Female announcer:
Welcome to NASW Social Work Talks. The National Association of Social Workers is one of the largest memberships organizations of professional social workers in the world. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members to create and maintain professional standards and to advance sound social policies. With our mission in mind, the purpose of NASW Social Work Talks is to inform, educate and inspire. We encourage you to learn more about NASW by visiting www.socialworkers.org, and we thank you for joining us for this episode of NASW Social Work Talks.
Greg Wright:
This is Greg Wright, NASW Public Relations Manager. May is foster care month. Social work has played a crucial role in foster care. In this episode, we're speaking with two social workers from the Children's Home Society of North Carolina, Matt Anderson and Malissa Flores. Welcome Matt and Malissa.
Matt Anderson:
Thank you, Greg. Happy to be here.
Malissa Flores:
Thank you so much.
Greg Wright:
Can you tell us about the Children's Home Society? I understand that the organization has been around since 1902. What kinds of services do you provide?
Matt Anderson:
Children's Home Society of North Carolina, we have been around for quite a while. We started in 1902. Started in Greensboro, North Carolina, and really started in response to a need that was here related to homeless youth. The organization formed around helping youth get off the streets and into families and into an opportunity to be successful into adulthood. We've been family focused for a long time. Our mission and focus of our work really hasn't changed over the years. Our mission today is to promote the right of every child to a safe, permanent and loving family, and we do that from a belief and from a practice that family is most important for kids, and kids do best when they grow up in a safe, stable and loving family. Kids do best going into adulthood when they have the support of family around them. That mission, that focus has never really changed for us over the years. Our work certainly has. The needs of families and kids have changed over the years, and so we have evolved alongside that. Today, our work really runs the gambit. We're a statewide organization, and we do services, early prevention work to help families start strong. We do prevention work to help families stay strong and help kids stay out of foster care and stay at home, and we do work, foster care, adoption, post adoption, and even lifelong post adoption services. So we do other things, too, but that's a big part of what we do is now more in the child welfare arena. It's a long and proud history for CHS.
Greg Wright:
Malissa, can you tell us more about your work at the Children's Home Society? And as a social worker, how did you first get involved in working with foster children and adoptions?
Malissa Flores:
When people ask that question, my initial response is that I kind of was born into social work, and specifically child welfare. I grew up in a home that provided therapeutic foster care, and my extended family, my grandmother who lived around the corner, provided care for over 100 children and youth through fostering. My mother was CPS, or Child Protective Services, social worker. I lived for about six years in South America at an orphanage, and graduated from high school there, and later came back to the United States to study social work and specifically focus on child welfare. So I have a long history of just kind of growing up within services that focused on child welfare. I came to be a part of the Children's Home Society about a year ago, and I currently serve in a role as a permanency replacement specialist, working to match families and children for the purpose of fostering and adopt, and I work to ensure that families have the services that they need to be successful in their role, and that the children are also having their needs met to be successful, as well, in their placements. That's kind of where I've come from, and the role that I'm currently serving here with the Children's Home Society. It's been a wonderful journey, and I'm very proud. As Matt was mentioning, the Children's Home Society has a really beautiful legacy of serving families and children, and we're really doing some amazing things.
Greg Wright:
Thank you, Malissa. Matt, can you tell us about your work as vice president of programs and business development?
Matt Anderson:
Yeah, sure. I guess it involves a lot. Keeps me busy day in and day out. On the program side, I work to provide leadership and support through what we call our Foster Care Permanency Program. So that is a program that is designed to train, license and then support foster and adoptive families. Then, as Malissa was saying, our staff does great work to match kids with families and place kids with our licensed families all over the state. Our focus of that work is really not foster care. Yes, we provide foster care. We're actually North Carolina's largest provider of foster care services, and the state's largest provider of adoption services. We did almost 200 adoptions last year. But our work is really not about foster care. It's really about, what can we do to partner with our public agencies, to help kids move from foster care into a permanent family? So that may be guardianship, that may be reunification, and for us, oftentimes that means adoption. So our focus is really, how do we help to quickly and safely move kids out of foster care into a permanent family? We have just over 500 licensed families around the state, and we have just over 400 kids placed with those families today. We're looking to expand our work to help serve more kids and provide support to more county agencies across North Carolina. That's a big part of it. We have a post-adoption program, as well, and some other adoption services and post-adoption services that we provide, that I work with. Then, we do a fair amount of work with our state, and really trying to help be a strategic partner to our state agency, and help to add value and solve problems that the system is facing. Sometimes that involves our advocacy work, as well. So we work with the state legislature a fair amount, helping them understand what the issues and challenges are facing our system, facing kids and families, what solutions they can bring to the table. So we do some work there, and we do a little bit of that work on the national level, as well, through Children's Home Society of America. So we're a member agency there and do a fair amount at the congressional level to educate policy makers and advance issues that are important to kids and families across the country. That's a little bit of what my day-to-day looks like. We have a great team, we have some of the best, maybe the best, social workers, I think, working in child welfare around the country. It's a fun job to have, and it's a great team to work with.
Greg Wright:
What are some of the issues that foster children are facing in North Carolina, today?
Matt Anderson:
The landscape has changed, from a policy or legislative point of view. I think in part, at least in North Carolina, and at national and U.S. both, but we've done a lot in the last 10 years. In North Carolina, we've extended foster care to 21. We've created a foster youth bill of rights. We have implemented the Prudent Parent Standard to create more normal foster care experience. The state has invested a lot in services to help older youth exit foster care to a permanent family, and for those who don't, have good transitional support services. All of those things have happened in the last five, six years in North Carolina. We're always thinking about, as a state, what to do next to help kids and to help families. I think that now there is a lot of focus on, what is driving kids into foster care? We've seen a significant increase in kids in care in the last five years. Not the only thing, but a big driver of that we think is the opioid crisis that has hit North Carolina pretty hard. We've been paying attention to the Family First Act, at the national level that passed recently, that will ... It states the opportunity to invest more in upfront services to families, including, how do we help families that are struggling with addiction? How do we help families who are dealing with opioid use in the family that are putting them at risk of losing their kids? I think that's probably the next big thing is this bill has been passed, so now all the states will think through and take the next steps of, what do we implement that's going to help us address some of the challenges that we have today? Good things have been happening, but there's always the next thing for us to do to make sure we're doing the best for kids and families.
Greg Wright:
Malissa, as a placement specialist, how do you find the best possible fit when placing a child with a family? What are some of the things that you're looking out for?
Malissa Flores:
Well, there's a number of things that we do. We spend a lot of time working with families on the front end, as a part of the screening process to ensure that we fully understand who the family is and the type of child that they feel would be best suited in their home, and whose needs they feel most equipped to meet. And we kind of measure that in conjunction with the identified needs of children and their profiles, and the team of workers that are working with them that are communicating with us to let us know the specifics around who the specific child is and what their needs are. We take a cautious and thoughtful approach to matching children. I think one of the things that has changed over the years is really giving a greater voice to the child in that process, and allowing them to speak about also what they're looking for. We begin a matching process through visits and allowing the child and the family to get to know each other and move in that direction until we, and the team members that are involved, such as the DSS agency or foster care social worker through your local DSS that's assigned to that child, and the guardian ad litem, and the specialist with the Children's Home Society, or other persons that might also be a part of that, such as therapists, all come together to kind of decide the pace at which we want to move forward at placing that child. And that team continues as that child is placed to continue to work together to meet all needs that are present.
Greg Wright:
Malissa, what is the most fulfilling thing about the job that you do?
Malissa Flores:
You know, one of the most fulfilling things that I've found over the past year or so working with Children's Home Society is when I have placement that has had challenges, because all of these children come with a history of adverse childhood experiences, of abuse and trauma. They come with some obstacles. So when you have a placement that has some ups and downs, and you had those moments when you just kind of shook your head and wondered, “Is this really going to play out? Is this going to work? Is this going to result in an adoption or some form of permanency?” And you're able to work with that family and work with that child and overcome the doubts and the fears associated, sometime, with the unknown that comes with receiving a child, or a child being placed with a new family, and you're able to get to that place of permanency, and you're able to [inaudible 00:13:21] that adoption. I would say that's the most rewarding piece of my job.
Greg Wright:
Thank you, Malissa. Matt, you're not only a social worker, you're also a documentary filmmaker, as well. Your film, From Place to Place, looked at the plight of aged out foster children. Why did you make that film, and how did you use it to advocate on behalf of aged out foster children?
Matt Anderson:
I made it because one of the young people that I was working with who was aging out of foster care asked me to make it, really. He was a young guy that had a tough experience growing up in the system, and aging out of the system, and he told me one day that his story mattered, and his life mattered, and he wanted to make a movie about his life. In that very first conversation, we talked ... What was the story that he wanted to tell? When we talked about that, I said, “That's a great story, and we'll call it From Place to Place.” So in that first conversation we named the film. Really, from the start to finish, the whole purpose was, there are a group of kids all over the country that grow up in the system and age out of the system, and they feel as though they were not heard, that nobody really listened to what they had to say, that their voice really mattered, it really wasn't part of the system. That experience engaged them, those that were a part of the film, and engaged them as being the stories of the film, and their experiences made up the film. But it engaged an audience all over the country, as well, because it was a shared experience of, “I know I'm not speaking up right now, but they are, and I want to support them.” We were able to use that as a vehicle to really create conversations in communities all over the country, to really educate professionals, community members, policy makers, decision makers, about what it means to grow up in America's foster care system and then age out, and what can we do about this. A number of things happened. I think some of what happened was what happened to the young people that were a part of this and that were able to watch this film. I think the impact that it made on them, and their own lives, I think was most rewarding and most important. But it did some other things too, and I would just use one example of, I mentioned North Carolina has invested in more services focused on getting older kids to a place of a permanent family who are in foster care before they age out. I really think that it was the stories in this film getting in front of the right decision makers in North Carolina that helped people understand why that that investment was the right investment, and really helped make that a success. It was, and continues to be, a big part of who I am as a social worker. Not a filmmaker anymore, but still a believer in the power of youth voice, for sure. Your listeners probably won't know this, Greg, but if they watch the film there will be a Greg Wright cameo in the film. So you are a character in this, too. When we were first testifying in front of congress about the experience of youth aging out of foster care, NASW was there to cover the story, which was great.
Greg Wright:
Yes. It was an honor to have a small part in that film. It also won an NASW Media Award. I want folks to know that, too. Malissa, if I'm a non social worker, what are some of things that I can do to help foster children?
Malissa Flores:
I think that there's this notion that foster care is the only way to ... Or serving as a foster parent, rather, is the only way to support youth that are in care. And while we consistently need foster parents, and we're constantly recruiting for foster and adoptive parents and greatly want that, I don't think that it stops there, that there are many ways that people can come and serve. I think one of the first ways is reaching out to your non-profit, or your local DSS agency that's serving that population, and finding out what needs they may have. I worked for a number of years for a local DSS, and they're always needing care packages to provide to children that are coming into care, and that are in immediate need of just hygiene products and things like that. Learning more about the guardian ad litem program and serving as a voice, an advocate for children who are in foster care. There's so many different areas of social welfare that affect outcomes for children, whether it be homelessness or domestic violence, poverty. All of those things affect children who could potentially end up in foster care. So I think there's a number of ways that non social workers can support children and youth that are in care.
Greg Wright:
Matt, I was wondering if you had anything you wanted to add to that?
Matt Anderson:
I think Malissa covered quite a bit. I guess what I would say is everybody can educate themselves about foster care system and the experience of young people in foster care. Just for example, in North Carolina there's about 12,000 kids in foster care. The opportunities to get involved are endless. So I would encourage people to educate themselves on what are the needs in their local community or in their state, and then figure out where the needs fits with the skills, the resources, the connections, the knowledge that that individual person has, whether it's just you as an individual, your family, your company, your civic organization. Find out where your talents and resources align with the needs of the kids, and then take action. Find a way to get connected to bring what you have to the kids that are in the system. That may be that you're a teacher. Find out, are there kids in foster care in your school? If so, maybe, how is their experience different? And what can you do to help them be successful in your school? I can't tell you what that is, but I think everybody can find ways to do something.I will say though, that we also, all over the country and certainly in North Carolina, we need more foster families. So if you're moved, I would encourage people to find out how you can get licensed as a foster family. We never have enough, never have enough families, and the conversations I've had with families that do this, the benefits that they get from it, and the experience that they have, is life changing in a positive way. So there's something that you can give and receive as a foster parent. I would encourage people to think about that, as well.
Greg Wright:
Thank you, Matt. Well, that's it for this episode of NASW's Social Work Talks. I want to thank Matt Anderson and Malissa Flores for being such great guests. Thank you so much.
Matt Anderson:
Thank you, Greg. We appreciate it.
Malissa Flores:
Thank you so much. It's been an honor.
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You have been listening to NASW Social Work Talks, a production of the National Association of Social Workers. We encourage you to visit NASW's website for more information about our efforts to enhance the professional growth and development of our members to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies. You can learn more at www.socialworkers.org. Don't forget to subscribe to NASW Social Work Talks wherever you get your podcasts. We also invite you to join us for the 2018 NASW National Conference, which runs June 20th through the 23rd in Washington D.C. You'll have an opportunity to earn 25.5 CEUs, hear nationally renowned speakers, participate in unique professional development workshops, and enjoy fulfilling networking opportunities. To learn more, and to register today, we invite you to visit www.socialworkers.org. Thanks again for joining us. We look forward to seeing you next episode.