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Course Information
The Heart of the Matter: Collaborating to Improve Normalcy and Permanency Outcomes
The Child Welfare Virtual Expo: Building Capacity to Address Sex Trafficking and Normalcy (Virtual Expo) is an online conference designed to support child welfare agencies, courts, and Tribes in meeting the mandates of the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-183). The Virtual Expo focuses on strategies for addressing three critical issues addressed in the legislation: (1) Protecting the safety and well-being of children and youth in child welfare who are victims of sex trafficking or are at risk of becoming victims. (2) Promoting normalcy and developmentally appropriate activities for children and youth in foster care. (3) Improving permanency outcomes for youth in out-of-home care.
Presenters include recognized leaders from national and State programs, sex trafficking survivors, and young adults formerly in foster care who share insights and effective practices.
Five of the six Virtual Expo sessions have CEUs available. The CEUs can be purchased separately for each session.
This session discussed strategies, insights, and lessons learned to advance meaningful collaboration among child welfare agencies and courts on normalcy and another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA) to achieve successful and positive permanency outcomes for youth in care.
Presenters
John Romero
John J. Romero, Jr., serves in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court as Presiding Judge of the Children's Court Division. The cases before him include delinquency matters, child welfare, and adoptions. He presides over the Program for the Empowerment of Girls, an intensive multi-agency juvenile probation program for girls. He was born in Embudo, NM. Judge Romero completed undergraduate, graduate, and law school work at the University of New Mexico.
Judge Romero is Co-Chair of the Children's Court Improvement Commission. He was the first judge in the United States to be recognized as a Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist by the American Bar Association-accredited National Association of Counsel for Children. In 2014, Judge Romero received the New Mexico Voices for Children Alice King Public Service Award. He serves on the Board of Directors of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Alecia McConnell
Alecia McConnell is an 18-year-old foster youth who is preparing to age out of care. Ms. McConnell’s statement: “I have been in the system for a while now. Prior to being in foster care, I was raised homeless, and I did not start school until I was eight. I had to grow up at a young age, and I learned self-advocacy early on. As a youth who has faced many bumps in the road, I can assure you that I have a deep understanding from a former foster youth's perspective.”
Alicia Davis
Alicia Davis is a Principal Court Management Consultant with the National Center for State Courts and a Region 2 Liaison for the Capacity Building Center for Courts. Ms. Davis has experience in all aspects of justice sector planning and performance improvement, including work with judicial and corrections institutions, as well as public defender and social welfare services. A primary focus of her work is access to justice for traditionally marginalized groups, including women, juveniles, and indigenous communities. An expert in high-performance court frameworks, Ms. Davis has conducted operational assessments, facilitated participatory evaluations, and designed standard operating procedures for numerous judicial sector institutions. Ms. Davis received her J.D. from the S.J. Quinney School of Law at the University of Utah in 1999 and is a trained project management professional and certified mediator. She is fluent in Spanish and English.