Youth with IDD and co-occurring mental health issues are at high risk for out-of-home placement. Child welfare is often the system responsible for seeking therapeutic foster placements for these children, posing unique stressors and challenges for the youth, their biological families and foster care providers. This presentation will focus on how clinicians can support youth with IDD/DD and their foster care providers and family members through advocacy, education, and coordination of care. This presentation will demonstrate how the clinician can promote resilience within the family system, including biological parents and foster providers, through adapted family therapy and a collaborative approach to engagement and communication.
Learning Objectives - At the completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- Describe the challenges faced by foster care providers and biological family members in working together.
- Illustrate the importance of biological and foster family collaboration in supporting youth with MH & ID who are supported in foster care.
- Develop a collaborative plan with the biological and foster care families, to support effective communication.