Relative search is a service at Ampersand Families for youth in foster care who need placement and support. The goal of relative search is to identify relatives and attempt contact with them. Relative search involves identifying grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. as well as other individuals described as “kin.” Kin is any person in a youth’s life who has a significant relationship with them. This might include a coach, teacher, neighbor, or other caring Continue Reading
Child-Specific Recruitment
Seeking African American adoptive families
My name is Danielle Brown and I have worked with Ampersand Families as a Youth Permanency Specialist for more than five years. Last year, I humbly accepted an additional role with a new program offered at our agency. This program is called Innovative Targeted Recruitment for African American Youth. Innovative Targeted Recruitment for African American Youth works to establish community partnerships that engage in targeted recruitment to meet the needs of African American Continue Reading
Recruiting adults to meet youths’ unique needs
When you consider lives that have experienced trauma, time involved with the child welfare system, and on top of this, the natural confusion of development and growing up, it seems perfectly clear that some youths’ views of the world, and the skills they cultivate, are not the same as their peers who have a more supported and secure upbringing. This understanding leads to much greater conversation as to why the need for connection and family is so important, but Continue Reading
