Indiana
Youth Connections
Program
Department of Child Services
Indianapolis, Indiana
Topics to be covered:
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The Youth Connections Program
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Why connections?
Program basics
Protocols and procedures
Certificate of connection
Program outcomes
Future of program
Family finding techniques
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Why family finding?
Case mining
Working with youth
Using search tools
Working with relatives
Why connections?
 Connections to family are critical for healthy child and
youth development.
 Children and youth need many different kinds of
connections with family members.
 Paternal and maternal relatives are important to
children and youth.
 Family members have a right to know how the youth
is doing and deserve the opportunity to restore hope,
by providing support to the youth, if appropriate.
Why Youth Connections?
Research on young adult development and youth
transitioning from foster care shows that:
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Outcomes are very poor for youth who age out of the
foster care system without a family or committed, caring
adult to provide supports and a safety net.
These youth face joblessness, homelessness, serious
health issues, low education, and another generation (in
their children) of contact with child welfare.
On average, young adults do not become fully
independent until well into their twenties, relying on their
families for support during challenging times.
Foster youth who leave the system without a permanent
family often do not know who to turn to for help as they
struggle to become fully functioning adults.
The Youth Connections Program
Goal: To ensure that all
youth aging out of foster
care have a permanent
family, or a permanent
connection with at least
one committed, caring
adult who provides
guidance and support to
the youth as they make
their way into adulthood.
Connections can provide:
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A home for the holidays.
Someone to talk to about their problems.
Help finding housing, services, educational opportunities,
and/or a job.
Assistance with money and household management..
Assistance with health issues, relationship counseling,
and/or babysitting if youth is a parent.
Advocacy, motivation, mentoring.
Emergency cash.
A place to do laundry, use a computer or phone.
A link to community resources and social activities.
Transportation, clothing, occasional meals.
Program principles:
 Supportive adult relationships are critical to the
wellbeing of youth transitioning out of foster care.
 Every youth should have a permanent family they can
turn to during times of need. In the alternative at the
very least, each youth should have one committed,
caring adult whom they can count on to be there for
them when they need love, support, information, and
resources.
 The youth must take the lead in identifying who these
committed, caring adults should be.
The Youth Connections Program
currently serves foster youth:
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Ages 14 to 18 years old.
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Whose parents’ rights have
been terminated.
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Who express that they no longer
desire to be adopted.
The YCP includes the following key
program elements:
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Voluntary participation by youth
Case file review by a specialist
Meetings with youth to discuss possible
connections
Use of the latest search tools to find connections
Ongoing input from and communication with family
case managers (FCMs)
Close coordination with IL services
Certificate of Connection
Help building permanent connection
Expanding the definition of relatives:
 The YCP first searches for relatives and other
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caring adults known to the youth or other family
members.
The YCP does not limit searches to blood relatives,
which can reduce the possible resources available
to the youth.
The definition of relatives includes “fictive kin,”
individuals who are not blood relatives, but have or
have had a significant relationship with the youth.
Searches include both maternal and paternal
relatives to increase the opportunities for important
kinship connections for the youth.
YCP protocols:
 YCP work requires close partnership with other key
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professionals serving the youth, as well as with the youth
and his or her family
Protocols are in place for working with FCMs, IL workers,
group home staff, relatives and other possible connections
YCP specialists partner with youth, FCMs, IL workers and
others to:
 Identify youth eligible for the program.
 Find committed, caring adults for the youth.
 Solidify and support those connections so that they
are maintained after the youth ages out of the foster
care system.
YCP procedures:
 The family case manager makes a referral to YCP
 The YCP specialist reviews the youth’s case file
 The youth and family case manager recommend adults as
possible permanent connections
 The YCP specialist uses Internet search tools and other
methods to find and contact the adults
YCP procedures, continued:
 YCP specialist facilitates meetings with youth and
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adult. (FCM may, but is not required, to participate in
this meeting.)
Youth and adult sign a certificate of connection
defining their relationship and the supports the adult
can provide
YCP specialist works with FCM, IL worker and others
to help maintain the connection the youth and adult
have made
Current YCP outcomes:
In Year One (January through December 2007)
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57 youth were referred to the YCP.
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25 youth participated.
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480+ contacts were made with possible connections.
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Permanent connections were found for 19 youth.
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1 youth was moved from a group home to a placement
with a relative. Another, at emancipation, went to live
with relatives instead of going to a homeless shelter.
Future of the program:
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YCP specialists continue to carry YCP caseload and
provide trainings and technical assistance in family
finding approaches.
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Family finding is now being used in other areas of
permanency, including Independent Living (IL) and
the Special Needs Adoption Program
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Service standards have been created for private IL
services contractors to bid to provide lifelong
connections for foster youth.
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FCMs and other DCS staff receive training in family
finding to use as appropriate to reach case goals.
Family finding can help with:
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Reunification
Relative placement
Placement stability
Permanency
Permanent connections for youth
Family case managers can:
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Assess cases to determine how family finding
strategies can support case goals
Use case mining and search tools to locate
extended family members
Partner with other professionals involved in the
case to locate relatives
Contact relatives
Engage relative in case goals as appropriate
Seek help from YCP specialist as needed
Family finding strategies include:
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Gathering information about the child’s family
history and background
Working with child to identify important adults in
his/her life
Case mining to find their contact information
Contacting known relatives to locate other
extended family members
Using search tools to obtain contact info
Working with family members to see how they can
support case goals
Case Mining
What to look for…
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Siblings
Names, demographic information, SSN
Paternal and maternal contacts
Basic Information about the youth’s history
Relevant family history information
Look carefully at…
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Earlier case files and court hearing documents
Visitor logs
ICWIS contact log
Working with child to identify family
Use ecomaps and genograms to learn
about family members and other adults
important to the child
 Ask children who is important to them and
whom they would like to contact
 Ask children about names you have found
in their case file
 Have children draw their old neighborhood
to help them remember who was important
to them then
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Sample questions to ask the child
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Where would you feel most comfortable living
right now if you cannot live at home for a while?
Who are the grown-ups whom you love the most?
Who are the grown-ups who love you the most?
Who do you turn to beside your parents when you
have something to celebrate?
Who do you go to for advice? Who do you call
when you’re feeling upset?
Who are the grown-ups you like to spend time
with or feel close to? Is there an adult who is
especially nice to you?
Finding extended family
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Contact people found from the case mining.
Work with birth parents (if safe) so they understand why
you want more family information. Stay focused on the
needs of the child. Be persistent.
Locate the “family historian” to get more information about
the extended family.
Respect the family’s cultural practices and traditions.
Use free Internet search tools to find relatives and their
contact information.
When all other options have been tried, use US Search to
find relatives and their contact information.
Experienced searchers report that their best leads come
directly from parents, child and others who know them.
Even small bits of information can be helpful in subsequent
searches.
Using search tools
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Use free Internet search tools and public databases first
(ICES, prison locator, SSI death index, utility company
records, obituaries, etc.)
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Cross reference information by using multiple search
tools to find common names in both.
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Look for the common address; usually the main resident
of this address is the family helper and a good resource.
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Look for elders who are more likely to be home during
the day and also know family history.
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Even when using customized searches like US Search,
you will have to weed through the information provided.
Public agencies and databases:
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School records
Court records
Birth certificates
State clerks’ records (marriage certificates, etc.)
Social services and health care agencies
Law enforcement agencies
Department of motor vehicles
Department of corrections
US social security administration
Federal parent locator service
Child support agency
Free Internet search tools:
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www.Zabasearch.com
www.msn.com (white pages)
www.people-data.com
www.reunion.co
www.peoplelookup.com
www.usa-people-search.com
www.411.com
www.obitlinkspage.com
www.myspace.com
www.anywho.com
www.blackbookonline.info
When to use US Search:
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You have exhausted other search methods
No one in family knows how to reach person
You have tried contact information and it is not
correct
There is a rush on the case and you don’t have
time to use the other approaches
You have gotten permission from your
supervisor to request the search
What US Search provides:
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A list of people who fit the
information you submitted
and contact information for
each of them
Recent addresses for them
and names of people with
whom they have lived
Other names associated
with this person and contact
information for them
How to use US Search:
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Go to www.ussearch.com
and click on “community” at lower right
Type your email address and group password:
Provide information on person being searched
Do not submit searches on children
Use SSN when possible for best results
If common name, add information such as SSN, DOB,
previous address, city and/or state of residence
Results will come within 24 hours to your email address, so
be sure you submitted it correctly
Submit follow-up questions or additional information via
email, not website, or IN DCS will be charged for a new
search.
Getting US Search results:
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Results will come to your email address, so be sure you
submitted the correct address
Submit follow-up questions or additional information via
email, not website
State pays $25 per US Search
Contact person at US Search:
Clif Venable 310-302-6440
Cvenable@ussearch.com
Making contact with relatives:
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If a call does not get results, try a letter in which you
state your purpose and ask for family information.
Emphasize mutual interest in helping the foster child.
Contact both maternal and paternal relatives, using
special care in cases involving domestic violence.
Be prepared to hear complaints or bitterness about
the child welfare process.
Be persistent. Sometimes relatives are not ready to
share information on the first contact.
Ask known relatives to contact other family members.
First calls to relatives
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Be clear in the first few minutes
why you are calling
Determine the relative’s
relationship to youth and
tailor questions based on that
relationship
Don’t ask too much of the
relative in this first call
If one family member is not
responsive, move on to the next
one on your list
A call is successful even if you
only get new information about
the family
Sample script for first call:
May I speak with Mr./Ms._________________?
Hello Mr./Ms.________. My name is YCP specialist’s
name. I am calling on behalf of youth’s first name. Are
you familiar with youth’s first name?
Great. Youth’s first name asked me to call you. I am a
Youth Connections specialist. That means that I help
foster youth find relatives who can tell them more about
their families and who might be able to help them as
they prepare to leave foster care and make their way
into adulthood.
Would you be willing to speak with me about your family
and how you or other family members might help
youth’s first name?
Questions about the YCP or
family finding techniques:
Contact IN DCS permanency manager:
Cassandra A. Porter, JD
317-234-4211 (w)
317-650-6626 (c)
cassandra.porter@dcs.in.gov
Or YCP specialist for Southern Indiana:
Julie A. Deckard
812-895-3585 x206 (w)
812-830-9245 (c)
julia.deckard@dcs.in.gov