Purpose:

To bring caregivers, staff and young adults together to educate and provide resources on our adolescent population. Our hope is to strengthen knowledge, partnerships and resources to better support adolescents in NC. During this time there will be a variety of workshops offered specifically to staff/caregivers, youth and young adults and joint sessions for all.

Audience:

For public and private agency staff, caregivers (licensed foster parents and kinship caregivers or informal caregivers) and young adults 14-21 receiving services through the NC foster care program.

VIRTUAL EVENT TIMES:

Saturday, 2/5/22

8:30am-12pm (caregiver/staff session)

11am-4pm (youth and young adult, 14 to 21 yrs old session)

Thursday, 2/10/22

7pm - 9pm - This is a joint session for all young adults, staff and caregivers

Know your permanency options
Achieving permanence for a child in foster care is the goal for everyone involved with the Child Welfare system. But what exactly does permanence mean? What are the options for the child I am working with and what does each option entail?

In this session you will learn more about options for permanence including custody, guardianship, and adoption and how these options can affect you and the child.

Substance Misuse
The harmful effects of substance misuse touch countless families throughout the child welfare system in North Carolina. Relationships, attachment and permanence are just some of the ways in which children and families are impacted. However, as resource parents and child welfare professionals your approach can go a long way in ensuring families affected by substance misuse receive the support they need and can successfully work towards reunification. In this one hour course participants will learn about how substance misuse is a disease of the brain, common substances misused, and how to talk to youth who have parents with a substance use disorder.

Generational Trauma
We all know the importance of assessing adversity and trauma, due to their impact on short and long-term outcomes. Research shows that there are factors beyond exposure to specific traumatic events that can have a significant impact on children’s mental health and daily functioning. In this one-hour course, participants will learn about inter-generational trauma and how it is transmitted in families and communities. Participants will leave with a fuller understanding of how family and cultural factors can be used to promote resilience and mediate the impact of trauma.

Supporting LGBTQIA+ Youth LGBTQIA+ youth
are overrepresented in the child welfare system and are at a higher risk for experiencing trauma than their non-LGBTQIA+ peers. As resource parents and child welfare professionals, it is important to understand the risk factors these youth face and how their health and well-being can be impacted. This one hour course will provide an overview of terms related to identities within the LGBTQIA+ community, identify risk factors, and increase understanding of strategies to effectively engage and support LGBTQIA+ youth

Parenting Teens Through a Trauma Lens
Now more than ever, resource parents are having to get creative about how they support teenagers who have experienced trauma. The impact of trauma on children and teens can be significant and in many ways has become harder for parents to maintain consistency and predictability in parenting practices given the number of constant changes in routines and expectations. This talk will highlight some of these concerns as well as one helpful resource from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network for resource parents of teens. The product is called the NCTSN Resource Parent Curriculum and provides caregivers with tools to understand the impact of trauma and how to respond to keep teens feeling psychologically safe.

Healthy Relationships
Join a fun and interactive session on healthy relationships! Join us to build skills and connect with other youth and young adults. SHIFT NC works in North Carolina to improve adolescent and young adult sexual health. One of their initiatives, the Every Teen Counts Initiative works to build the child welfare system’s capacity to support young people’s sexual health.

18-21 Program Panel
North Carolina’s extended foster care program, Foster Care 18-21, is a voluntary program for those young adults who were in foster care when they turned 18. During this panel session you will hear from local county DSS staff and supervisors as well as a foster parent that works with this population.

Navigating the Healthcare System
In this session you will learn how to access healthcare in NC for the youth and young adults you serve. There will be a particular focus on how to support young adults that are aging out of care and entering adulthood.

The Psychological Impact of Racial Inequality on Black Youth
This presentation aims to highlight how Black and Brown youth are traumatized by systemic racism, racial inequality, and social injustice. This presentation will also seek to address how caregivers and mental health providers can assist individuals who experience these ongoing challenges. Finally, this presentation will also address the steps non-black therapists or caretakers can take to create and maintain safe spaces for Black and Brown clients.

Respect- A Generational Divide
Participants who attend this session will; Discuss "respect" as related to different generations, Learn basic strategies to improve interactions with youth and briefly discuss the 5 Relationship Building Blocks

Mental Health For All!:
In This Together Everyone has mental health, and we want to do all we can to work toward maintaining an optimal state of mental well-being. Mental health describes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act, how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is not just good for each person individually — it’s good for all of us as a whole. Good mental health also means that you can support and offer resources to your family, friends, co-workers, and community. During this session we will define mental health in depth, discuss various challenges to our mental health, and how we can offer support to others with effective strategies to improve our mental health and serve as a compassionate supporter of others

Morning Adult Resource Session: 10-11am,
NC Resources for Caregivers/Professionals

Resources for Resource Parents
This workshop introduces two resources every North Carolina resource parent should know about: FosteringNC.org and Fostering Perspectives. FosteringNC.org offers free on-demand courses (good for meeting training requirements), as well as podcasts, videos, and answers to frequently asked questions Fostering Perspectives is a free newsletter that offers a rich trove of information by and for resource parents on a wide range of topics, including supporting permanence, maintaining connections, and parenting kids who have experienced trauma. Both FosteringNC.org and Fostering Perspectives are sponsored by the NC Division of Social Services and both are an excellent way to strengthen your ability to nurture and support the children and youth in your care.

NC Peds- Fostering Health
Fostering Health NC is a statewide initiative focused on improving health outcomes for children and youth in foster care. This effort, which is led by the NC Pediatric Society, is working to ensure every child in foster care has a medical home and that their healthcare aligns with standards recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

Mental health services
Learn about NC mental health services from a NC provider.

NC LINKS Program
Independent Living Program of NC for youth and young adults that a placed in the foster care system

Afternoon Youth/Young Adult Resource Session:
2-3pm
NC Resources for youth/young adults

SaySo
SaySo- which stands for STRONG ABLE YOUTH SPEAKING OUT- is a statewide association of youth aged 14 to 24 who are or have been in the out-of-home care system that is based in North Carolina. This includes all types of substitute care, including foster care, group homes, and mental health placements.

Hope Center
The Hope Center at Pullen empowers emerging adults who are transitioning out of foster care in Wake County with the support and connections needed for a safe and stable adulthood.

Youth Villages
The Lifeset program helps former foster care youth as well as other youth in the community ages 17-22 identify their goals and guide youth as they work toward their individual goals including housing, education, employment, transportation and any goal that will assist youth in developing independent living skills to enable youth to transitions successfully to adulthood and independent living.

Under One Sky
Under One Sky Village Foundation (U1S) provides programs to help youth in foster care gain confidence, develop lifelong skills, and plan for life after foster care while enjoying nature, participating in fun activities, and developing life-long bonds with other kids in foster care throughout the region. Our Teen and Young Adult programs include Journey Camp (ages 13-17), Rites of Passage (ages 15-18), Mentoring (ages 13-18) and Care Circle (for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system.)