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Dana Mandolesi
Dana Mandolesi
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Dana Mandolesi holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of New Orleans and specializes in research design. She is an expert in qualitative research methods and designed and managed HEY's 2-year Emancipation Research Project (ERP). Her expertise is evaluating multi-organizational community systems. She has researched social systems in professional and academic settings varying from youth sub-culture and drug policy in New Orleans, urban non-profit functionality in Costa Rica, voluntary and faith based agencies active in the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and the interaction between San Francisco's Child Welfare System and transitional age youth serving non-profits. Out of this work she has written many reports and toolkits, such as a guide promoting best practices and communication strategies between agencies active in disaster, multiple statistics sheets, and articles and reports. At HEY, Mandolesi manages all foster care and community research, and acts as the 'info-hub' for anyone needing data, statistics or information about HEY's focus areas. Mandolesi creates, designs and markets HEY materials, such as the HEY Statistics Sheets, the HEY Housing Guide and other Trends. She also dabbles in online fundraising, internet marketing and social media for non-profits and built the beautiful new HEY website.
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Articles By Dana Mandolesi:
By Dana Mandolesi on May 5, 2010
On Thursday, April 29, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held another in a series of hearing on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). This hearing focused on special populations including students in foster care, migrant and homeless students, and children with disabilities. Kayla VanDyke spoke as a representative of the foster care community and impressed a number of senators with her eloquence and accomplishments. She is a high school student who is in foster care and is attending school in Eagan, Minnesota. Kayla outlined the challenges and barriers she faced in getting an education as she moved from various placements. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) introduced her as a guest from his state. He is also sponsoring the Fostering Success in Education Act, S. 2801. The bill would create a program similar to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education program to encourage collaboration between schools and child welfare agencies to assure that children in care get access to needed education.
The Fostering Connections to Success Act (P.L. 110-351) requires child welfare agencies to make sure that a student in foster care be allowed to continue in his or her school of origin or, when in the child’s best interest, be given immediate enrollment in a new school. Some child welfare agencies have not been able to get the cooperation they need from school districts, since the mandate is on the child welfare side only.
Despite being in 10 different schools and 7 placements, Kayla is successfully overcoming huge barriers to graduate and is planning to go on to college. Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) was impressed with her testimony and offered her high praise. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) was also impressed; she congratulated Franken on his legislation and asked that she be added as a cosponsor. The HELP Committee is holding a series of hearings before they act on ESEA reauthorization.
Posted in Foster Care Updates, State Foster Care Policy Updates | Tagged child welfare, Education, foster care students
By Dana Mandolesi on April 27, 2010
HEY is pleased to announce that the Emancipation Research Project, 2007-2009 Compilation of Findings: A collection of best practices and recommendations for change from research about aging out of foster care in San Francisco, is released and ready for download at www.heysf.org. During the last two years, HEY conducted The Emancipation Research Project (ERP) to examine the transition process from foster care to independence in San Francisco County.
The Emancipation Research Project consisted of 27 in-depth interviews and more than 20 informal conversations and group discussions held in 2008-2009 with professionals and youth involved in the county’s dependency system. These professionals included current and former foster youth, advocates, policy makers, managers, line staff and others. This report is a collection of the twelve “HEY Trends” and “HEY Tools” that have resulted from the data analysis. HEY Trends are short informative articles; they are in-depth and meant for people working in child welfare at all levels. HEY Tools are quick reference sheets with simple definitions and other information meant for direct line staff and those working with youth. This research is useful for redesigning programs according to best practices, when writing grants and when advocating for better outcomes for youth.
Posted in HEY in the News, Trends To Watch | Tagged child welfare data, child welfare services, dana mandolesi, data, emancipation research project, foster care research, HEY, research, san francisco
By Dana Mandolesi on April 13, 2010
ILSP is looking for volunteers to help with fixing up the ILSP Teen Center at 225 Valencia on Saturday, April 24, 2010!
Rebuilding Together is improving the Teen Center, including painting with warmer colors, putting in cabinets and benches, covering the floor with carpet tiles (much needed), and opening up the space. These changes will make 225 more welcoming for youth and pleasant for activities and groups. Rebuilding Together is bringing in volunteer architects, contractors, and other supports, they are asking for additional volunteers as part of the team.
Click on the article title for the full day description.
Posted in Community Opportunities, Local Foster Care Policy Updates, Upcoming Events | Tagged ilsp, painting, teen center, Volunteer
By Dana Mandolesi on April 8, 2010
IssueLab archives research about social issues, shares it with a broader audience, and advocates for the use of open licenses and open access standards in the nonprofit sector. A few months ago, HEY uploaded a few of our research documents about aging out of foster care. This month, IssueLab is featuring the issue of youth who emancipate out of foster care with their ‘IssueLab CloseUp: Aging Out of Foster Care’ and they have chose to highlight HEY and our recent publications about statistics, systems and best practices to serve youth aging out of care. HEY is proud to work with IssueLab and to provide our resources to the most amount of people possible!
Posted in HEY in the News, Trends To Watch | Tagged closeup, emancipation, featured, foster care, HEY. aging out, issuelab, publications, research
By Dana Mandolesi on March 31, 2010
HEY’s Program Committee is made up of community partners and individuals who are experts in foster care, transitional age youth, housing, health, employment and education. These experts help HEY decide which issues, projects and policies on which to focus our advocacy. One issue the Program Committee has focused on in the past year has been to improve policies for youth who move between foster care and juvenile justice systems. Several of our committee members connected with the office of Senator Carol Liu to advocate for the integration of the best possible language in the bill. Below is the statement from the Senator’s office.
FROM THE OFFICE OF SENATOR CAROL LIU:
In March 2010, HEY provided feedback to staff of Senator Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) regarding Senate Bill 945. SB 945 requires probation officers to give previously incarcerated youth a written notice stating that the youth is a former foster child. The written notice will assist former foster youth with access to transitional living skills programs since youth who emancipated from juvenile delinquency court status, rather than dependency court status are often denied access to private and non-profit programs designed to assist former foster youth. “Our goal is to collaborate with experts in the field and none are greater experts than former foster youths,” says Senator Liu. “Policy should meaningfully address the needs of these at risk-youth.” Senator Carol Liu is also the author of SB962, a bill to help incarcerated parents in the state prison system participate in a child dependency hearing via video-conference, which was approved by unanimous vote from the Senate Public Safety Committee on March 23, 2010. The bill is now at the Senate Appropriations Committee. Researchers have cited transportation difficulties as a major barrier for a parent’s involvement in dependency hearings and have urged policymakers to fix the problem.
Senator Liu is a member of the Senate Human Services and the Chair of the Senate Select Committee of Women and Children in the Criminal Justice System. She has authored numerous Legislation to protect foster and incarcerated children; populations that tend to overlap.
Posted in State Foster Care Policy Updates, Trends To Watch | Tagged deliquency, dual status, HEY, HEY's Program Committee, juvenile justice, liu, senator carol liu
By Dana Mandolesi on March 29, 2010
National Foster Care Month is in May. You can include your National Foster Care Month event in the online Events Calendar by filling out the form on the National Foster Care Month website. Be sure to include contact information, as your event cannot be confirmed and posted without it.
http://www.fostercaremonth.org/EventsAndPromotions/Pages/EventSubmission.aspx
Posted in Upcoming Events | Tagged foster care month, may, national foster care month
By Dana Mandolesi on March 29, 2010
[from the Child Welfare League of America, Child Monitor Online 3.29.10]
Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA), leaders of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, circulated a press release and letter last week urging the inclusion of foster youth views in the upcoming education reauthorization legislation. Ten other senators joined Grassley and Landrieu on the letter. As the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee holds hearings on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (formerly designated the No Child Left Behind Act), the letter requests that youth in foster care be invited to testify about their educational experiences and their suggestions for reform. In a letter to the HELP Committee, senators pointed out, “Youth in foster care report multiple school changes as they move from placement to placement. Because they change schools so frequently, youth in foster care are more likely than their peers to underachieve academically, repeat grades, and eventually drop out of school. Youth who do not graduate are more likely to be unemployed, have no health insurance, be single parents, and rely on public assistance.”
Landrieu specifically cites the invaluable influence of foster youth in passing the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, saying, “We must empower youth to educate Congress about their unique experiences in foster care and the obstacles they face. They help us make better policy decisions.”
The Fostering Connections Act includes several mandates for child welfare agencies to follow in order to improve educational stability for children in care. Because the law does not place the same mandate on the school districts, there is an imbalance of awareness and resources to ensure proper cooperation and coordination that leads to successful educational experiences.
Posted in Community Opportunities, Federal Foster Care Policy Updates | Tagged child welfare league of america, cwla, fostering connections to success act, grassley, landrieu, senate
By Dana Mandolesi on March 29, 2010
The Child Welfare Information Gateway has added some new publications. Listed are some that may be relevant to HEY E-Newsletter subscribers.
Title: Child Welfare Training Toolkit: Helping Child Welfare Workers Support Families with Substance Use, Mental, and Co-Occurring Disorders.
Published: 2010
Available from: National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare
URL: http://www.ncsacw.samhsa.gov/training/toolkit/default.aspx
Abstract: This training was developed to educate child welfare professionals about substance abuse and mental health disorders among families involved in the child welfare system.
Title: Differential Response and Alternative Response in Diverse Communities: An Empirically Based Curriculum.
Author(s): Berrick, Jill Duerr.;Bryant, Mieke.;Conley, Amy.;de Elizalde, Lisa.;Garcia, Victoria.;Geer, Anna.
Published: 2009
Available from: California Child Welfare Resource Library
http://www.csulb.edu/projects/ccwrl/
University of California, Berkeley, School of Social Welfare
Marchant Building, Suite 420
6701 San Pablo
Berkeley, CA 94720-7420
Printable version (PDF): http://www.csulb.edu/projects/ccwrl/Differential%20Response%201023.pdf
Abstract: Designed to enhance the curriculum for Title IV-E graduate social work education programs and the continuing education of child welfare agency staff in California, this curriculum highlights the use of Differential Response (DR) in child welfare services and shares outcomes from its implementation in Contra Costa County and Alameda County. It includes 10 modules that address: the development of DR, DR in Contra Costa County, Alternative Response (AR) in Alameda County, and key components of DR/AR; research findings on DR and examples of DR and AR programs; components of DR in Contra Costa County; components of AR in Alameda County; practice issues in DR; assessing readiness in diverse communities; client experiences with another road to safety/differential response; outcomes from Contra Costa County; outcomes from Alameda County; and implications for policy and practice. Outcomes indicate there is no extant evidence that AR/DR interventions prevent maltreatment.
Posted in Foster Care Library | Tagged differential response, documents, fathers, mental health, reports, substance abuse
By Dana Mandolesi on March 29, 2010
The HEY Guide: Youth Empowerment was designed to support agencies and staff interested in engaging and empowering young people as they transition into leadership and healthy adulthood. The practices, strategies and tools presented in this step-by-step guide will provide a framework to support
the growth and empowerment of your agencies youth and staff.
Download the HEY Guide: Youth Empowerment
Cost: FREE
Now Youth Empowerment is available by simply downloading the PDF directly from the HEY site. Please email Leslie Brown at lbrown@uwba.org for more information or questions.
Posted in Trends To Watch | Tagged HEY, HEY Guide, youth empowerment, youth empowerment guide, youth engagement
By Dana Mandolesi on March 19, 2010
GirlSource is offering *free* SAT prep classes to low-income, young women who are interested in taking the June 5th SAT. The course runs for 10 weeks beginning March 23rd and ending May 29, 2010. If you know of any young women who may be interested, please forward the attached application. If you have any questions please call Nadiyah Shereff, Program Assistant at 415-252-8880 ext 310 or email her at nadiyah@girlsource.org
Posted in Community Opportunities | Tagged college prep, girls, girlsource, low income, S.A.T., sat, women
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