Trainers Leahan Drone and Susan Schwab recently completed a free training to Wisconsin county and private child caring agency staff in the two practice models of permanency. Particular emphasis on preparing youth for permanency through the 3-5-7 model by Mardi Louisell was of particular interest to participants and the emphasis on the use of life books for all youth in out of home care. Other activities that can help youth process "where they have been" and "where they are headed" on the road to permanency were also reviewed and practiced as a part of the training. Due to the positive response, Leahan and Sue will have the training available to other county and private social work staff in 2010! Please drop us a note if you have an interest in training in  3-5-7 and Family Search and Engagement in your area of Wisconsin. We look forward to hearing from you!

Fostering Connection -Midwest Travels

Over the past month I have continued to meet and learn from Wisconsin and Illinois (!) social workers about their work and how it fits with the Fostering Connection Act. While in Chicago at the CWLA regional meeting, I learned about how effective Illinois has been in reconnecting their youth with family, resulting in fewer kids in out of home care over the past 4 years. It took Illinois 3-4 years to have more youth in paid subsidized placements (relative placements) than those in foster care. As we know, this fits the goal of the Casey Foundation for the year 2020- cutting the foster care population in half!  Wisconsin can also look forward to this outcome with the levels of care; promoting the certification and placement of youth in care with kin. The face of foster care is certainly changing, all for the benefit of youth in care!

Susan Schwab