Child Research and Study Center at SUNY University at Albany
This site has a booklet for parents about how to support their young children’s literacy development. It is organized around questions parents often ask about how to help their children with literacy development. On the webpage, there are PDFs of the entire booklet and individual PDFs for each question so that teachers can print and share individual questions that may be pertinent for particular parents (or send them as email attachments).The Parent Resources webpage also contains some game-like activities for practicing foundational skills and a list of websites that parents may find useful in efforts to support their children’s literacy development. Here is the link: http://www.albany.edu/crsc/parents.shtml
Money as you Grow
This site provides 20 essential, age-appropriate financial lessons—with corresponding activities—that kids need to know as they grow. Written in down-to-earth language for children and their families, Money as You Grow will help equip kids with the knowledge they need to live fiscally fit lives. The lessons in Money as You Grow are based on more than a year of research, and drawn from dozens of standards, curricula, and academic studies. http://moneyasyougrow.org/
Digital Stories from the Field
The National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections (NRCPFC) at the Hunter College School of Social Work, A Service of the Children’s Bureau, has developed this new web site. This site represents NRCPFC’s on-going work to create digital stories with key stakeholders in the child welfare field. Digital Storytelling takes full advantage of the advent/diffusion of increasingly more accessible technology tools like audio, photo, and video equipment. In their own voices, storytellers present their narratives, combining their voices with images, sounds, and video, to create short, powerful digital movies that can be easily shared with a designated audience. The movies have particular utility for individuals and organizations providing TA to States, Localities, and Tribes, or those in Social Work educational settings, as these stories literally bring the voices and experiences of those most affected by the child welfare system into the room. This new web site currently has over forty stories representing the perspectives of former foster youth, social workers, supervisors, parents, family partners, advocates, judges and CASA workers. As new stories are added, the NRCPFC Weekly Update will notify subscribers of their availability. Current stories cover a wide range of topics including permanency, adoption, reunification, youth development, the importance of parent and youth voice in case planning, and the role of courts and the judicial system in planning for and with families. Each story is accompanied by additional web-based resources on the story topic. We know that you will enjoy watching these and will find that they are powerful examples of what happens when we encourage the voices of those most affected by our systems to emerge and tell their stories. http://www.nrcpfc.org/digital_stories/
Leadership and Child Welfare Systems: The Role of State Legislators (.pdf document)
This brief discusses the critical role the State legislators play in supporting greater stability for child welfare agency leadership and the importance of Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) as a tool for legislators in assessing child welfare system performance. It also describes the role of legislator-agency collaboration in bringing about system improvement through the CFSR process. The brief was produced for the Children’s Bureau by the technical assistance (TA) to State legislators on the CFSRs project component, managed by JBS International, Inc., with support from project subcontractor the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). http://www.ncsl.org/documents/cyf/Leadership_and_Child_Welfare.pdfThis project component provides free TA to State legislators and child welfare agencies interested in stronger links between legislators and agencies, as well as strategies for strengthening their child welfare systems. States interested in arranging a TA event should contact Randi Walters, TA to State legislators project component, at LegTA@jbsinternational.com>, (301) 495-1080.
National Child Abuse Prevention Month Website
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect and encourage individuals and communities to support children and families. Visit the 2010 National Child Abuse Prevention Month website to learn more about the history of the month, see examples of Presidential and State proclamations, and find strategies for engaging communities and supporting families. The site features: Strengthening Families and Communities: 2010 Resource Guide, a guide to help service providers strengthen families by promoting key protective factors that prevent abuse; a calendar with activities for each day related to the Five Protective Factors that help protect children and strengthen families; a video showing how the Child Welfare Information Gateway helps connect professionals with information and resources on preventing child abuse and neglect. http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth/
Dealing with Incidents of Bullying Against Foster Children (.pdf document)
This document outlines a policy for responding to bullying of foster children.Bullying: What to do when Your Child is the Perpetrator, and not the Victim
There are many reasons why some children resort to bullying. Children who have been bullied at home or elsewhere over long periods often see this way of acting as the norm ; others bully due to feelings of insecurity. Raising children who don’t bully requires parents to make conscious effort to promote empathy and compassion in them. Modeling compassion and empathy for others is one way parents can educate their children on how not to bully.
http://endofbullying.com/bullying-what-to-do-when-your-child-is-the-perpetrator-not-the-victim