CASCW podcast

Seeking asylum is an act of resilience and protection. This final episode of the three-part series focuses on the implications for direct practice social work with families who are seeking or navigating asylum. Amy Smith, Clinical Faculty and Director of Social Work Services at the Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services at the University of St. Thomas and Liz Franklin, Director of Behavioral Health at Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES), discuss how to join with families as a social worker, considerations for establishing and sustaining trust, contextualizing care, navigating benefits eligibility, and sustaining yourself as a social work practitioner.

Asylum is complex and can take a long time. Episode two of this three-part series does a deeper dive into the process of asylum in the United States. Hear about the different types of asylum, the requirements, and the challenges of legally acquiring status, as well as the avenues of support that are available for families. You'll hear from immigration attorney Sarah Brenes (Binger Center for New Americans, University of Minnesota Law School) about how the complexities of the asylum process can impact asylum-seeking families, the history of and recent changes to these processes, and what this means for child welfare professionals who work with these families.

Don't panic, collaborate! You'll hear about this advice and more in episode one of this three-part series focused on considerations for child welfare and county workers who encounter families who are navigating the asylum process, are currently undocumented, or have mixed documentation status within the family. In this episode, you'll learn about local changes occurring in Minnesota by exploring a collaboration that occurred in 2023 in Hennepin County. You'll hear from school and county staff who faced the challenges of change by collaborating across sectors, learning from neighboring districts, and keeping their focus on relationships.

There is a movement of energy in, through and around each of us. Meditation can be an incredible tool to help us respond to these energies. People who enter into professions such as child welfare tend to be sensitive and empathetic, and are naturally more impacted by the energy of others. Finding ways to address these energies and messages can be profoundly helpful. This initial episode of The Practice Space offers an introduction to the meditation skills that can help us to build resistance and better sustain ourselves in practice.

In this episode of The Practice Space, learn about ways to navigate the intense energies associated with trauma that you may be exposed to in your work. Gently clearing your own energy space helps to create spaciousness for others while allowing them to find their own resilience. This episode shows us how to redirect energy and to be compassionate in a more holistic way.

In this episode of The Practice Space, learn about ways to retain your neutrality and openness as you navigate challenging energies and intense emotional situations. Hear about some simple daily habits that you can use to ground yourself to be present and encounter each unique situation as it is, not as you might imagine or prefer it to be.

In this episode of The Practice Space, learn about the importance of developing skills to guide human interactions, especially in practice settings that may be uniquely challenging. Some professional arenas can include chronic stress for workers (such as with child welfare and palliative care), and we can also experience isolation and difficulty talking about our experiences with others. Caring for yourself includes cultivating human connections where you can talk about and deal with tough and complex issues, together.

Energy exchange is happening all the time, all around us. Your own personal, emotional space that you carry with you wherever you go accumulates finished and unfinished interactions, and these can sit in your space and create discomfort. In this episode of The Practice Space, experience a guided meditation and clearing practice where you can dive deeper and learn ways to find more room for yourself and discern what belongs to you and what you need to let go.

In this episode of The Practice Space, we discuss grief. Our own grief, plus that of others. We all carry unprocessed, unassimilated experiences that we hold within our own energetic space. These experiences can be triggered by others, and they can really rattle us and we don't always know why. If something hasn't been assimilated within us, it lights up! When things light up for us, it can be uncomfortable. But, it's important to remember that it is not a failure, but an opportunity to process and build more space for yourself. The more you allow your grief, the more you are able to take part in joy and life.

In this final episode of a Guide through ICWA & MIFPA, the hosts discuss placement preference and considerations that child welfare workers must make according to state law. The order of preference is discussed as follows: 1) A member of an Indian child's extended family 2) A foster home or license approved or specified by an Indian child's tribe 3) Indian Foster home licensed, approved by a authorized non-Indian license authority and 4) an institution for children approved by an Indian tribe, or operated by the Indian organization with a program suitable to meet the Indian child's needs. Hosts respond to FAQs and best practices as well. We hope you have enjoyed this podcast series! Please share widely!

In this episode, you will learn the laws that qualified expert witness (QEW) covers in both ICWA and MIFPA. The episode also shares best practices, frequently asked questions and a story from an ICWA Compliance Consultant.

This episode discusses how Active Efforts is covered under both ICWA Act and also under MIFPA. Active Efforts under ICWA deals with remedial service and rehabilitative programs or preventive measures. Under MIFPA, active efforts includes acknowledging traditional helping and healing systems of an Indian child's tribe and using these systems as core to help and heal the Indian child and family. The episode will also address frequently asked questions regarding Active Efforts.

This episode addresses the types of proceedings and who should receive the ICWA Notice. The hosts review frequently asked questions regarding ICWA Notice.

This episode outlines the purpose of the MIFPA Notice, which is intended to involve the Indian child's tribe at the earliest point possible. Early engagement and collaboration between the child welfare agency and tribes and the establishment of a good working relationship can lead to better outcomes for Indian children and their families. The episode also addresses frequently asked questions regarding MIFPA Notice and best practices.

This episode describes the process of Inquiry and how it is considered an active effort. Local social service agencies and private licensed child placement agencies are responsible for finding out if a child has Indian heritage. This episode will also answer frequently asked questions and share best practices regarding Inquiry.

This episode outlines the federal ICWA requirements that apply to all state child custody proceedings involving native children. The hosts will also provide the background of MIFPA and its amendments that strengthen and expand parts of ICWA.

Dr. Toft introduces new thinking on what professional discretion in social work is. She interviews social workers from child protection, housing, and mental health about their professional discretion struggles and successes in the current practice landscape RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://cascw.umn.edu/portfolio-items/theoretical-underpinnings-in-child-welfare-podcast-series/

Dr. Toft introduces new thinking on social work resistance to business managerialism. She interviews social workers from child protection, housing, and mental health about their resistance efforts in the current practice landscape. Resources and transcript available at: https://cascw.umn.edu/portfolio-items/theoretical-underpinnings-in-child-welfare-podcast-series/

In this episode Marjorie Aunos and Dr. Traci LaLiberte reflect on the Parenting Done Differently Podcast. In this series Marjorie interviewed over 20 scholars and researchers in the field along with parents with disabilities and the children of parents with disabilities. Marjorie and Traci speak about the importance of providing tools for professionals who work in child welfare and looking for answers where we least expect them.

In Episode 25, Marjorie speaks with Eliza Hull, musician, writer and disability advocate. She was the 8-parts-series podcast host of We've Got This and is the editor behind the books of the same title that brings forward the stories of families headed by one or two parents with disabilities in an Australian, US and UK edition. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: http://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode 24, Tommie Forslund talks about how he and his colleagues have used the lens of child attachment and maternal sensitivity to view the parenting of mothers with intellectual disabilities. He also talks about the importance of taking into account contextual factors, such as the parents' experiences of abuse and maltreatment, in order to intervene and provide support more efficaciously. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode 23, Marjorie speaks with Lesley Tarasoff. Lesley has interviewed several parents with different disabilities about the disparities they faced pre, during, and post pregnancy. She shares the insight she gained while speaking to them. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode 22, Hilary Brown presents her groundbreaking data around pregnancy rates in women with all kinds of disabilities. She brings forward data from large datasets and complements them with some elements of qualitative data Lesley Tarasoff has collected. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode 21, Marjorie speaks with Dani Izzie. Dani is a disability advocate and wheelchair user and a new mom to twins. She is the subject and producer of the documentary film, “Dani's Twins,” about pregnancy and motherhood as a quadriplegic during the pandemic. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

Robyn Powell speaks about the discrimination persons with disabilities face when it comes to their right to have and create their family the way they see fit. She talks about how ableism is ingrained into child welfare and how this system should be completely remodeled. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode 19, guest Rachel Mayes looked at one thing that not many thought of focusing on: the grief response of parents with disabilities who lost custody of their children. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode 18, Liz Lightfoot speaks about Parents with Disabilities slipping through the cracks and not receiving the support they require. She talks about the need to change practices within the child welfare system and dreams of implementing a national training curriculum for social workers that would include dissemination of knowledge around parenting with a disability. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

Hanna Bjorg Sigurjondsottir and Jim Rice have extensive knowledge of the Child Welfare System in Iceland. In episode 17, they speak to the faults and preconceived biases that the system can impose and how detrimental it can be, especially to parents with intellectual disabilities. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode sixteen, Marjorie speaks with Carmit-Noa Shpligelman. Carmit is a mom by choice and a woman with a disability. She discusses her research on the attitudes of workers towards the parenthood of parents with disabilities. In their work with children and families, child welfare workers can learn from Carmit's incredible lived experience and applicable research. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In episode fifteen part 2, Ella Callow speaks more with Marjorie about the law pertaining to the rights of parents with disabilities and the intersection of parenting, disability, and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). She discusses Native people's experiences of disability in their community and how explicit or implicit bias about disability and an inability to parent leads to detrimental decisions for families. At 34 minutes, listen to the story of Ella's fondest memories with her grandfather. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In part 1 of this two-part episode, Ella Callow speaks about the law pertaining to the rights of parents with disabilities and the intersection of parenting, disability and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). She points out the systemic discrimination that is still pervasive in many states and other parts of the world. Ella's lens as a member of an Indigenous community and experience as a lawyer working with parents with disabilities will be useful for child welfare workers.

In episode 13, Marjorie speaks with Beth Tarleton, who believes that workers need to be empowered to do their job. She talks about her orientation has always been to look for new ways to train, infuse knowledge and support the workers who support the parents. Beth Tarleton is a senior lecturer at the University of Bristol. Beth has been researching positive support for parents with learning disabilities (intellectual disabilities) and milder learning difficulties since 2005. Beth is co-ordinator of the Working Together with Parents Network which shares positive practice about working with parents with a learning disability/difficulty. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In this episode, Amanda Moses interviews Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, MPH, to discuss parental separation, including incarceration, and how it impacts families. It includes an exploration of research and advocacy work around current practices in Minnesota for incarcerated parents, and a discussion for how to work with prison systems around advocating for families. Strategies are discussed for how child welfare workers can help parents maintain involvement in their children's lives.

In this episode, Andre Dukes, MA, interviews Gil Domally to discuss the important role of fathers in children's development and how child welfare workers can be more inclusive of fathers. Drawing on research, personal, and professional experiences, the conversation includes topics such as barriers to father involvement, misconceptions around fathers, and strategies to engage fathers in a more inclusive practice.

In this podcast, Alyssa Meuwissen, PhD, interviews Kristin Johnson, MSW, LGSW, IMH-E, and Jessica Hoeper, MSW, LISW, IMH-E about the concept of well-being for the child welfare workforce. Topics include why well-being is so important to focus on and why child welfare can be a particularly difficult field. Drawing on research and personal experience, the participants explore the role of emotions and reflection in well-being, and discuss strategies, both individual and systemic, that can promote child welfare worker well-being.

Rinal Ray is the Interim Executive Director at People Serving People. She leads a dynamic team in responding to the crisis of family homelessness and works to change systems to prevent the experience of family homelessness in Hennepin County. Rinal is a former deputy public policy director for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits where she advanced the organization's policy agenda at a state and local level, trained leaders on nonprofit advocacy, and lead special legal projects for the statewide association. Rinal currently serves as a co-chair for the Voices & Choices Coalition for Children and is on the Board of College Possible Minnesota. She teaches Nonprofit Advocacy in the Masters in Advocacy and Political Leadership (MAPL) program at Metropolitan State University.

Ending Family Homelesssness Marybeth (Beth) Shinn is a Cornelius Vanderbilt professor at Vanderbilt University who studies how to prevent and end homelessness. She was co-principal investigator of the 12-site Family Options experiment examining approaches to ending family homelessness, the evaluator for the initial study of the Pathways Housing First program in New York City, and the developer of a model used by that city to target its homelessness prevention services. Her 2020 book with Jill Khadduri, In the midst of plenty: Homelessness and what to do about it (Wiley], surveys research to show that we know how to end homelessness, if we devote the necessary resources to doing so. Beth has received research or publication awards from the Society for Community Research and Action, the Society for Research on Adolescence, and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. She serves on her local Homeless Planning Council and on the Research Council for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Charlotte Kinzley is the Homeless/Highly Mobile Manager for Minneapolis Public Schools where she supports students and families experiencing homelessness. Over the past 20 years she has developed programming and initiatives in family shelters and supportive housing facilities in Minneapolis. Her focus in this work has been to support the development of young people and to advocate for the importance of stable housing for all families. She currently serves as co-chair of the Hennepin County Family Coordinated Entry Leadership Committee and is a member of the Operations Board for Hennepin County's Continuum of Care. She helps coordinate the Stable Homes Stable Schools initiative which includes a recent expansion through a Homework Starts with Home grant.

In episode 12, Laura Pacheco brings forward the importance of understanding a family's culture to better understand their experience, goals and aspirations and know how to best support them. She speaks briefly about Tim and Wendy Booth's legacy and how they influenced her way of conducting research and practice. Dr. Laura Pacheco is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work and Memorial University and adjunct professor at McGill University's school of social work. Her current projects are related to how mothers with intellectual disabilities are negatively constructed and treated within the child welfare court system and workers' needs in supporting parents with intellectual disabilities in order to build systems capacity. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

This episode features four professionals working together to address homelessness in Northwestern, Minnesota. Brandi Wilkie is the Rental Assistance Specialist for Clay County HRA Amy Riccio is the Transitional Student Support and Homeless Liasion for Moorhead School District Sierra Neeland-Martinez is the Youth Self-Sufficiency Advocate for Lakes and Prairies Community Action Chandra Calixte is the Family Case Manager for Churches United Micah's Mission Take a listen to this two-part episode where the group of professionals is in conversation about challenges and opportunities to address homelessness within their respective roles.

This episode features four professionals working together to address homelessness in Northwestern, Minnesota. Brandi Wilkie is the Rental Assistance Specialist for Clay County HRA Amy Riccio is the Transitional Student Support and Homeless Liasion for Moorhead School District Sierra Neeland-Martinez is the Youth Self-Sufficiency Advocate for Lakes and Prairies Community Action Chandra Calixte is the Family Case Manager for Churches United Micah's Mission Take a listen to this two-part episode where the group of professionals is in conversation about challenges and opportunities to address homelessness within their respective roles.

In this episode, Marjorie speaks with Marja Hodes, a clinical psychologist from the Netherlands with extensive experience working with parents with intellectual disabilities. Her frame of mind is about finding appropriate ways to support parents and continuously staying open to their lived expertise. Together with her colleagues, Marja developed a toolkit “Talking About Children” (and earned a national award). This toolkit supports future parents with intellectual disabilities to think carefully about the consequences of having and raising a child. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In this episode, Marjorie interviews Tammy Bachrach, a researcher and adult child of parents with intellectual disabilities. Tammy speaks to her research interviewing adult children of parents with IDD and her own lived expertise. Her perspective and multitude of experience should be really interesting to child welfare workers working with parents and children! SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In this episode, Marjorie interviews Margaret Spencer who has extensive experience as a social worker, as a 'mother' supporting a mother with intellectual disabilities (Beth & Lily's mother) and as a researcher. She brings forward the issues of using or relying on parenting capacity assessments, how our beliefs on capacity affects our views, how offering a supportive environment is possible and makes a big difference in the lives of families headed by parents with intellectual disabilities. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In this episode, Liz Snyder, Co-Director of the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy, speaks with Ricardo Pina and Nancy Carre-Lee from New Jersey's Department of Children and Families (NJDCF) as they share some of the innovative efforts New Jersey has put in place to support worker safety and wellness, including the establishment of the Office of Staff Health & Wellness. SHOWNOTES & RESOURCES available at: https://z.umn.edu/oxygenmask

In this episode, Marjorie interviews Evelina Pituch. She speaks of the needs and service gaps of parents with neurological and physical disabilities, based on focus groups she has conducted with parents with disabilities, their support partner, workers in the field, their managers and community organization workers. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In this episode, Monika Mitra speaks about parenthood of persons with disabilities and the notion of representation in large population datasets. Dr. Monika Mitra is the Nancy Lurie Marks Associate Professor of Disability Policy and Director of the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy at Brandeis University. Her research broadly focuses on disparities in health outcomes and health care access among people with disabilities. SHOWNOTES, RESOURCES, and Transcript available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In this episode, Marjorie interviews researcher Dr. Susan Collings. Dr. Collings has met with several school-aged children of parents with intellectual disabilities. She brings forward their perspective in her research and reminds us that children feel connected to their family. Empowering families is thus supporting children. SHOWNOTES & RESOURCES available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

In this episode, Marjorie interviews Beth and Lily, who are 18-year-old twins of Amanda, a mom with an intellectual disability. They talk about being raised within a community of support and about how the decisions we take 'for' the children often have repercussions that we don't consider. This is an important episode that offers child welfare workers a chance to hear from young people with lived experience! SHOWNOTES & RESOURCES available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently

Episode 2 of Putting on your oxygen mask while helping others In this episode, Dr. Kristy Piescher, Director of Research and Evaluation at CASCW, interviews Dr. Austin Griffiths, an Assistant Professor at Western Kentucky University, about his ongoing research focused on improving the health and wellness of the child welfare workforce. SHOWNOTES & RESOURCES available at: https://z.umn.edu/oxygenmask

David McConnell uses three important papers to bring to the forefront context and reminds us how taking a slightly different perspective can lead us to imagine different outcomes. David also speaks about Tim and Wendy Booth's legacy and shares what it was like to work with them. SHOWNOTES & RESOURCES available at: https://z.umn.edu/parenting-done-differently