WILMINGTON – Despite COVID-19, Family Crisis Therapists with the Delaware Children’s Department have continued to engage families with targeted early intervention programming to further social and development skills this summer. The K-5 Family Crisis Therapists (FCTs), through the Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services, work in elementary schools across our state helping children and […]

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney on Wednesday announced Delaware was one of four states chosen by the National Governors Association to participate in a learning collaborative focused on recognizing and responding to adverse childhood experiences. The State of Delaware will join teams from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wyoming in the Improving Well-being and Success of […]

September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, September is Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month WILMINGTON – In recognition of World Suicide Prevention Day, the Delaware Children’s Department is raising awareness of suicide warning signs and helpful resources, especially during this unprecedented global pandemic. “COVID-19 has magnified the many stressors families grapple with daily, from financial stress […]

WILMINGTON – The Delaware Children’s Department has launched a program that links pediatric primary care providers with free psychiatry consultations and assistance to streamline behavioral health care for children and youth. Implemented in 2019, the Delaware Child Psychiatry Access Program (DCPAP) is a beneficial resource for primary care providers serving young people with behavioral health needs. […]

WILMINGTON – Governor John Carney and the Delaware Children’s Department have joined the federal ALL-IN Foster Adoption Challenge, raising awareness of permanency efforts for children and youth in foster care. This challenge, spearheaded by the Administration for Children and Families, raises awareness and looks to build partnerships that focus on the goal of finding loving, permanent […]

WILMINGTON – As public health officials report rising cases of coronavirus and Delaware grapples with increased community spread, the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families announced Friday it is taking immediate action to protect staff and youth in its secure care juvenile facilities. Proactive screening and testing have identified that two youth residing at Stevenson House […]

WILMINGTON – Two additional youth residing at Stevenson House Detention Center have tested positive for coronavirus, the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families announced Monday, bringing the total secure care youth cases to four. The Department received the test results over the weekend and immediately initiated cleaning and notification protocol and coordinated […]

WILMINGTON – Delaware officials, families, friends and community partners joined together on National Adoption Day to recognize the resilience of families who have embarked on the journey of adoption in the past year. Hosted by the Interagency Committee on Adoption, which is a coalition of adoption organizations and stakeholders from across the state, the annual National […]

WILMINGTON –The Delaware Children’s Department (DSCYF) is sharing mental health and resiliency resources to help families nurture hope during the holiday season and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our way of life in Delaware in so many ways, from causing financial strains to impacting our mental health. Even in times of great struggles, however, […]

WILMINGTON – To begin Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Delaware Children’s Department, Prevent Child Abuse Delaware, and other stakeholders are raising awareness of how to nurture resilient families and prevent, recognize, and report child abuse and neglect.  April is traditionally recognized as Child Abuse Prevention Month. This year’s awareness campaign, “Growing a Better Tomorrow for All […]

WILMINGTON – The Delaware Children’s Department is reporting an incident at Ferris School that resulted in the significant damage of state property. Ferris School is a Level V locked secure facility under the Delaware Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services. Youth committed to Ferris School are identified as serious and/or chronic, repeat offenders who have been deemed […]

WILMINGTON – Delaware’s Ferris School has been selected as finalist for the 2021 PbS Barbara Allen-Hagen Award in the juvenile correction program category. This prestigious annual award, through the national continuous improvement program Performance-based Standards (PbS), is given in three categories: correction, detention, and community residential programs. Programs are recognized based on practices that exemplify […]

WILMINGTON – After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ferris School lacrosse team finished their Spring season strong. “It has been an incredible experience to see the youth not only in some cases learn a new sport, but also learn about themselves,” said Tanya Banks, Superintendent of Ferris School. “Lacrosse brings together […]

Innovation Center, William Penn High School. – On Tuesday, Lt. Governor Hall-Long joined Patrick and Amy Kennedy and leaders in behavioral health from around Delaware for a round table discussion aimed at improving student mental health. Patrick Kennedy is one of the world’s leading voices on mental health and addiction. He is best known as the lead sponsor of the Mental Health Parity […]

WILMINGTON – The Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families is sharing the agency’s newly redesigned website. Launched Thursday, July 29, the website redesign of kids.delaware.gov was in coordination with the Department’s rebranding over the last year, which has included a new, updated logo. Throughout this process, DSCYF worked with the Department […]

WILMINGTON – The Delaware Child Psychiatry Access Program has expanded and updated its service offerings for participating pediatric primary care providers. Over the summer, the Delaware Child Psychiatry Access Program, known as DCPAP, added three new child psychiatrists to offer consultations to pediatric serving primary care providers. Saurabh Gupta, M.D., Narpinder Malhi, M.D., and Markian […]

WILMINGTON – For the second year in a row, Delaware officials, families, friends and community partners joined together virtually on National Adoption Day to recognize the resilience of families who have embarked on the journey of adoption in the past year. The National Adoption Day event on Saturday, November 20, hosted by the statewide Interagency Committee […]

WILMINGTON – The Delaware Children’s Department (DSCYF) has announced that it plans to launch the trauma-informed initiative Take Care Delaware statewide in 2022. Take Care Delaware is an innovative trauma-informed program that promotes school and community partnerships, such as law enforcement and mental health providers, to help children exposed to trauma receive support so they […]

WILMINGTON – Child abuse is your issue. That’s the key message from the 2022 Child Abuse Prevention Month awareness campaign debuting this April. A collaboration of the Child Protection Accountability Commission’s Training Committee, this multi-faceted campaign seeks to raise awareness on social media and utilize DART bus shelters, state agency buildings, the Christiana Mall and […]

WILMINGTON, Del. – Register today for the prevention-focused, resilience-building 2022 Delaware Building Bridges Virtual Conference. Space is filling fast, so register for your spot! Hosted by the Delaware Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services (DPBHS) and Delaware Afterschool Network (DEAN), this free annual conference will run April 27 and April 28 with full days […]

Governor John Carney, Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long and the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) on Tuesday announced a $16 million investment to renovate and remodel Wharton Hall on the DSCYF campus.

In addition to a caring adult, research shows that prevention and treatment programs do work and there are resources available to help children and their families through the Delaware Children’s Department Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services (DPBHS) and the Department of Education (DOE) and local schools.

Annual event honors families adopting and family service workers DOVER – On November 18, the State of Delaware came together to celebrate National Adoption Day, a day dedicated to highlighting the importance of adoption and the support available to adoptive families. This special program, hosted by the Interagency Committee on Adoption, a collaboration between Delaware’s […]

A breakdown of high-profile news stories you may have missed during the week.

A recent blog post by Walt Gardner ("The Hard Truth About the Achievement Gap," placed the blame for the achievement gap on one group above others: parents.

As some districts try to dismantle racist and biased policies and practices, they are creating high-profile positions to lead that public, sometimes hostile, reckoning.

The non-marital birth rate to women age 24 and under was 71 percent in 2017. Here's what that means for educational outcomes and schools, according to guest blogger Ian Rowe.

As superintendents, we must make the system work for all students—however socially, politically, and professionally dangerous it may be, writes Demond A. Means.

Flipped classrooms have been getting attention as a way for teachers to find more time for activities and individual support during the regular school day, but a new study cautions that the model could trade short-term gains for wider achievement gaps.

White teachers are generally less optimistic about their black students' chances of obtaining a four-year degree than black teachers—and those lowered expectations could become "self-fulfilling prophecies" when students internalize them or when teachers change their approach to students as a result,

Does a student have a fixed or a growth mindset? That's the wrong question for us to measure, argues researcher Dave Paunesku.

As black-white achievement gaps widen in schools, so, too, do disparities in discipline rates between black and white students, according to a study published Wednesday of 2,000 schools.

What we call education inequality defines how—and even if—we solve it, write three researchers.

In 50 years, the achievement gap has been unchanged, with the poorest 10 percent of students performing three to four years behind the wealthiest 10 percent of peers, finds a new study in the journal Education Next.

A new analysis finds that high-poverty schools are the least effective. But why those schools stifle achievement is harder to figure out.

Black students are not to blame for their lack of educational opportunities, argues assistant principal Eric Higgins.

Why don’t black students perform as well as white students on tests? One reporter considers her personal history to understand this disparity.

The way education media and policymakers frame education debates can have longer-term effects on how the public thinks about students, and which policies they are likely to support to improve students' learning.

Districts must put real action behind their anti-racist statements, writes Funmi Haastrup. Here are five places to start.

Veteran reporter Debra Viadero invites researchers to scrutinize her decades of reporting for racial bias.

"Colorblind" teaching isn’t going to cut it, writes Vanderbilt University’s H. Richard Milner IV.

OM Chile's skateboard ministry in Santiago is bearing fruit. Skater Diego gave his life to Jesus, after becoming friends with OM'er Yerko Clavero.

After a successful season of ´Generation X´, the OM Chile team decided to carry on with the activities for teenage boys living in a boys home in Santiago.

Chileans and foreigners perform a flash mob in the largest plaza in Santiago.

The participants of OM Chile’s nine-month Intensive Training were different people when they left than when they had arrived.

Supporters of an OM worker raise money for her ministry by hosting a rubber duck race.

A young boy in a Chilean children's home receives an answer to his heart-felt prayer.

OMer Aline Correa shares about a woman who has stayed in her heart since praying for her on the streets of Santiago.

God supplies OM Chile with a new ministry base big enough for the team to live and work together in the same location.

A participant of OM Chile's Intensive Training programme experiences a cultural adventure while riding on Santiago's city buses.