In this episode of DCS Talks, we have Susan Kovac with us to discuss the Indian Child Welfare Act. Ms. Kovac has serves as General Counsel Emeritus at Department of Children’s Services where she served as the lead attorney for the Knox County Region as well as serving as an Associate Professor at the UT Knoxville School of Law for over 13 years. Ms. Kovac has many special interests around law and child welfare one of which is about the Indian Child Welfare Act or ICWA. ICWA provides guidance to States regarding the handling of child abuse and neglect and adoption cases involving Native children and sets minimum standards for the handling of these cases. This is November 2023 which is National Native or Indigenous American Heritage month

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month, DCS Talks about the Caring Dads program.

Join DCS Foster Parent trainer Toney Horton as he interviews current foster parents on their experiences with daycare and childcare facilities. Through this discussion topics such as prioritizing children's individual needs, daycare disruptions due to trauma behavior, and staff improvement through being trauma informed.

DCS Talks with Laurie Ellington CEO & Founder, Ancient Science, Inc. Inner Alchemy and The Path to Human Flourishing about the importance of self care as a caregiver.

In this episode of DCS Talks, DCS podcaster, Sirena Wilson will discuss a basic concept in the Human Sciences, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Many of us who have placed a focus in human sciences by studying, social work, psychology, sociology, or health were introduced to Maslow’s concepts early on in our education, the ideas that are outlined are fundamental to understanding the basic needs of people. If you have a vocational path in these areas, you too are familiar with Maslow’s but if you are not we think a basic introduction would be very helpful in understanding the work we do in child welfare and we’d like to share that with you in this podcast.

Jennifer Drake Croft works as a Project Director in the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Technical Assistance Center at Georgetown University, she serves as a profession coach at the Association of Infant Mental Health in Tennessee (AIMHiTN), an Adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee, and where I first worked with Ms. Drake Croft she served as the Director of Child Well-Being at the TN Commission of Children and Youth and lead an extremely successful campaign to support local, state, and national response and knowledge mobilization to prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promote resilience.

In this episode of DCS Talks we interview Melina Smith, the Program Manager of the Foster Home Quality Team at DCS. If there are concerns about a foster home, that home may be investigated by a special investigation unit, part of the process of that investigation includes that the case is reviewed by a group of child welfare professionals to help make determinations about the foster home that is in question. 

DCS Talks about the process of developing leadership at the department through the Mentorship Certification Program.

On this episode of DCS Talks, Foster Parent trainer Toney Horton sits down with Founder of Jonathan's Path, Carrie DuRard, as they discuss the importance of fostering, adopting, and advocating for our teens in care.

In this episode of DCS Talks, Courtney Matthews, the Director of Independent Living at DCS is interviewed. The Independent Living program offers help to youth who are in foster care and who may turn 18 and as an adult will “age out” of the child welfare system. These services include creating a personalized transition plan with each child that address topics such as education, housing, employment, finances, physical and mental health. The Independent Living program offers help through services designed to assist youth in foster care as they work toward self-sufficiency.