Note: This article from May, 2013, introduced the ideas that Louisiana lacked sufficient Therapeutic Group Home services for children and that the gap in child well-being infrastructure was negatively impacting child well-being. By its own count, Louisiana needs at least 34 Therapeutic Group Homes (of no more than 8 beds each per DHH) located throughout our state. Today Louisiana has…
Center for Child Well-being
April 6, 2013 – Simple analogies often make obvious what complexity obscures. While speaking to our Board of Directors this week, it struck me that Residential Care in Louisiana is now much like a swimming pool – but one not yet fully constructed. A good pool has a place for every swimmer. In this analogy, Foster Care is the wading…
Never in Louisiana’s history has our state’s child welfare system been more highly regulated. Never has so much significant change occurred in such a compressed period of time than during the last 18 months. I’ll summarize it like this: We now have federal regulations being interpreted by state regulations to create a coordinated system of behavioral health care from four…
Throughout our lives, we all long to hear a few important truths from our fathers. Children need to hear “I” statements from a father like, “I love you”, “I believe in you”, and “I will protect you”. We need to hear our Dad say, “you belong to me”. These statements from a father are nourishment. You probably have an image…
“Wraparound” is a word which has been used a good bit during the last two years as Louisiana prepares to unfold a Coordinated System of Care for children in out of home placements or at risk of being placed out of their homes for behavioral health care. While “wraparound” is new to Louisiana, the concept of wraparound is not new.…
Here are ten online resources about the effects of father presence and father absence on children: Why Men are in Trouble The effects absent fathers have on female development and college attendance The Importance of Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children “The Father Absence Crisis”, National Fatherhood Initiative The quality of a father-child relationship effects intimate relationships in adulthood…
This sad story is growing old. For the 10th consecutive year Louisiana is ranked as the 49th worst state in the nation – next to last – in terms of child well-being. 48 other states take better care of their children than we do in Louisiana. KIDS COUNT is the national and state-level effort of the Annie E. Casey Foundation…
August 28, 2011 – Last week I attended the Summer Workshop of the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries – otherwise known as the UMA. The Summer Workshop was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this year. The UMA offered training for EAGLE peer reviewers. EAGLE is the only faith-related accreditation process available to providers of health and social service…