September 23 – Strengthen Families Locally Weekly

Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families sent this bulletin at 09/23/2022 01:50 PM PDT

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strengthen families locally

In This Issue:

Updates From the Strengthen Families Locally (SFL) Team

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Dear Strengthen Families Locally Community,

So many important things happen in September! This week I want to highlight the celebration of Kinship Care Providers.

“Every year in September, we celebrate National Kinship Care Month. Kinship care refers to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, adult siblings, and even family friends. Nearly half the children placed in out-of-home care by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) are identified with a relative or person known to the child and/or family.  As a result of their commitment, the home provided for many of these children become their “forever” home. In honor of National Kinship Care Month, we thank all kinship caregivers for their ongoing commitment to providing a safe and loving home to children in out-of-home care. Thank you!” – DCYF Administration

Check out the It’s All Relative: Supporting Kinship Care Video Series from the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative to learn how and why kinship caregivers foster and adopt relative children and how to better support them. Visit DCYF’s Kinship Care pages to learn more about how this program works in Washington. And if you know a Kinship Care Provider, give them a special thanks this month!

All the best,

Joy

SFL Resources

SFL Website

SFL Partner Onboarding Packet

SFL Newsletter Archive

Share a Story to Strengthen Families

Share Your Story Here

Community Planning Meetings

Email for meeting links.

Stevens and Ferry Counties
First Wednesday of each month
2-4 p.m.

Bremerton
Third Thursday of each month 
1-3 p.m.

Spokane
Third Monday of each month
1-3 p.m.

Port Angeles and Sequim
Fourth Thursday of each month
1-3 p.m.

Contact

Joy Lile, PhD
Strengthening Families Locally Coordinator
360-688-4956
joy.lile@dcyf.wa.gov

Strengthening Families WA
Family Support Programs Division

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Strengthen Families Locally Project News

SFL Retreat Postponed: The SFL Retreat (initially planned for Fall) has been delayed to Spring, given scheduling challenges and rising COVID-19 case rates. Stay tuned for dates in March when a venue is approved, and for other Strengthen Families Locally happenings.

Contact joy.lile@dcyf.wa.gov with questions.

Share a Story to Strengthen Families Locally!

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Angela’s Story

“I’m happy to say I still have my great-niece. She is now 9 years old, and her mother and I have a great relationship. Without the help of the agency, I don’t know how I could survive. My great-niece still spends weekends with her mother, and we still do family outings together. I encourage anyone who knows of a loved one in need, please don’t hesitate to help them, because I’m telling you, my great-niece brings so much joy to my husband and our lives, and if we could do it all over again, we would.” – Angela’s Story

Share a story today to center the lived experiences of families in Washington State:

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http://ourtomorro.ws/WADCYF

Flyer   |   FAQ for collecting stories

Highlights From Around DCYF

Alliance Looking for Community Connectors

Alliance CaRES is expanding and hiring for Community Connectors. Community Connectors are current or former foster parents who are interested in helping represent Alliance CaRES at in-person community and DCYF events as well as help run local community-based support groups.

This position will work 2-10 hours a month on a flexible schedule.  If you or someone you know would be a great Community Connector, please encourage them to visit www.alliancecares.org/connectors/ to get more information and consider applying! Applications will be reviewed on Oct. 1.

For questions in Western Washington, contact Christa Murray at christa6@uw.edu. For questions in Eastern Washington, contact Angela Stiner at astiner@uw.edu.

Local Corner

Check here for news and opportunities specific to our Strengthen Families Locally communities. Send opportunities to joy.lile@dcyf.wa.gov.

  • Spokane and Ferry/Stevens: Slots are still available for Certified Peer Counselor (CPC) training offered by Better Health Together and HCA. Get application into HCA as soon as possible & complete your online pre-reqs (9 online modules). Everyone has to work through this process with HCA before they take the Certified Peer Counselor (CPC) training. Application: https://fortress.wa.gov/hca/peercounseling/ At the same time contact Sarah Bolling Dorn at sarah@betterhealthtogether.org and indicate you want to enroll in the October class. October 3-7, 9-5 p.m. at Passages Family Supports.
  • Port Angeles/Sequim and Bremerton: 2nd Annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Poetry Reading. Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day through poetry by Native poets of the Olympic Peninsula! An open mic for Native poets will be followed by featured reader, Sara Marie Ortiz. Part of Resiliency Month co-hosted by Clallam Resilience Project. 10/10, 5:30-6:30 p.m., ʔaʔkʷustəŋáw̕txʷ House of Learning, Peninsula College Longhouse.
  • Bremerton and Port Angeles/Sequim: Care Connect Washington is a program to provide food and other necessities to support people who are isolating or quarantined due to COVID-19. Olympic Community of Health works with community-based partners to connect people to supportive services, such as food, health care and coverage, financial assistance, and other resources. Learn more here.
  • Port Angeles/Sequim: October is Resilience Month! Visit the North Olympic Library System for all events. Presented in collaboration with Clallam Resilience Project.
  • Port Angeles/Sequim: The Clallam County Leadership program from Rural Development Initiative designed for area residents who wish to gain new tools for making positive impact in the local community. A typical class consists of approximately 25-30 individuals (from high-school students to retired seniors) with leadership experience ranging from new/young to emerging to seasoned. Learn more and Register here.
  • Spokane: El Poder de Contarlo, presented by Mujeres In Action and co-sponsored by EWU School of Social Work and GWSS. 10/6, 3 pm @ WAGE Center.  See the flyer here

Other Community Resources

Connect (Events)

2022 Responding to the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Learning Series & Conference from Center for Children and Youth Justice. Includes Learning session 2: NCMEC's Response to Child Sex Trafficking and Resources (9/27, 9 - 10:30 PDT) and CSEC Conference including keynote: The Power of Unlikely Relationships and Plenary: Survivor Equity and Inclusion Framework: Preventing the Re-Exploitation of Survivor leaders in the Anti-Trafficking Movement (10/4, 9-12:30 PDT). Learn more and register here

Implementing Guaranteed Income Programs: Insights from Baltimore from ABT Associates. Join Abt and distinguished guests for a 75-minute webinar to hear early insights and lessons learned from Baltimore’s guaranteed income pilot: The Baltimore Young Families Success Fund (BYFSF). This pilot provides 200 young parents, between 18 and 24 years old, with an unconditional cash payment of $1,000 per month over 2 years. 10/12, 9-10:15 PDT. Register here

Attend Adoption Support Information Sessions: Join DCYF to Learn More About: Adoption Support program; Eligibility and application process; Benefits available through the program. Adoption Support Information Sessions occur the first Wednesday of every month. Pick the time slot that works best for your schedule.

12-1 p.m. | Meeting Registration - Zoom

6-7 p.m. | Meeting Registration - Zoom

Learn (Educational Resources)

The 2022 Home Visiting Yearbook: from The National Home Visiting Resource Center includes: Information on where programs operate, the families they serve, and the families who could benefit but are not being reached; State, tribal, and model profiles; Data tables on services delivered by state and tribal awardees of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program; Downloadable files with key home visiting service data, maternal and child health indicator data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, and more. The yearbook includes data from 2021, including virtual and in-person home visit data to reflect the field's flexible response to the ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic. View the yearbook here.

Innovate (News and New Insights)

AMARA Launches BIPOC Facebook Page for Caregivers: Amara has recently launched a BIPOC Facebook group/page! This private Facebook group is for foster parents, kinship caregivers, and those who have adopted/guardianship through foster care who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and/or Person of Color) to share thoughts and ideas while experiencing foster/kinship care, and to meet other BIPOC foster and kinship parents to share resources and build community. For more information, visit AmaraFamily.org.

Washington Fatherhood Council wants your input on the 2023 Fatherhood Summit. “We are hard at work on the 5th Annual Washington Fatherhood Summit.  We need your input to make it as successful as possible.  Please take a few minutes to complete this brief survey and let us know what dates work best for you, what format you like, the theme we are considering and what topics you would like covered during the Summit.” https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X7Y9WQ3

Grow (Funding and Resources)

Competitive Applications for Behavioral Health-focused Systems of Care for young adults at risk of homelessness. The Washington State Department of Commerce is making up to $459,800 available to implement the Behavioral Health Systems of Care grant, focusing on young adults exiting behavioral health settings. Behavioral Health Systems of Care grant program seeks to identify young adults ages 18 to 24 at risk of homelessness exiting inpatient behavioral health settings and support them to obtain stable housing. Funding through this grant can be used to support a variety of approaches and programs engaging youth. Funding may support programs implemented by inpatient behavioral health treatment facilities, housing providers, community-based organizations, peer-led organizations, organizations that are led by and serve communities of color, governmental entities and others. This is not an exhaustive list, but provides examples of the types of entities this funding may support. View the bulletin here and the full application here.

Homeless service providers in Washington are eligible for up to $4,000 in economic relief. Commerce is administering a limited program for eligible homeless service workers in Washington to receive a stipend of up to $4,000. Homeless service workers with an immediate economic need and income at or below 80% of the county area median income where they live may be eligible for a stipend up to $2,000. A second stipend payment of up to $2,000 is also available for individuals who received an initial stipend payment and are still working for the same eligible organization six months after approval of the first stipend payment.

Eligible homeless service providers work directly on-site with persons experiencing homelessness or residents of transitional or permanent supportive housing. Check out more information, sign up for updates and learn how to apply on the Homeless Worker Stipend website. Applications open Sept. 29, 2022.

 

If you have suggestions for what to include in this newsletter, email Joy Lile.