Overview
CLM's September Member Forum was dedicated to children in care. Guest speaker Ronald Molin, Ph.D., former Director of Forensics Services at Children’s Charter, discussed why honest conversations with care providers and professionals are needed to reduce the trauma of separation and empower participation in decision making.
PowerPoint
Check out Dr. Molin's PowerPoint Presentation: "Difficult Conversations" (Presentation References). It highlights:
- why this matters,
- what makes it hard to do, and
- policy recommendations to support conversations across the Child Welfare system.
Recording
You can watch most of the session via this RECORDING LINK with Passcode: @db3.V01.
Supporting Information
Dr. Molin shared key messages from children and young people (Resource: Coram Voice):
- Coming into care raises a range of feelings and not knowing why you can’t live with your family can make things even more difficult.
- Adults should be open and honest about children and young people’s past and plans for their care – giving consistent explanations and keeping children up to date with changes.
- Children and young people want help to keep personal information such as photos and family keepsakes safe.
- Don’t assume that children and young people are unable to understand, but use age-appropriate ways of talking about difficult experiences.
- Don’t let fear of upsetting children and young people lead to important information being kept from them.
- Life story work is a core opportunity to explore, understand and make sense of the past and the present. It should be offered to all children, with an option of opting out if the time is not right for them.
- Ask children and young people what they would like to discuss and whether they want to discuss it.
- Give different opportunities to ask questions about what has happened and repeat information as often as needed.
- Support access to care files as they can help older young people answer questions and fill gaps in their lives.
These tips for providers to consider were echoed with the following: "Once children understand why they are in care they can begin to process those experiences and deal with the feelings that emerge. We have also found that creative writing can be a particularly powerful tool to help young people explore their feelings and take control of their own narrative" (Resource: Community Care Post).
Next Steps & Contact Info.
Please consider how agencies and providers can improve how separation trauma and information sharing is addressed. Do we need changes in training and policy at DCF? What advocacy and next steps do you want to promote? Contact
Ronald Molin, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist is as follows:
- rmolin@verizon.net
- 781-891-4452