Utah Foster Care’s 4th Annual Symposium featuring Dr. Daniel Siegel was a truly memorable event for 400 foster families, child welfare professionals and clinicians. For foster parents, ongoing training is essential in updating and sharpening their skills in dealing with more and more challenging behaviors in children in foster care.

Dr. Siegel, author of numerous books including The Whole-Brain Child, encourages foster parents to understand that they can play a crucial role in the process of re-wiring the brains of children. He has coined the phrase, “Inspire to Rewire”.

Want to know more? Check out Dr. Siegel’s web site and find out more about “mindsight”:

http://drdansiegel.com/about/mindsight/

UFC’s Director of Education, Mick Woolsey organizes the symposium and talked about Dr. Siegel’s research with local NPR affiliate KUER-FM.

http://www.kuer.org/post/researcher-brings-neuroscience-utah-foster-families

Thanks to four of our wonderful UFC Board members, Lisa Watts Baskin, Dave Hardy Heidi Naylor, and Kathy Carter for their support in attending our Symposium!

The post UFC Symposium: Inspire to Rewire! appeared first on Utah Foster Care.

Hill Air Force Base airmen, Loretta Park, Barbara Booth

By Standard-Examiner staff

03/29/2013

OGDEN — Two individuals and several units from Hill Air Force Base were honored at a luncheon Thursday for their contributions to foster care.

Loretta Park, a reporter for the Standard-Examiner, Barbara Booth, a long-time foster care parent, and representatives from Hill received the first Gold Hearts Awards from the Utah Foster Care Foundation.

Park spent a year as a foster child and has written stories for the Standard-Examiner about her experiences, as well as other aspects of foster care.

Brenda Durtschi, the foundation’s northern region area representative, noted that the personal side of Park’s experiences come out in her stories. “People call after her stories run,” she said.

In her remarks accepting the award, Park said, “We should honor those (who protect children) and offer a place of refuge to kids in their dark hours, kids who feel unsafe and don’t know they should feel safe.”

Booth and her husband, Jeff, have been foster parents for 21 years and have had more than 90 foster children, adopting one of them.

Most stay with the family for two or three months, she said, although some stay longer.

Booth, of Ogden, said she has become close to the parents of some of the foster children. Her experiences as a foster parent have broadened her perspectives and helped her appreciate some things she hadn’t before, “meeting and being enriched by those I wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

Both Booth and Park also thanked their families for their support.

The Hill units, specifically the 75th Air Base Wing and the 388th and 419th fighter wings, were honored for their support of the foundation’s Christmas Giving Tree program.

Members of the units have donated their own time and resources to help distribute Christmas gifts to kids in foster care in an area that stretches from the Idaho border south to Point of the Mountain and west to Tooele.

The Utah Foster Care Foundation is a nonprofit organization that finds, educates and supports families in providing foster care.

Currently, 2,800 children throughout the state are in foster care.

Interested?

To learn more about foster care opportunities, call 877-505-5437.

The post We Love Our Foster Family Supporters appeared first on Utah Foster Care.

By Mike Hamblin

Director of Recruitment

Utah Foster Care

“When I realized that I was making a decision about a specific boy, and not just any random teen, it made a difference.”

Karrie, a Salt Lake Region foster parent, was referring to the difference it made in her ability to make a decision.  As she considered what children she might care for, she was thinking about age ranges.  But later, as she considered the specific children, her focus became the child and she found herself no longer looking at the child’s age.  This realization didn’t just make a difference in her decision making.  It also made a difference…a big difference…in the lives of teens she has since cared for.

In January, a Fostering Teens Forum was held in the Murray Utah Foster Care offices.  In spite of the cold and snowy evening, more than 50 gathered to hear three foster families and a teen adopted from foster care share their experiences.  Some were currently licensed families considering whether or not to care for older children.  Others were looking at becoming foster parents for the first time and simply wanted to know more.  All had the opportunity to ask questions and find out what it might be like to care for a teen.

“What kind of support do families caring for teens get?”  “How do you deal with sibling rivalry?”  “Can they be left home alone when I go to the store?”  “Do you have children the same age and how do they fit together?”  “Do you recommend caring for children younger than yours or older?”  “What can you do to build a relationship with them?”  And to the teen on the panel, “How long did it take you to feel trust?  How long before it felt like your home?”

I think what stood out to me wasn’t that these are teens IN FOSTER CARE.  But that they are TEENS, who happen to be in foster care.  And the three foster families on the panel seemed to emphasize that, reporting that friends and neighbors have all experienced situations with their own children that aren’t much different than what they have seen as foster parents.  (As the father of two teen boys, I am a witness to the fact that they don’t always get along, sometimes things get broken, and that no one likes to clean their room or do homework – well, unless it is their turn to wash the dishes.)

About half of the children in foster care are teens.  And caring for teens is not without its benefits – like no diapers and they feed and dress themselves.  Yet we struggle to find enough families for all of the children who are ready to be placed in a family setting.  For some reason we get scared by the age, when perhaps a better focus when determining our capacity to care for them would be the youth’s behavior and needs.  As one of the panelists put it, “You think you’re scared?  Think how scared these kids are.  The stakes are higher for them.”

There will be three more opportunities during February; in Ogden, Orem, and St. George, to attend a Fostering Teens Forum and learn more about caring for teens. Please RSVP by calling 877-505-5437. Dinner will be provided and in-service training hours are available for currently licensed families.

Ogden DCFS Offices

950 25^th Street, Ogden

Thursday, February 7^th

6-8pm

St. George UFC Offices

491 E. Riverside Dr., #2B

Wednesday, February 20^th

6:00-7:30pm

Orem UFC Offices

274 West Center St.

Thursday, February 21^st

6:00-7:30pm

The post Not Just a Random Teen appeared first on Utah Foster Care.

En teoría, Alexandra y su esposo, José González, estaban preparados para recibir a un trío de hermanos, a los que recibirían en su hogar de forma temporal.

Los pequeños, de entre 3 meses y 5 años de edad, habían sido retirados de sus padres por un caso de negligencia, que se descubrió cuando el menor de ellos tuvo que ser llevado al hospital con una severa lesión en la cabeza.

“Emocionalmente no estás preparado para ver algo así. A los dos más grandes me los entregaron, pero el menor tuvo que quedarse por varias semanas más en el hospital. Cuando fui a conocerlo me dio miedo, pensaba que no iba a poder, que no iba a ser capaz de darle el cuidado que el necesitaba, me daba miedo levantarlo, lastimarlo”, relató Alexandra.

El pequeño Luis (el nombre ha sido cambiado para proteger la identidad del menor), de solo unos meses de nacido, tenía el cráneo destruido, un lado de su cuerpo estaba completamente paralizado y varios huesos, incluida una costilla, estaban fracturados.

PADRES FOSTER

Alexandra y José, siempre soñaron con tener cuatro hijos.

“Nuestras hijas nacieron por cesárea y cuando nació la tercera, entendimos que sería peligroso intentar tener una cuarta”, explicó José.

Por ello, el matrimonio, consideró dar albergue temporal a otros niños y sumar así a nuevos miembros en su familia.

En aquel entonces, las pequeñas Ailyn, Evelyn y Nicole, entendieron que tendrían tres hermanos que pasarían un año en su hogar y dedujeron que el más pequeño, tendría que recibir un trato especial.

De esa forma, la familia González, brindó cuidado y cariño, para los tres hermanos, mientras que la situación de su custodia era definida por las autoridades.

Finalmente, los dos hermanos mayores fueron enviados a México para ser reencontrados con su padre biológico y el menor se quedó solo, pues sus padres perdieron definitivamente su custodia.

“Hablamos con nuestras hijas y ellas también estuvieron de acuerdo, fue así que decidimos adoptar a Luis legalmente”, detallaron.

“El aquí se sintió protegido, aquí aprendió a gatear, a caminar, a decir mamá y papá, para nosotros era correcto que se quedara aquí y entendimos que el Señor preparó así las cosas para que nuestra familia se completara”, aseguró Alexandra.

Actualmente, los González se preparan para continuar recibiendo otros hijos temporales y de esa forma, enseñar a su familia que el amor puede compartirse más allá de los lazos de sangre.

MAS FAMILIAS

En la región, la Utah Foster Care Foundation, se encarga de encontrar, educar y apoyar a familias foster que puedan brindar cuidado temporal a los niños que son separados de sus padres biológicos, por la Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS).

“En la mayoría de los casos, las separaciones se dan como consecuencia de una adicción en los padres; no es que ellos no quieran a sus hijos, es un momento que están atravesando, el que no les permite cuidarlos y hacerse cargo de ellos. Entonces, el gobierno del Estado les da una oportunidad, para que puedan recuperarse, pero es difícil, pues puede ser más fuerte una adicción”, refirió Christina LeCluyse, reclutadora de familias para la fundación Utah Foster Care.

LeCluyse, indicó que en Utah hay aproximadamente 2,700 niños en cuidado temporal cada año, de los cuales un 26% es de origen latino.

Es importante, encontrar familias de un mismo perfil étnico para evitar desestabilizar aun más a los menores, que requieren adopción temporal.

El próximo mes de febrero, la Utah Foster Care Foundation, comenzará clases en español para familias interesadas en convertirse en padres temporales.

Las personas o parejas interesadas, deben ponerse en contacto con la fundación de manera inmediata, para una consulta inicial.

Existen ciertos requisitos de elegibilidad para poder ser padres foster, pero no es necesario estar casado para hacerlo.

Si le interesa llame al 801 994 5205, para más información.

The post Se Buscan Padres Temporales appeared first on Utah Foster Care.

Area Representative, Salt Lake Valley

I’m often reminded just how incredible our foster parents are. One of the highlights of my job as a Foster/Adoptive Family Recruiter is running into foster parents with whom I’ve worked at some point along the licensing process. To see them get licensed, receive placements, struggle through the challenges, enjoy the successes, and either help a child reunify with their parents or are given the chance to adopt, is immensely gratifying to me. Helps me realize that countless hours spent working out in the community to find these families have been worth it. Recently, I had one such chance encounter which was especially rewarding.

I was packing up after a day at the Murray office just as a pre-service class was about to begin. As I walk towards the training room, I ran into one of our many great foster parents. It surprised me to see her there; for a moment I thought she had come for a Cluster. She replied “no, I’m just here to come to training with (a potential foster parent).”  I was floored! Here’s a foster mom with so much already on her plate, who lives far away from the office, and she takes precious time out of her week to come and sit through a training she’s already done…heck, she could probably teach the class!…all in order to be a support to her friend. I have since thought to myself, “Here’s someone who gets it…here’s someone who is willing to ride the, frightening at times, waves of foster care with someone else.” I don’t know that I praised her enough for doing so.

It’s this kind of support which I see so often via the Cluster pages on Facebook and in person during Clusters and other events, that is of immeasurable help to the new and the seasoned foster parents. To know that a group of people are so willing to set aside their lives to help a fellow foster parent in need is humbling. It’s powerful to know that these same people are a significant force for good in our community. They are setting aside their own life and interests to serve our most vulnerable societal demographic; children in foster care.

Exactly 2 months prior to his death, the late Martin Luther King Jr. said “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”  You don’t need to be perfect to be a foster parent. But by being a foster parent you will find yourself helping and toiling among the greatest among us.

And THAT is what makes foster parents incredible.

The post Parents Supporting Parents appeared first on Utah Foster Care.

Jervis and Cheryl Lee are foster parents who helped meet two of the most important needs in foster care. They have fostered and adopted sibling groups so the children could stay together in the same family. And then, they fostered and adopted a teen-aged girl. Jordyn also appears in the theater ads, speaking about the importance of a permanent family for her and other teens in foster care.

The Lees are currently a family of eleven, comprised of biological, adopted and children in foster care.

Special thanks to Jessica Steadman, Bethany Hosking, and the Lee family for their participation in these videos. Utah Foster Care is interviewing other families to include in future ads and in more in-depth videos on utahfostercare.org. The theater ads can be seen in Megaplex Theaters in Logan, Ogden, Centerville, Lehi, St. George and the Salt Lake metro area.

So, when you go out with the family to see “Wreck it Ralph” or “Life of Pi,” look for the best story-tellers in the world: our terrific foster moms and dads!

The post Foster Parents on Silver Screen appeared first on Utah Foster Care.

Communications Manager, Utah Foster Care Foundation

Most of us are looking for ways to trim our budgets and still be able to spend a little on entertainment and those special things. I signed up for a couple programs like Groupon and Living Social and found them useful, especially for restaurants and home repair services. Now, I am signing up for one more program because it benefits our foster families.

CityDeals (www.citydeals.com) has agreed to donate $10 to Utah Foster Care Foundation for each person who registers on their site and uses FOSTERCARE as their referral code. UFCF will also receive 10% of every purchase you make through this site.  If you are already a member of CityDeals, just go into your account and find “CityDeals Corporate Referral” and use the code FOSTERCARE.

Utah Foster Care Foundation would like to increase the amount of donated funds for all the enhanced programs we offer to foster families that are not funded by the state of Utah. Some of those programs: the Foster Family Camp at Aspen Grove, Cowabunga Foster Family Appreciation Event, community awareness, and the Wishing Well Fund. So we are encouraging you to ask all your friends and family to support children in foster care by also joining CityDeals.

Once again, it’s easy to do. Just follow these steps:

Go to www.citydeals.com.

• Scroll to the bottom of the page, and find the sign-up box.
• Fill in your information.
• On the referral line, use the code FOSTERCARE.
• You have now donated $10 to help Utah’s children in foster care.
• 10% of your purchases will also be donated to UFCF.
• You will receive one email per day, unless you sign up for more.

I plan to post a link to this blog on my Facebook page and share it with my friends and family. I hope you will, too.

The post Donate via City Deals appeared first on Utah Foster Care.

President, Utah Foster Adoptive Families Assn. (UFAFA)

UFAFA would like to take a moment to remind all foster parents of DCFS policy concerning clothing allowance for children in foster care. The current clothing allowance is $41 per month per child.
Specific clothing allowance policy is located at: http://www.dcfs.utah.gov/guidelines_rules.htm. Click “Practice Guidelines” and find section 305.

This section outlines responsibilities of an out of home caregiver, and is a great foster parent resource. Line 27 gives specific instructions for foster parents clothing expenditures “Use clothing allowance and monthly out-of-home payments as allocated for new and gently used clothing or new diapers. It is acceptable for an out-of-home caregiver to sew the child’s clothing if there is no charge for the labor. A child’s wardrobe may be supplemented with previously worn clothing if in good repair and it is
purchased through a used clothing store and a receipt is provided.”

There has been some confusion among Child and Family Team Members who in the past have authorized these funds to be used for bus passes, makeup, concert tickets etc. Those purchases are against policy and foster parents should resist using a child’s clothing allowance for such things.

A great way to stretch $41 per month is to shop at second hand stores such as Plato’s Closet and Kid to Kid. These stores and many others offer quality name brand items, at much reduced prices.

Another area of confusion, is whether the foster parent can “save up” funds over a period of several months. UFAFA asked this question and received the following answer, “it is appropriate for a foster parent to save the $41per month for several months, but only with caseworker approval.” Reasons
to “save up” these funds include purchasing school clothing, formal wear, or to meet winter clothing needs. When UFAFA specifically asked about formal wear, DCFS officials indicated that renting formal wear is an acceptable use of a child’s clothing allowance, but only with case worker approval. It is important to note, that any funds that have been saved but not used, go with the child in the event that the child changes placement or returns home. Please remember this clothing allowance is a right not contingent upon behavior.

UFAFA has also asked that DCFS specifically address the term “clothing” and what can and cannot be purchased. DCFS did agree that hats, belts, ties and scarves are considered clothing, whereas makeup, hygiene products and hair care items are not clothing items and cannot be deducted from the $41.

One area of concern is what to do with clothing items that have been outgrown, or are otherwise no longer usable. Again turning to DCFS for answers, UFAFA was told that these items can be given to the caseworker, the child’s family, donated or given to other foster children, but under no circumstance are these items to be sold. And it is best to document how and where clothing items have been disposed, for case worker review.

Remember to keep receipts, and place these in the home to home binder for case worker review. When in doubt, ASK! It is always best to consult the caseworker, and to bring up clothing issues in the Child and Family Team Meetings. There are many things occurring in a foster child’s life. Concerns about adequate clothing shouldn’t be one of them.

The post Let’s Talk Clothing Allowances appeared first on Utah Foster Care.