 January 19, 2024 Vol 4, Issue 1
The Call to Foster Podcast: S2E1
"You get to be a lifelong part of their family."
Season 2 Episode 1: In this episode, Shasta, Jessica and Ashton speak with Jared Baker, a current foster parent in Missouri. Jared and his wife are ambassadors, advocates, and trainers for future foster parents and are passionate about the cause.
Please subscribe to and share this podcast with anyone you know who might be considering fostering! You can listen to the podcast on most popular podcast platforms.
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Child Care Subsidy Program
As you might remember, the Office of Childhood in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has administered the Child Care Subsidy program since August 2021. Children’s Division has recently received notification from DESE that they launched a new Child Care Data System on December 21, 2023 for data and applications for Protective Services children needing child care.
The new Child Care Data System allows families to independently apply for child care assistance, report a change in their household, obtain authorizations, and select or change their child care provider. The new system has online access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that allows families to enter, edit, and view information in near real-time.
Those eligible to receive Protective Services Childcare Subsidy are:
- Families actively receiving FCS or FCS/IIS services
- Parents of children on a Trial Home Placement
- Foster parents/Relative caregivers
- Adoption and guardianship parents with an active subsidy for the child in which they are seeking child care
Families who wish to apply for child care assistance must apply through the CCDS – Parent Portal. . Current families who need to reapply must access the new system to update their household information before their current child care authorization period expires. Families are encouraged to reach out to their Case Manager as soon as possible to find out when their child’s authorization expires. DESE will continue to offer a paper application for families who cannot access the online application.
- Authorizations that were generated on or before December 15, 2023 will be transferred to the new system.
- New authorizations and/or authorization changes that occurred after December 15, 2023 will be entered in the new system. .
Children’s Division staff no longer enter authorizations for child care, however, your Case Manager will provide the Childcare Subsidy Verification Letter (CD-317) to eligible families for each eligible child seeking Protective Services Child Care Subsidy. This verification letter is required to be uploaded by the applicant in the CCDS – Parent Portal during a new application process. A new letter will be provided to the applicant by the Case Manager if child care remains a need and the child continues to meet eligibility requirements when the child moves placements, when a child returns home on a trial home placement, when nearing the eligibility end date for an extension of child care services, and if the child is 13 or older with documented special needs.
The link to apply for child care through the new system can be found on this webpage: https://childcare.mo.gov.
You can visit this webpage to get up-to-date information about the new child care data system, including CCDS training materials under For Families: https://dese.mo.gov/childhood/child-care-subsidy/child-care-data-system
If you would like to sign-up to receive regular announcements and updates from the DESE Office of Childhood, go to https://earlyconnections.mo.gov/ and click on “Join the Mailing List.”
Instructions for the applicant receiving the Childcare Subsidy Verification Letter are included on page two which provides explanation of eligibility requirements, documents to be prepared with at the time of application, instructions on how to apply online, by mail or in person through a Family Support Division Resource Center.
Questions regarding the Childcare Subsidy Verification Letter may be directed to Children’s Division staff.
Questions regarding the CCDS – Parent Portal, subsidy application, authorization, or provider payments should be directed to the DESE Child Care Call Center at 573-415-8605.
Trainings & Events
Right Time Trainings
You now have access to what is called National Training Development Curriculum (NTDC) Right Time Trainings. There are 15 trainings and they are all 1 hour long. There is a different topic for each training. Some of the examples include Building Children’s Resilience, Building Parental Resilience, Family Dynamics, Managing Placement Transitions, Responding to Children in Crisis, and Sexual Trauma. We will highlight each of these trainings in this newsletter.
This month we are highlighting the training called Building Children’s Resilience. This theme helps parents who are fostering and adopting understand concepts and definitions related to enhancing the resilience of children who have experienced trauma, separation, or loss. Protective factors are described along with strategies on how to build upon these factors to support children develop their identity, self-esteem, and skills toward self-advocacy. You may find these trainings through the Training page for Foster Parents.
 RE: Conference
Foster, adoptive & kinship parents are invited to attend the 7th annual RE: conference on February 2-3, 2024. This conference is a time for foster, adoptive & kinship parents to escape the distractions and chaos of life and experience REAL ENCOURAGEMENT. Late registration is open from January 15, 2024 to February 2, 2024. Please visit their website to see more information and registration.
*Registration process and cost is the responsibility of the foster, adoptive & kinship parents.
Family Forward LifeLines - Winter 2024
Please take a second to read Family Forward's upcoming training schedule.
A Message from MADD
For Parents: Alcohol interferes with how your child's brain and body grow. Decades of research show that people who start drinking at an early age can face severe, persistent problems throughout their lives. You can prevent that. As a parent, you have the power to help your child make smarter, safer choices. Your influence can save lives ... perhaps even your child's. MADD’s Power of Parents® program empowers parents of middle school and high school students to have ongoing, intentional conversations about the dangers and consequences of underage drinking and other drug use.
For Educators: Power of You(th)® is one of MADD’s programs that provides youth with research-based information on the dangers of underage drinking and other drug use. We want to prepare our youth with the tools to resist peer pressure and empower them to take the next step and influence their friends to make the right choices. Their future is determined by the decisions they make today.
Please contact your local MADD office for additional information and schedules.
For more information and state contacts, please see this flyer!
Let's Talk Podcast
The “Let’s Talk” podcast series was launched in November 2021 as part of National Runaway Prevention Month. “Let’s Talk” is aimed at elevating the voices of young people as they share their stories and highlight the complexities and intersections that are witnessed by the 4.2 million young people experiencing homelessness across the United States each year. This podcast features discussions that may be triggering to our audiences, covering topics that include suicide, intimate partner violence, institutionalization, child sexual abuse material, gun violence, addiction, and various forms of discrimination. Listener discretion is advised!
The following links will take you to a multitude of training opportunities that are available for in-service hours:
Parent Cafe Training Institute (missouri.edu)
Foster Parent College - Online Training for Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Parents and Caregivers
Training | Child Welfare Information Gateway
All Courses - FosterAdopt Connect Training (thinkific.com)
Family Development Training - Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association
Service Delivery Grievance
We want to ensure that our foster parents are aware of their grievance processes. In this edition of the newsletter, we will focus on the Service Delivery Grievance.
Service Delivery Grievance Process (CS-131)
- The Service Delivery Grievance process is the process for families to express concerns of perceived inequities, unfair treatment, or dissatisfaction with agency actions or behaviors, not covered by other grievance procedures. Any resource provider may file a grievance with the exception of resource providers who work with contracted agencies to provide care. These resource providers must utilize the process outlined by the contracted foster care case management agency. A youth 12 or over may file a service delivery grievance, a child under 12 may have help from an adult to enter a service delivery grievance.
Foster Parent Identification Cards
All Foster Parents should have a Foster Parent ID card. This is provided to you after you are licensed. If you do not have an ID card please email FosterCare@dss.mo.gov and we will get you the application.
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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