 December 15, 2022 Vol 2, Issue 18
Dear Friends,
As we approach the holidays, I want to thank you all for the special role you play in the lives of our kids and families. As foster parents, your investment in the lives of our children is immeasurable. Foster care is tough on kids, and they will never forget the time when they were away from home. The significance of their tough circumstance is amplified by holiday celebrations. I am always grateful for your service, but we are particularly blessed by your care and affection for our kids at this time of year. You make a difference in their lives every single day. I want to wish all of you and your families a Happy Holiday! Thanks again for all you do!
Blessings,
Darrell Missey
Director, Children’s Division
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The Call to Foster Podcast: Trailer
Coming soon to a podcast app near you! You can listen to the podcast trailer on Youtube.
The Missouri Department of Social Services is proud to present The Call to Foster, a heartwarming new podcast series that features inspiring stories from foster parents across the state. Each episode will highlight their unique experiences and perspectives, how they overcame hesitations, and provide helpful advice for anyone considering becoming a foster parent. Prepare your heart as you hear first-hand from the compassionate families and individuals working together to make a difference for Missouri’s most vulnerable children.
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Trainings & Events
The new pre-service training for Missouri is titled Missouri Caregiver and Adoption Resource Education (MO C.A.R.E.). MO C.A.R.E. is a culmination of five years of research working with the National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC). NTDC was funded through a five-year cooperative agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, and Children’s Bureau. Spaulding for Children was the lead agency for this initiative, and worked in close partnership with four other national partners. MO C.A.R.E. provides potential foster or adoptive parents with the information and tools needed to parent a child who has experienced trauma, separation, or loss.
MO C.A.R.E. also gives parents access to information and resources needed to continue building skills once they have a child in their home. Missouri's pilot had three different curriculum areas during the 5-year study. The result is a pre-service curriculum that meets the needs of our state. You can find the new curriculum at this web page: Children's Division | Missouri Department of Social Services (mo.gov).
TBRI®/Level A Training
Coyote Hill will be offering TBRI®/Level A training in Columbia Jan 7, Jan 14, Jan 21, and Jan 28 from 9am-3pm each day. Participants should attend all sessions. Follow the link above to sign up or call their office at (573)874-0179.
Art of Effective Advocacy
December 19, 2022 at 6:00 PM | Virtual
This training will focus on the skills of how to be an effective advocate, why you should advocate for your child, and how to know your options. Learn the importance of what documents to gather and keep, as well as organizing your child’s records and files. We will also discuss how to communicate more effectively with your child’s school district and the importance of working collaboratively to solve problems.
Register at the link above.
 For the new Foster Care Health insurance, Show Me Healthy Kids, there are a few important items to share:
- The main Show Me Healthy Kids website has helpful FAQs (ie: why the change, what changes, etc).
- Check out the Find a Provider Tool
- The website also features a member login page (if it’s someone’s first time with Home State Health, they’ll need to create a new account)
- Some other important things of note:
- There is a 180-day continuity of care period for all services (even those out of network) which began on July 1, and is ending on January 1, 2023
- On 10/1, residential services were carved-in to the Show Me Healthy Kids Plan. With continuity of care continuing until at minimum until January 1, 2023
- On 10/1, behavioral health services were also carved-in to the Show Me Healthy Kids Plan
- If a provider is not in-network, Show Me Healthy Kids will need to be informed to ensure their provider network representatives initiate contact with that provider
Foster Family Mentors
Are you in need of help or assistance as a Foster Parent? We have Foster Care Ambassadors who are seasoned Foster parents willing to be a mentor to another Foster family. If you are interested, please email FosterCare@dss.mo.gov and we will pair you up with a Foster Care Ambassador. 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.
What is ACI?
Access Crisis Intervention (ACI) provides access to services for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. ACI will provide an opportunity for individuals to receive necessary behavioral health crisis services in an effort to reduce unnecessary interventions such as hospitalization or detentions. By calling the ACI hotline, individuals have access to behavioral health crisis services that are free and available to both youth and adults.
- All calls are strictly confidential.
- ACI hotlines are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by behavioral health professionals who are available to provide assistance.
- Assistance may include phone contact, referrals to resources in the community, next day behavioral health appointments, or a mobile response. Mobile is defined as either going to the location of the crisis, or to another secure community location.
To learn more about ACI and to find your local number please visit this link and click on ACI Hotline Numbers by County Map: Access Crisis Intervention | dmh.mo.gov.
Memos/Practice Alerts
Memos came out for the new Chapters 1 and 2 of the Child Welfare Manual. The Child Welfare Manual is available on our website at the following page: Children's Division | Missouri Department of Social Services (mo.gov).
Scroll down to "More Information" and you will see the Child Welfare Manual there. A 3rd memo introduced the new curriculum to staff. The new curriculum is 28 hours but after taking the pre-service training an applicant is considered licensed. There are no longer the 14 hours of training on top of the pre-service training.
We want to hear from you! If there is information you would like covered in the next Foster Parent Connections Newsletters email, Melissa.J.Selsor@dss.mo.gov.
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