Family Alternatives
Intended Audience
- Child Welfare Workers
- Child Welfare Supervisors
- Caregivers and Potential Caregivers
Targeted Age Group(s)
- 13-17
QIC-EY Engagement Model Components (i) The engagement model components were identified through the QIC-EY Environmental Scan as critical to the support of youth engagement in the attainment of permanence.
- Engage Specialized Staff
- Support Youth Empowerment
- Utilize Youth-guided Team
- Prioritize Legal, Relational and Cultural Permanence
Description
Family Alternatives is a model designed to address the socioemotional needs of older youth in foster care who are nearing transition to adulthood. The model employs a holistic approach by transforming the agency culture into one that empowers youth to develop, to work toward and to accomplish their goals; to build supportive relationships; and to become informed about the effects of trauma in their lives. Core tenets include believing that youth have the innate wisdom to know and to understand themselves, their needs and aspirations; believing that youth have the capacity to make their own decisions; providing youth with opportunities to discover what they need to be successful; and allowing youth to learn by doing. This requires the adults in the lives of youth to shift long held beliefs and standardized, child welfare practices. Program goals are to develop agency policies and practice protocols to recognize and to support the interdependence of social workers, foster parents, youth and families to empower youth in guiding their own lives and making their own plans. Additional program goals are to educate social workers and foster parents (and to remain current on the latest research) about attachment, trauma, grief and loss and to facilitate using that knowledge in their interaction with youth.
Implementation Considerations
This training is intended for social workers with clinical skills. Outside consultants must be utilized for training about the impact of trauma on the developing brain, trauma-informed parenting, separation and grieving, attachment and loss, concepts of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and the Bridges Transition Model.
There is not a manual that describes how to deliver this program; however, training is available from the purveyor. Consultation is available to determine training location, type and number of days and hours.
