Family Search

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Family Search EngagementCMHACY
ConferenceMay, 2007
Sharon Morrison-Velasco, Velasco Consulting, In
Partnership With

• Family Partnership Institute

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There are two lasting bequests we can give our
children. One is roots. The other is wings.
--Hodding Carter, Jr.
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Children have a need for the sense of self that
comes from family

• Children gain permanence, identity, and a true
  belief that they belong
• Once they know who they are and who cares about
  them, we see improvements in behaviors,
  ultimately increasing safety and stabilizing
  placement.

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Its about Loneliness and Love

• Loneliness is a primary issue that many youth
  face with the unmet need being meaningful
  family connections
• Most children living with their families hear
  that they are loved and or receive loving
  physical comfort almost on a daily basis
• Do youth in out-of-home care hear these words or
  receive physical comfort as often?

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Reconsider what you think is possible...

• Kids have more family than you know about

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One girls story
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Rebecca was adopted at an early age. She was
adopted out of a Korean church in Oakland. She
was adopted by a church member. The Church burned
down along with all the records of her adoption.
Her adoptive parents divorced when she was
little. She lived with her adoptive mother and
her new husband. The new husband abused Rebecca
physically and sexually. Rebecca was removed from
her mother and placed in foster care.
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Her adoptive father would visit her and try to
attend court dates. He lived in New Mexico. When
he would fly in for court dates, the dates would
often be continued. There was considerable cost
for him, and he did not have a lot of money. He
was finally told by a social worker to not visit
with Rebecca anymore. The SW told him that
Rebecca needed to work on living in the foster
home and his visits disrupted the bonding
process. He wanted what was best for Rebecca and
stopped visiting. Rebecca was six years old.
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When Rebecca entered the EMQ Program when she was
14 yrs old. She had not seen or heard about her
family in eight years. When she turned 15 the
team started Family Search Engagement, as it
had just recently been introduced to the EMQ
agency. Our task was daunting. Here was a child
who was in foster care, no identified family, and
her adoption papers had been consumed by the
church fire.
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Where do you start with Family Search
Engagement? We pulled her court orders that were
in her file. We started going over all the names
and dates of people mentioned in the court paper
work. We requested to search her records at DFCS.
We found names. We found the name of her adopted
father and mother.
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We found a little yellow piece of paper with a
name scribbled on it. It was the name of her
biological mother. We did internet searches. We
found out that her biological mother had passed
away a year before. The name was there all this
time, but there was never an opportunity for her
to know her mother. We searched the internet for
her adoptive mother. Nothing.
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We searched for her adoptive father. A name and
phone number came up for an older gentleman who
might be connected with the father. We did not
hesitate. We called. It was Rebeccas adoptive
fathers father. Rebecca had a grandfather. He
knew exactly who we were calling about after nine
years. He asked if we wanted Rebeccas fathers
phone number and address. YES!! We called the
number.
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The lady on the other end was ecstatic. She
reported that they had been waiting for years to
hear about Rebecca. She reported they had a
picture of Rebecca when she was four on their
refrigerator. She said Rebeccas sisters ask
about her all the time. She said she would have
the adoptive father call.
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When we spoke with Rebeccas father he said
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We have her picture on our fridge and we talk
about her every day. We havent moved or changed
our phone number for 13 years just in case
someone calls about her.
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Rebeccas story
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Calling All the Children Home

• In the U.S. over 500,000 children and youth are
  in foster care
• 46 of those are living with non-relative foster
  parents
• 19 are in group or institutional care
• Half will have multiple placements in the first
  year
• How many children will still sleep with strangers
  tonight?
• How many are at imminent risk?
• What will it take to bring them home?.

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Phases of Family Search Engagement

• Setting the Stage
• Discovery
• Review of Discovery Information
• Team Engagement Planning
• Initial Meetings
• Family Ties-Transition Decision-Making
• Staying Together - Sustaining
• Documentation and Evaluation.

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Setting the Stage

• Identify the need for family connections
• Strengths and needs of the child
• Legal issues
• Communication parameters
• Safety considerations.

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Discovery

• Case record reviews, internet searches, and
  analyses must utilize best available technology
  combined with curiosity and intuition
• Family members often know of other family members
• Obtaining information while safeguarding
  confidentiality in the context of true urgency.

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Review of Discovery Information

• All information is reviewed, necessary
  permissions and background checks are obtained
• Initial contact strategies are determined

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Team Engagement Planning

• New members are welcomed
• Relationship building continues
• When appropriate, planning is most effective when
  led by the family and youth members themselves
• Agency involvement provides safe environments and
  access to supportive resources and should be
  time-limited.

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A Note About Engagement

• Family members must be contacted in ways that do
  not push them away
• The urgency of their assistance must be
  communicated
• Initial interviews must be conducted with
  skillful techniques and thoughtful judgment
• Family strengths, resources, and connections are
  explored and documented.

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Initial Meetings

• Appropriate preparation of the youth and family
  members
• Their expectations
• Their strengths
• Their needs
• Their concerns
• Initial meetings are usually brief, supported,
  and in natural settings.

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Family Ties

• The new array of family resources is discussed
• Potential for long-term relationships
• Possible placement options
• Planning process is given over to the family
  members themselves
• Often professional guidance and support are
  needed as well.

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Staying Together - Sustaining

• Finding family members is of little value unless
  there is a process in place to provide
  individualized support to nurture and solidify
  the relationship over time
• For high-need youth, Wraparound would be an
  example of such a process.

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Documentation and Evaluation

• Document family resources contacted and engaged
  during this intervention
• Write up the outcomes (placements, enduring
  connections, etc.)
• List all the individuals that participated in
  this intervention
• Capture the costs of the intervention staff
  resources, time, funds, travel, etc.

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Let us put our minds together and see what life
we can make for our children.
--Sitting Bull, Tatanka Iyotanka
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Roots
In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to
know our heritage - - to know who we are and
where we come from. Without this enriching
knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. No matter
what our attainments in life, there is still...
an emptiness, and the most disquieting
loneliness. Alex Haley
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Contacting us

• Sharon Morrison-Velasco
• smvel51_at_aol.com
• Brad Norman
• bnorman_at_emq.org
• Gerry Rodriguez
• grodriguez_at_emq.org

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A few search sites

• www.whitepages.com
• www.myspace.com
• www.zabasearch.com
• www.peoplefinders.com
• www.intelius.com
• www.ussearch.com

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Family Search EngagementCMHACY ConferenceMay
2007
Sharon Morrison-Velasco, Velasco Consulting, In
Partnership With

• Family Partnership Institute