FERPA protects a child's privacy to their school records. It gives the parents the right to inspect their records and seek to have their records amended. It also gives them the right to consent to disclosures of information that could identify them. This relates to what we have learned so far because if a child is doing great in school and then is removed from their home and begins to struggle in school the parents could use that in their defense.

My kids are in kindergarten and below so I haven't dealt much with school policies on bullying. As I was trying to do research on this topic I couldn't find much on what schools actually do in school to educate kids about bullying, but I did find Temple View Elementary School's student handbook which mentions their bullying prevention policy. It states that teachers and students are required to report repeated incidences of bullying to administrator or school counselor. It stated that after an investigation, if it is indeed found that the incident was bullying that it would be handled in accordance with the district bullying policy (which I could not find) and the Idaho State Statute.

• How do you think a youth’s sexual orientation affects his or her identity? I think it completely affects his or her or their identity. It affects how they want to be addressed and how they see themselves and want others to see them too. • What obstacles might LGBTQ youth encounter in foster care that would hinder their ability to maintain their identity? If they were placed with foster parents that wouldn't want them because of their identity it may cause them to "fake it" or pretend to be someone they're not just in order to not have to be re-placed into another home. • Do you think these obstacles are unique to LGBTQ youth? If so, why? If not, how are these issues transferable to youth in other situations? I think for the most part yes they are probably unique. • How could a CASA/GAL volunteer have advocated for Randy? They can advocate for him to be placed into an accepting home.

I feel you on the acne part! I was on accutane which is what helped me! I was made fun of a bit, but I think mostly it was my insecurity I got from comparing my skin to other kids.

I had really bad acne and was made fun of a bit for that, but not much. I don't remember making fun of people, but I do remember leaving people out. I'm sure it didn't make them feel good.

I only got one "wrong" in the E/I clicking so I was surprised at my results, but also not disappointed in myself by them and it didn't change my view of myself by any means. I think the best way to remove any bias or stereotyping is to be educated about it and aware of your own actions.

• How do you think the caseworker or others might perceive you, and what would be the implications? I think I would feel self conscious and judged. I would be so scared to say the wrong things and for even more assumptions to be made about me. Because of this I probably am not telling the full truth to the caseworker which doesn't help build trust with us and might further increase my chances of not getting Deshawn back. • When you describe yourself to them, how might you anticipate their opinions, and how might your concerns impact your interactions with them? I think I would try to over explain and would probably interrupt them a lot because I would try to anticipate what they were going to ask me or what their comment about something would be.

Ideals of childrearing and concept of cleanliness are probably of the two biggest differences between my husband and I. Although we are both from the same race and ethnicity, it seems we were raised in two different worlds when it comes to these. When growing up my husband was spanked with a belt when he did something bad, he has memories of riding the bus home from Kindergarten and then being by himself until his older siblings would get home (hours later), and his parents were his best friends once he got a bit older. In my house, I don't remember being left alone until I was somewhere around 10 years old an only for a few hours at a time and my parents were not my friends until I was nearly out of high school, they were parents. And even still at 25 my mom is more of a parent than a friend at times.

How do you think your role as a CASA/GAL volunteer working with an older youth may differ from your role working with a child age 10 or younger? I think that the role would change a lot because the needs of the child would be very different. Young children require a lot more hands on parenting than older children do, so I think my role as a CASA would change because what I was looking for in a parent would change. I think working with younger children you would do more work with the parents and adults to decide if reunification is an option and with older children it would be my assumption that it's a little more even balance of the child's wants and what the adults are doing.

• In what ways did Bailey find permanence? Bailey found permanence by accepting the family that was given to her by the state and understanding that blood doesn't make a family. Even after she had aged out and had a child of her own, she considers her foster mother as her child's grandparent. In what ways did she not? She was not able to be legally adopted. • How could a CASA/GAL volunteer have made a difference in Bailey's case? The CASA could have advocated much more for Bailey and pushed the social worker to look more into adoption as well as pushed for her to not have gone home in the first place.

• Given Bailey's age and developmental stage at the time of her entry into the child welfare system, a CASA advocate could have made a difference in her case by helping find out what she thought would be best for her. They could have spoken to what she witnessed and why she thought her mother's home was not safe for her to return to. • Bailey decided to be the strong one and create he own future. She decided to become her own best advocate. Although she did not end up being adopted, I think it worked out well for her and it helped her find her family. She showed resilience in the face of adversity by persistently pushing for what she wanted and fighting for her safety. She knew she wasn't safe in her biological mother's home and she didn't bend on her needs.

As I listened to their stories I just kept thinking how children are so resilient and forgiving, it amazes me. Toward the mother I feel happy that she is clean, but also cautious. I think just as the boy was describing, he is constantly worried about if she uses again that he will never get to live with her ever again... That fear is huge and carries a lot of weight because if she does relapse, and he knows about it, he may not say anything about it in fear of them being removed from the home again which could be worse for the kids. I think the biggest challenge I would have is balancing what is happening with the what-ifs of what could go wrong.

• What was going through your mind as you listened to the women’s stories? I was feeling heart broken. I felt like I was having much more of an understanding for adults that experience abuse and why it's so hard to get out of those situations. • What new information did you learn from viewing this video? I learned that • How do you think hearing the stories and reading the information about domestic violence might influence your volunteer advocacy? I think it will help me be more informed and able to make more educated decisions. • Did anything change for you the way you think about victims of survivors? Why or why not? • What else do you want to learn about this topic or concerns that you have, as it regards your participation as a CASA/GAL volunteer? How exactly can we help without putting people into more danger or making them feel judged?

Maybe this is the job of a CASA! Although ideally this work has been done before a child has to be removed from a home.

What do you think would be a good way to "see children as children" and not let unconscious bias get in the way?

I thought it was interesting that although there is a higher likelihood of African American, American Indian, Native Alaskan, and Hispanic children being placed into foster care there is still exponentially more white children in the system. I think disproportionality exists in the child welfare system because it exists all around us in our society and social norms. Obviously this does not at all make it right, in my opinion more education and awareness would help with unconscious racial bias.

I think finding the resources to get out of poverty is probably very hard. It feels like there are plenty of resources to help people that are struggling, but I don't know how much incentive those offer to move out of the poverty level. Along with children learning from their experiences, it makes me wonder what their first "money memory" might be. Maybe a parent saying "Well, if I get that raise at work I we will be making too much to qualify for health care, so I have to turn down the promotion." ... then the impact being that they heard their parent choose a lower income so they could keep all their benefits. (Not saying it was a wrong choice, it just teaches the child that what the government can provide is better than moving up in your career.)

Living in poverty can have an effect on your access to daycare because most of the "good" daycares are very expensive. If you don't qualify for ICCP or if the daycare you want to take your child to does not accept ICCP it might force you to either have to place your child in a less safe and nurturing environment for daycare or force you to have to stay home with your child. Children often learn by example of what their parents do. So if a child never sees their parent work, it is likely that the child won't have an easy chance of developing strong work ethic. The other side is that children growing up in poverty may not be afforded the same opportunities as other children, like playing on a sports team (which if you're on a high school sports team you have to keep your grades decent), or other extracurricular activities that would increase their chances of getting into college or getting a good job out of high school.

• What is the minimum wage in my state? $7.25 https://www.labor.idaho.gov/dnn/Businesses/Idaho-Labor-Laws/W-H-Frequently-Asked-Questions-FAQs#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20minimum%20wage,90%20calendar%20days%20of%20employment. • Is Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) the most common term for welfare assistance in my state? If not, what is the more common term? TAFI https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/1661#:~:text=Temporary%20Assistance%20for%20Families%20in%20Idaho%20(TAFI)%20is%20the%20monthly,low%2Dincome%20families%20in%20Idaho. • What are the poverty guidelines for a family of four in my state? In 2018 it was $25,465 for a family of 4 in Idaho. https://www.livestories.com/statistics/idaho/poverty • Are there limits on duration, number of children and or adults in the household, or other requirements to qualify for public assistance for families in my state? There is a limit of 24 months. You can only make $389/month if you're a family of 3 to qualify. https://singlemotherguide.com/idaho-tanf/ • What online resources are available to families in poverty in my local community? I'm not exactly sure if I understand the question... But there are a lot of resources online to help them find resources like SNAP, TAFI, local food bank and soup kitchen, etc

I ended up with $1085. I wanted to pay the $200 for the college class, but I didn't know what that would do to my child care, my child's eligibility for health care, or food stamps if I started making more money.