Summarize the following:
Before your Team Decision-Making Meeting (TDM), gather as many supporters as you can and ask them to join you. They could be neighbors, family members, teachers, doctors, etc.. They will be able to talk to the social worker and convince them of your fitness to maintain custody of your child. In addition, be prepared to discuss why it would be safe for your child to return home. For example, if your child was taken from you due to neglect, be prepared to show the social worker that you have a plan in place to never neglect your child again. As soon as is reasonably possible after your child has been removed from your custody, you will be notified of a TDM. During this meeting, you and any supporters you have will meet with the social worker and discuss whether a safety plan can be developed so that your child can be returned to you. A safety plan will address all of the safety concerns that caused your child to be taken away from you and will dictate how those concerns will be alleviated.  If all safety concerns can be adequately addressed, your child may be returned to you. However, if not all concerns can be alleviated, your child will remain in out-of-home care and a court hearing will be scheduled. At your detention hearing, a judge will get an impression of the case and will determine where your child will be placed. Before the hearing begins, you will be given an opportunity to read the petition the social worker filed and you will have an an opportunity to ask questions about it. You need to make sure you attend this hearing because vital decisions will be made about your child and their well-being. If you attend, you can help make these decisions and you will show the court that you care about your child. If you do not attend, the court will move forward without you and you will be sent a letter notifying you of the next hearing. About two weeks after your detention hearing, you will have the opportunity to attend a jurisdictional hearing. At this hearing, you will admit or deny all of the statements in the petition the social worker filed with the court. The court will then make a determination as to the truth of the petition and your statements about it. When you attend this hearing, come prepared and be sure you have read and understand the petition. If possible, bring with you evidence of your ability to care for your child.  If the judge agrees with the petition, the court will schedule a dispositional hearing, which may take place at the same time as the jurisdictional hearing or at a different time. If the judge agrees with you and finds the petition to be untruthful, the case may be dismissed and your child will be returned to you. At this final hearing, the court will listen to testimony from both sides and will consider evidence that either party presents. If the court determines that your child should remain out of your custody, the court will make orders about when and how you can visit your child and what services you will be required to complete. If the court determines that your child can be returned to you, this will happen. As a part of the court's order, you will take part in creating and following a "case plan." A case plan outlines the services you will need to take part in, the steps you will need to follow, and timelines that will be required to be followed in order to have your child returned to you. When you attend the dispositional hearing, be sure you prepare adequately. If you have people that can testify on your behalf, bring them. If you have evidence of your ability to parent, bring it. For example, if your child was taken from your custody due to unsafe living conditions, bring a new lease that shows you have moved in to a more suitable home. If your child was taken from you because you were abusing drugs, bring recent statements from rehabilitation centers stating that you are working to fix your problem.

summary: Gather supporters. Take part in a TDM. Watch for a notification about your child's detention hearing. Attend a jurisdictional hearing. Go to the dispositional hearing. Prepare evidence of your ability to parent.


Summarize the following:
You should adjust your bedroom environment so that it gets nice and dark by, for instance, closing the curtains and turning off all the lights. You should also turn off computers, printers, stereo systems, video game consoles and any other electronic devices in the room. The buzz and light of electronic devices can disturb your ability to fall asleep. Go outside in the morning to get some light in your eyes. In the evening, turn down your lights and close your blinds to block out any artificial light. Experiencing light during the morning and daytime and darkness at night will help to reset your natural rhythm and improve sleep. If you live in a place without much light in the winter months, you could try a light box. Use the light box for thirty minutes every morning. You may want to experiment with white noise, especially if there is a lot of background noise in your house or neighborhood. White noise can cover up bothersome noises that would otherwise wake you up during the night. Try leaving a fan or a humidifier running during the night. If this doesn’t work or is not appropriate for your situation, you could try a white noise machine specifically designed for sleep.  White noise machines range in price from $20 – $100.  You can purchase white noise machines online or at home and beauty stores. Aromatherapy is an alternative medicine that uses scents from essential oils to treat various conditions. You breath in scents such as lavender, which impacts the system that regulates your mood and emotion. Put a few drops of an essential oil into a humidifier, your bath or an essential oil diffuser. Try one of the following oils that are good for sleep and relaxation:  Lavender Lemon Bergamot Ylang Ylang Sage Jasmine

summary: Make the room dark, quiet and free of electronics. Explore light therapy. Use a white noise machine. Try aromatherapy.


Summarize the following:
When you are doing lymphatic massage, you want to make sure that you don’t press too hard. The lymphatic vessels are located right under the skin, so if you press too hard, you are going to go deeper than the vessels. Press down enough so that your fingers are not sliding over your skin, but make sure that you can’t feel anything beneath the skin. You may feel like this is too light, especially if you are used to deeper tissue massages. You may be used to giving or receiving massages where you glide along the skin. A lymphatic massage needs to stimulate the lymphatic vessels, which are elastic and attached to the skin. You need to lightly stretch your skin to massage them. The direction of your stretch of the skin is important. You should stretch the skin in the direction that the lymph flows naturally. You want to help stimulate the natural flow. If you stretch the skin the wrong way, you are doing nothing. The lymph flow goes towards your trunk and heart. Make sure to take your fingers off the skin after each stretch. If you move your fingers back and forth, you are just moving the lymph and not helping to drain it. As you massage the lymph vessels, you should go slow. The normal rhythm of their flow is slow, so try to take around three seconds to perform each stretch of the skin. Release and wait for a few seconds before beginning again.
summary: Use a light touch. Stretch the skin instead of moving along it. Massage with the normal lymph flow. Use the correct rhythm.