June 14, 2022 Vol 2, Issue 12
Message from CD Leadership
Respite care is designed to provide relief for foster parents from the stress of providing foster care. The time the foster youth takes a break from the resource family should include planned opportunities for social activities and enrichment. Some important things to note:
- Includes caring for the children daily, overnight, or on a weekly basis, for at least 6 hours in your home OR the families home.
- Respite care may be planned in advanced or used in emergency situations, and the ultimate goal is to support health & stability for families and children.
- Respite care is not intended to be used in place of child care when a parent or caregiver is working or attending school.
Utilizing respite care is important to reduce placement disruptions and to support safer and healthier homes. Please contact your Licensing Worker and/or Case Manager to help you set up respite or visit our respite care webpage for more information.
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Summertime safety
With warmer weather and more water activities around the corner, the CDC has curated a list of its top ten water safety tips. You can learn more about their safety tips by visiting their Water Safety webpage.
Virtual Trainings
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Level-B Virtual Training: September 17 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. More sessions will be held in December. To register, email Dana.L.Kloess@dss.mo.gov.
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Importance of Sibling Bond Training: Mondays, June 13 and 20 from 6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. This is a required training so please consider taking it if you have not yet. It will be a virtual training conducted via Zoom, however, some training materials will be required in order to participate. Training packets can be picked up at Family Forward locations or your licensing worker/trainers may be able to arrange meetings to get materials to participants. Resource Parents will receive 7 hours of training for successful completion of this course. Please note: Anyone joining the training more than 15 minutes past the start time of the training will not be allowed into the training. You must attend both sessions and be on camera for the duration of the training in order to receive credit. Contact Amanda Blaylock with questions or to register by calling 314-203-6069 or emailing amanda.blaylock@familyforwardmo.org.
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Positive Behavior Interventions: Monday, June 13 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Parents and teachers will be taught a different way to think about problem behavior. Often behaviors are a form of communication. With this training you will learn the importance of a Functional Behavioral Assessment, how to reinforce positive behavior as well as how to develop a Positive Behavior Support Plan.
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Is This Behavior Normal?: Monday, June 13 from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Children do not come with manuals! This class will provide an overview of normal childhood development. Adoptive and foster parents are sometimes stumped about a child’s behavior and what, if anything, they should do about it. Training will cover childhood developmental tasks and explore ways parents can nurture their children at each stage. To register contact 314.534.9350 ext. 7234 or email intake.dept@familyforwardmo.org.
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Stepping Stones Grief Event for Kids and Teens: August 12 – 14, In-person day camp at Camp Wyman. Available at no cost to participants. It is open to any child or teenager who has experienced the death of a loved one. To register call 314-953-1676 or emailGriefSupport@bjc.org.
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Healthy Minds with Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein (the on-demand PBS series), is now available to watch online. This series aims to remove the stigma of mental illness and demonstrate that with help, there is hope. The series humanizes common psychiatric conditions through inspiring personal stories, as well as, experts sharing cutting edge information, including new-approaches and next-generation therapies in diagnostics, treatment and research.
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The National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) has several interesting and beneficial webinars on stress.
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Raise the Future offers a range of great classes for foster, resource, kinship, and adoptive families. The site is geared toward adoption, but there are several resources on trauma and issues many kids face. You can check out the different classes on the Raise the Future website.
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Access Crisis Intervention (ACI) provides access to services for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. ACI offers an opportunity for individuals to receive necessary behavioral health crisis services to help reduce unnecessary interventions, such as hospitalization or detentions.
Visit the ACI Hotline Numbers by County Map to find your local number and learn more.
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Mentors for resource families: Foster Care Ambassadors are seasoned foster parents willing to be a mentor to another foster families. If you are interested in finding a mentor or becoming one, please email FosterCare@dss.mo.gov.This is for all foster parents whether you are brand new or have been fostering for a long time. It is for all of our families whether traditional, relative, emergency, respite, or elevated needs.
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Are you experiencing daycare difficulty? Resource Parents have been experiencing extreme difficulty finding daycare/childcare for their foster children. Did you know that if a relative or friend is helping you with watching your Foster children that they can become a Registered Provider, and be compensated? The process to become a registered provider is easier than the daycare licensing process. There are restrictions on the amount of children that you can have in your home if you are only a registered provider versus a licensed daycare. You can find more information on how to become a registered provider by visiting the DESE website.
There have been no Memos or Practice Alerts since the last issue of the newsletter.
Are there topics you want to know more about? Email Melissa.J.Selsor@dss.mo.gov with your ideas!
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