The 2008 National Convening on Youth Permanence

The Official Program
The program offers a detailed Convening schedule, presenter and moderator profiles, workshop descriptions, locations of all activities, and a hotel map. Download it here.

Official Convening Publications
As part of the 2008 National Convening on Youth Permanence, a number of publications focused on helping youth in foster care achieve and sustain lifelong families were produced. The following are available for download:

• Young People Need Families: Practice Strategies to Make Permanence a Priority: An essay that describes how young people need family plus – families with strong relationships plus effective preparation for adulthood, including life skills development; a strong education coupled with job readiness and career planning; and access to quality housing and health care. Download the PDF>
• Selected Web-based Resources: This guide shares online resources for practitioners, policymakers, families, and youth on achieving permanence for older children and youth. Download the PDF>
• Team Planning Guide: This document offers questions that can guide a planning process to increase the number of youth in foster care who exit with a family relationship they can count on for a lifetime. Download the PDF>
• Creative Funding Strategies for Youth Permanence: A pamphlet from the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services that provides definitions of child welfare services and funding streams, as with accompanying charts, that reflect how these streams can support innovative permanency practice. Download the PDF>
• Participants List: A listing of attendees from the 2008 National Convening on Youth Permanence. Download the PDF>

Plenary and Workshop Session PowerPoint Presentations

• 3-5-7 Model: Working with Children and Youth for Permanency by Darla Henry from Family Design Resources, Inc. Presented at the learning session: Trauma-Informed Permanency Practice with Youth and Families. Download as a PDF>
• African-American Children in Foster Care by Deborah Signer, Senior Analyst, U.S. Government Accountability Office. Presented during the learning session: Addressing Racial Disparities in Achieving and Sustaining Family Permanence for Youth in Foster Care. Download as a PDF file>
• American Indian Youth: Exposure to Trauma by Dolores Subia BigFoot, Indian Country Child Trauma Center. Presented during the learning session: Trauma-Informed Permanency Practice with Youth and Families. Download as a PDF>
• California Permanency for Youth Project by Robert Friend, Director, California Permanency for Youth Project. Presented during the learning session: Achieving Permanence with Emancipated Youth. Download as a PDF file>
• Children's Bureau: Promoting Family Permanence for Youth in Foster Care by Christine Calpin, Associate Commissioner at the U.S. Children’s Bureau. Presented during the plenary session: Leadership to Promote Family Permanence for Youth in Foster Care. Download as a PDF file>
• Creative Financing Strategies to Achieve and Sustain Youth Permanence by Donald Schmid, child welfare consultant. Presented during a learning session for child welfare administrators with the same name. Download as a PDF file>
• Data Trends and Paths to Greater Youth Permanence by Ben Kerman, Director of Research, the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services. Presented during a learning session: Successful Leadership to Achieve Youth Permanency Practice Reform. Download as a PDF file>
• Emancipated Youth Connections Project by Cheryl Jacobson and Robert Friend from the California Permanency for Youth Project. Presented during the learning session: Achieving Permanence with Emancipated Youth. Download as a PDF file>
• Homes for Black Children: Project Family Ties by Linda Lipscomb, Resource Program Director, Homes for Black Children. Presented during the learning session: Special Initiatives to Achieve and Sustain Family Permanence for Youth of Color. Download as a PDF file>
• Massachusetts: Focus on Improving Permanency Outcomes for Youth by Mary Gambon, Assistant Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Social Services. Presented during a networking lunch. Download as a PDF file>
• Perspectives on the Power of Inclusive Practice and Teaming to Achieve and Sustain Permanence from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Presented during a Convening plenary session. Download as a PDF file>
• Special Needs Adoption and Independent Living: Working Together to Serve the Same Youth by Lorrie Deck and Christine Tirendi from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Presented at the learning session: Breaking Down the Silos: Integrating Youth Permanence and Preparation for Adulthood. Download as a PDF file>
• Strategic Communications in Allegheny County by Karen Blumen, Deputy Director, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Department of Human Services. Presented during the learning session: Working Effectively with the Media. Download as a PDF file>
• Trends and Opportunities in Youth Permanence by the National Foster Care Review Coalition. Presented during a learning session of the same name. Download as a PDF file>
• Youth Connections by Nicholette Smith-Bligen, Administrator for the Office of youth Development a the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency. Presented during the courageous conversation: Integrating Permanency and Transition Planning for 18 to 21 Year Olds in Foster Care. Download as a PDF file >

Additional Handouts and Materials

• Network News, Winter 2008, a newsletter from the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (PDF)
• Peer Advocacy Flyer from the Oasis Center, Nashville, Tennessee (PDF)
• Profile of Youth in Out-of-home Care, ages 15 to 21, in the District of Columbia, from the Child and Family Services Agency (PDF)
• Youth Justice Boards description from the Center on Court Innovation (PDF)

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