Articles Tagged technical, page 1

• Matching Reception Provides Service and Encouragement to Families

  Something special took place at the SWAN Summer Matching Reception held in conjunction with the Annual Pennsylvania Permanency Conference on June 18, 2024 at the Kalahari Resort. Coordinated by the Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange (PAE), the event was attended by more than 200 people from across the Commonwealth, including 16 families, 66 SWAN affiliate agencies, representatives from OCYF, county children and youth staff and more.

  Posted on August 23rd, 2024

• What can the SWAN Helpline do for you?

  “This is the SWAN Helpline. How may I help you?” This is a familiar opening to the phone conversations that take place each weekday between SWAN Helpline technical specialists and individuals calling to learn more about beginning or continuing with the process to become a permanency resource for children and youth in the Pennsylvania child welfare system.

  Posted on March 1st, 2024

• Spotlight on Deb Seeger, Independent Living Professional Award Recipient

  Deb Seeger’s love of interacting with people and passion for helping teens led to her current position of Independent Living Coordinator at Chester County Department of Children, Youth & Families. Deb will be celebrating her 10-year anniversary this year and  attributes her longevity in the field  to multiple factors: a position that allows for a healthy work-life balance, the feeling of being valued and respected within her agency and being surrounded by “a lot of really good people,” her co-workers at the county.  Deb, in turn, expects everyone to care about the youth with whom their agency works. 

  Posted on March 1st, 2024

• The Power of Saying Yes: How one Woman Re-defined Foster Care for Older Youth

  Valerie Crabbe remembers having a dream to adopt a little girl since she was just a little girl herself. Fast forward to the age of 38 when a recruitment flyer for foster parents caught her attention in the grocery store. 

  Posted on December 13th, 2023

• SWAN Prime Contractor Names New Leadership

  Over the past few months, a few individuals have been named to new management positions. Voce is pleased to announce that Tammy Hendrix, DSW, MSW, LCSW is now serving as the SWAN program administrator; Tinnesha English, MSW is now serving as the SWAN technical assistance program director; Kelly Weston is now serving as the RTA division manager for the SWAN central region; and Robert Brockman is now serving as the PAE division manager.

  Tammy Hendrix ...

  Posted on November 6th, 2023

• Fostering a Family Engagement Philosophy

  Dubbed “one of the most amazing families,” Anthony and Jessica Johnston are setting the gold standard for what it means to be a foster and adoptive family. The couple was awarded a Permanent Family Recognition award at the 2023 Pennsylvania Permanency Conference for their outstanding record in providing quality care to children and families. 

  Posted on November 6th, 2023

• Spring Quarterly Meetings Detail Family Matching Service

  Members of the network gathered around the state at six spring Quarterly Meetings held regionally throughout April. The morning presentation, Exploring the SWAN Family Matching Unit of Service, was presented by technical assistance staff in each of the regions.

  Posted on May 24th, 2023

• Equine-Assisted Therapy Helps Children in Foster Care Overcome Trauma

  One of the side benefits of sharing SWAN with the community each year at the Pennsylvania Farm Show is reconnecting with old friends in the network. This past January, foster mom and licensed clinical therapist Marcy Tocker stopped by to chat. Marcy is the founder of Grey Muzzle Manor, a senior animal rescue and hospice center offering animal-assisted therapy and a special place created by Marcy where everyone would feel they matter, belong, and are noticed. 

  Posted on May 24th, 2023

• New SWAN Program Administrator Embodies Permanency Advocacy

  Tammy Hendrix, DSW, MSW, LCSW has been named the next SWAN program administrator, succeeding Judi Damiano, who retired February 10, 2023. Tammy has served the SWAN prime contractor in various technical assistance roles since 2004 and has worked in the network since 1994. 

  Posted on April 4th, 2023

• SWAN Program Administrator Judi Damiano Retires

  SWAN Program Administrator Judi Damiano has retired after five years overseeing SWAN programs and services and more than twenty years with the SWAN prime contractor. Judi stepped down from her role and stepped into a well-deserved retirement effective February 10, 2023.

  Posted on February 17th, 2023

• PRT Success Celebrated in South Central PA

  Permanency Round Table meetings are characterized by an urgent and relentless pursuit of legal permanency with the focus of helping youth find a permanent home. Permanency stakeholders combine optimism, strengths–based solutions and a fresh open-minded approach to help youth in out-of-home care secure legal permanency.

  Posted on December 8th, 2022

• Youth-Centered Matching Events: Letting Youth Lead

  There’s a mantra often spoken by child welfare professionals when recruiting families for youth in foster care. It goes by several phrases such as “give the child a voice” or “honor the youth’s wishes.” Older youth want AND need to exercise control over their lives, especially when it comes to choosing a family.

  Posted on December 8th, 2022

• Needle in a Haystack: Finding the Right Family

  Older Child Matching Initiative (OCMI) recruiter Mandy Somerville likes to refer to the Barnes/Axon family as the “needle.” In her position, she is assigned youth who need permanency but are especially hard to match with families due to mental or physical health issues, length of time in foster care, the youth giving up hope, or a combination of challenges. Mandy related that finding the right family for a child can be like “finding a needle in a haystack.” When it happens, it is special.

  Posted on December 8th, 2022

• The Art of Selflessness

  We’ve all heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” For Pennsylvania’s children and youth in foster care, these words take on greater significance when it comes to finding permanency. Every day, these children and youth are navigating trauma, a multitude of changes, uncertainty, education, relationships, and much more. Simultaneously, dedicated permanency workers are writing strengths-based narratives for them, collaborating with counties on information sharing processes, and employing a variety of recruitment strategies to match them with permanent families.

  Posted on September 26th, 2022

• Youth Advocate Award Winner Raises the Bar

  Julia Mueller is a “wonder woman in the making,” according to her nominee, Shayla Jones. The recipient of the 2022 Youth Advocate Recognition award, Julia is a glowing example of a young woman turning lemons into lemonade. As an alumnus of the foster care system, Julia’s firsthand experiences in care, combined with her persistent and focused temperament, have given her an influential voice on the Pennsylvania Youth Advisory Board.

  Posted on September 26th, 2022

• New SWAN Unit of Service: Family Matching

  The prime contractor is pleased to announce the release of the first new SWAN unit of service in 20 years: Family Matching. This service is available to the affiliates for referral as of July 1, 2022.

  Family Matching focuses on engaging potential resource families who are waiting to be matched and developing their capacity to provide successful permanency. The Family Matching unit includes ongoing efforts in these areas as well as activities to identify a ...

  Posted on August 8th, 2022

• New Family-Friendly Resource to Promote Post-permanency Services

  SWAN has been providing Post-permanency supports to families for over two decades. These services, which include case advocacy, respite and support groups, are available free of charge to Pennsylvania families formed through adoption, formalized kinship or permanent legal custodianship.

  With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other societal struggles, many Pennsylvania families are experiencing additional stress. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services/Office of Children, Youth and Families (DHS/OCTF) wants eligible families to know SWAN ...

  Posted on March 29th, 2022

• Meet the Marshalls: Playing for Keeps

  When it comes to caring for older youth, Dana and Bill Marshall “play for keeps.” Whether permanency comes in the form of formal adoption or custody through a more informal arrangement, the Marshalls consider every youth who has entered their home to be family. Older Child Matching Initiative (OCMI) Recruiter, Marian Kolcum, witnessed their love and dedication first-hand through the family’s adoption experience with their son, Dean. Marian nominated the family ...

  Posted on January 13th, 2022

• Network Comes Together at Fall Quarterly Meetings

  For the first time since the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020, the SWAN/IL Quarterly Meetings took place in-person throughout regions of the Commonwealth, infusing a spirit of connectedness for which the network is often characterized. As Carrie Keiser, Director, Division of Programs, Office of Children, Youth and Families declared in her opening remarks, “It is SO good to be back together!”

  More than 850 attendees gathered at six regional locations and online for ...

  Posted on November 17th, 2021

• Giving Back, Former Recipient Style

  When you hear that someone has been involved with fundraising for a foster care agency for the past six years, you may think they are a former foster youth who is now in a position to give back to those who helped them in the past. Well, Cayden Roth, who was honored with SWAN’s 2021 Youth Advocate award, is a former foster youth, but this young man ...

  Posted on November 3rd, 2021