are accessing, what support and communications are needed from child welfare leaders, and the importance of constituent engagement during this current crisis.
We also hear from organizations that support Constituents, including Generations United, the Children's Trust Fund Alliance, FosterClub, and a special guest Associate Commissioner Jerry Milner from the Children’s Bureau about the work their networks are taking to uplift, support and protect families during the COVID19 crisis.
Resources & Events mentioned on the podcast:
Children’s Bureau
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Visit the Children’s Bureau website for state and national child welfare resources on addressing and mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
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Information Memorandum (IM) to engage, empower, and utilizing family and youth voice in all aspects of child welfare.
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Virtual Town Hall featuring Jerry Milner on the impact of COVID19 on older Foster Youth.
Children's Trust Fund Alliance
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Child Abuse Prevention Month during COVID-19- find materials and support to help strengthen and promote the well-being of children, families and communities during this pandemic.
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Visit the Parent Voice Page and join Children’s Trust Fund Alliance social media campaign around protective factors, hear conversations for a new normal featuring the protective factors and a list of COVID-19 resources for families.
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Virtual support groups and webinars for Birth Parents during COVID19 are available at ctfalliance.org.
Generations United:
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For COVID19 resources visit Generations United resource page here
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Sign up for Generations United weekly e-newsletter to receive updates on upcoming resources: a detailed summary of the CARES act, a tool to help grandfamilies mobilize and elevate the impact of COVID19 on kinship families at the state and local level, social media campaign to elevate the impact of COVID19 on kinship families at the federal level.
FosterClub
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FosterClub conducted a poll on how the COVID19 crisis is negatively affecting some of the nation's most vulnerable youth. Read about those results here.
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Learn more and participate in FosterClub’s #UPChafee Take Action social media campaign to urge Congress to increase chafee funds to 500 million to support foster youth and alumni.
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For COVID19 Emergency Information and assistance for young people in and from foster care visit FosterClub’s COVID19 Resource Page.
Want to get involved? Share your perspective at www.familyvoicesunited.org
Have questions? Email info@familyvoicesunited.org