may is national foster care month - wisconsin foster and ... · my name is katelyn blair and i am a...
TRANSCRIPT
Wisconsin Foster and Adoptive Parents Association, Inc.
Spring 2017
Inside this issue:
WFAPA Board pg 2
Prez Letter, News pg 3
Online Survey,
Mama Kasch’s Kitchen pg 4
Conference Pics pg 5
The Reason I Disagree…
(Mike Berry) pg 6
Summer Camps pg 7
Did you know??? pg 8
May is National Foster Care Month
History of National Foster Care Month Throughout its more than 100-year history, the Children's Bureau has worked to assist children and youth in foster care; engage youth in decisions that affect their lives; and support foster families, kinship caregivers, child welfare professionals, and others who help these children.
Before the creation of the Children's Bureau in 1912, child welfare and foster care were mainly in the hands of private and religious organizations.
In 1919, the Children's Bureau published Minimum Standards of Child Welfare, which affirmed the importance of keeping children in their own homes whenever possible and, when that was impossible, providing a "home life" with foster families.
In 1923, the Children's Bureau published Foster-Home Care for Dependent Children, an acknowledgment of the growing preference for foster family care over institutional care.
During World War II, when more than 8,000 children were evacuated from Europe to the United States, the Children's Bureau oversaw their temporary placement in U.S. foster homes.
The Children's Bureau published a draft list of "The Rights of Foster Parents" in the May 1970 issue of its jour-nal Children. That same year, the Children's Bureau sponsored the National Conference of Foster Parents.
In 1972, the Children's Bureau sponsored—and President Nixon proclaimed—National Action for Foster Chil-dren Week to raise awareness of the needs of children in foster care and recruit more foster parents. The fol-lowing year, Children published "The Bill of Rights for Foster Children."
In 1988, President Reagan issued the first Presidential proclamation that established May as National Foster Care Month.
FASPP (Foster & Adoptive Support & Preservation Program)
FASPP is an outreach of WFAPA and more specifically our SAAN (Surviving Allegations of
Abuse and Neglect) department. FASPP is a peer-driven volunteer network designed to help you.
Our highly trained volunteers are here to help you navigate the frontier that is foster care and
adoption. Each volunteer has more experience in a different area, but all of them can help with
questions outside their area of expertise, as well. Call or email them with your questions.
Manda (most experienced working with teen boys)
715-459-4997, or email [email protected]
Melissa (focuses on fostering younger children)
608-333-6650 or email [email protected]
Joanne (Native American fostering issues and motherly ad-
vice)
Board of Directors Page 2
President
Tina Christopherson
2616 Parkridge Ave
Marinette, WI 54143
(715) 938-6667
Vice President
Manda Wirth
2311 Lovewood Dr.
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494
(715) 459-4997
Secretary/Membership
Michelle and Larry Ward
W7018 Discovery Dr
Fond du Lac, WI 54937
(920) 922-3824
Treasurer
Sherry Benson
N1068 Shore Drive
Marinette, WI 54143
(715) 923-1124
Standing Committees
Partnership Chair
(open)
By-Laws/Legislative
(open)
Finance Co-Chairs
Al Handlin
N3828 County FF
Merrill, WI 54452
(715) 536-6925
Jerry Fix
N3760 County Rd. M
Waupun, WI 53963
(920) 324-5441
Conference Chair
Jill & Randy Polifka
N1973 Cemetery Rd
Waupaca, WI 54981
(920) 915-0389
Historian
John Christopherson
2616 Parkridge Ave
Marinette, WI 54143
(715) 938-6668
Technical Advisor
Larry Ward
W7018 Discovery Dr.
Fond du Lac, WI 54937
(920) 922-3824
Newsletter
Lauri Thorssen
PO Box 122
Solon Springs, WI 54873
(715) 816-4152
Fund Raising
Amber Kreeger
1008 Lexus Ln.
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494
(715) 421-9700
Public Relations
Melinda Kasch
8912 Sadler Dr.
Wind Lake, WI 53185
(262) 895-2652
SAAN
Norma Schoenberg
26 Olcott St.
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
(920) 922-9627
Outreach
Amanda Gau
221 Walnut St
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
(920) 979-9989
Social Worker Liaison
Sherry Benson
N1068 Shore Drive
Marinette, WI 54143
(715) 923-1124
Advisor to the Board Prof. Rosemarie Carbino
1350 University Ave. UWM
Madison, WI 53706
Office: (608) 263-3675
Home: (608) 238-3710
FASPP Advisor
Mike Heath
St. Croix Hospice
Website Manager
Alfredo Moyano
1541 Russell St.
Green Bay, WI 54304
((920) 430-0008
Grant Writing
Don Gau
221 Walnut St
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
WFAPA News is published four times a year: February, May, August & November.
Publishing is done under the direction of the WFAPA Board of Directors. WFAPA is a non-profit, tax-
exempt corporation. Contributions are welcome.
Views expressed in WFAPA News are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the WFAPA Board
of Directors, its members, or funding sources.
Editing/Layout:
Lauri Thorssen
P.O. Box 122
Solon Springs, WI 54873
(715) 816-4152 [email protected]
Web Site Manager :
Alfredo Moyano
1541 Russell St.
Green Bay, WI 54304
(715) 508-0827
Message from President Tina Christopherson
Page 3
Hello,
National Foster Care Month is observed in the United States during the month of May. Every year as we recognize and celebrate Foster Care Month, I would like to “Thank all Foster Parents!”
Mike Berry kept us on our toes at our recent conference in Wisconsin Rapids. His words gave new hope to some and valid information to others. Mike is a breath of fresh air!
Our conference had a good turn out and I would like to “thank” the new members of WFAPA who joined us. It is always rewarding to see new faces. I hope that you connected with others and could leave with some new ideas, tools and laughs. We are here for you and would like to see you again in October!
WFAPA is starting a new project and we are so excited! We will be creating an adoption quilt! The quilt will be the “story” of a child, many children, in fact, of their adoption. We have one about foster care now and you may view the stories and their “patch” at our website at www.wfapa.org. Click on “quilt” if you have not seen it before.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Tina
LIFE BEGINS HERE
WFAPA is supporting a program to help foster children aging out of
care. This program provides a suitcase filled with items to help them
as they start out living independently. Our Spring Conference dona-
tions went to, The Family Center, 500 25th Street North, Wisconsin
Rapids, Wisconsin as they have children and parents that may need
to “start over” when they leave. We will be looking for donations for
the fall conference and will get that information to you as it becomes
available. This program has been a great blessing especially to those
aging out of care in cities in which we hold our conferences and it is
our hope to continue it.
FRESH START PROGRAM
For each Conference WFAPA sponsors, we bless an
organization in the community by donating items
they need to continue their work. This spring we gave
to The Family Center in Wisconsin Rapids. We will
post the exact organization we will be donating to for
our Fall Conference in Waupaca in our August news-
letter.
FALL CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 20-22, WAUPACA Our focus will be on FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder). Jeff Noble will be coming to us from Brampton, ON. Jeff has
a wealth of knowledge on FASD. Families living with FASD and the people that have FASD can face countless challenges as
they navigate life with a disability. They must constantly work for greater strength as they deal with the stress while also
battling the stigma from today’s society. Please look Jeff up on his web page and see what he is all about at
www.fasdforever.com. He will be selling his books and tapes at the conference.
You will not want to miss this conference in October at the Ramada in Waupaca, WI. More information in the fall newslet-
ter.
WFAPA BOARD OPENINGS
WFAPA has the following openings available on the board. There
will be job descriptions in the August newsletter. Please feel free to
contact: Tina Christopherson, President at (715) 938-6667 or email:
Partnership Chair By-Laws/Legislative
Survey Says! The information as always is very beneficial. Water
Park hotels and no Water Park hotels were tied. We
will attempt to do some of both. The suggested top-
ics that you would like to see at future conferences
will be looked at carefully. Every attempt will be
made to get them covered. Thank you all for turning
in your surveys!
Page 4
Mama Kasch’s Kitchen
Nutter Butter Banana Pudding Trifle Ingredients
3 c. milk 2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs 5 med. ripe bananas
3/4 c. sugar 1 lb pkg Nutter Butter sandwich cookies
1/3 c. all-purpose flour 2 c. sweetened whipped cream
2 Tbs. butter Garnishes: cookies, dried banana chips, mint sprigs
Directions 1. Whisk together first 4 ingredients in large saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, 15-20
min or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla until butter is melted.
2. Fill large bowl with ice. Place saucepan in ice, and let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 min or until mixture is
thoroughly chilled.
3. Meanwhile, cut bananas into 1/4 inch slices. Break cookies into thirds.
4. Spoon half of pudding mixture into a 3-qt bowl or pitcher. Top with bananas and cookies. Spoon remaining
pudding mixture over bananas and cookies. Top with sweetened whipped cream. Cover and chill 2-24 hours.
Garnish, if desired.
5. Note: You could use any brand of peanut butter sandwich cookies instead of Nutter Butters.
6. Shortcut: Omit eggs, sugar, flour, and butter. Substitute thawed extra creamy whipped topping for sweetened
whipped cream. Reduce vanilla to 1 tsp. Place 3 cups of milk and vanilla in large bowl; add 2 (4 oz) packages
vanilla instant pudding mix. Beat with an electric mixer at medium spped 2 minutes or until thickened; let
stand 5 minutes. Stir in 1 (8 oz) container sour cream. Proceed with recipe as directed in Steps 2–4.
Please Note Dear foster parents/adoptive parents,
My name is Katelyn Blair and I am a doctoral stu-
dent at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee stud-
ying Social Work. I am currently working on my dis-
sertation, which includes creating a new assessment
to understand positive child behaviors.
We need your help! We are asking foster parents and/
or adoptive parents who care for a foster/
adopted child between the ages of 2-7 to complete a
short online survey. The survey will take approxi-
mately 10 minutes from your phone, tablet or com-
puter. Parents who complete the survey will receive a
gift card to Starbucks via email.
If you are interested in participating in this study to
help me develop a new assessment of positive child
behavior, please input this link:
https://milwaukee.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/
SV_9T9RLVhqxA4Zk8j
Thank You,
Katelyn Blair
Thank you!!
Many thanks to the following organizations who
donated items to our Auction at the Spring Con-
ference in Wisconsin Rapids.
Green Bay Packers Blu Play Cafe
Milwaukee Brewers Victoria Rakowski
Zoo Books Cherrie Smith
Oriental Trading Milwaukee Bucks
El Mezcal Restaurant WI Rapids Lioness Club
Park Institute, WI Rapids Mobile Link, WI Rapids
Lighthouse Books & Gifts
Le Chateau Bed & Breakfast
Christine O’Connor, Tastefully Simple
Angela Seagren, Young Living Oils
Great Nails & Spa in WI Rapids
Sandy’s Candy Bouquets
Page 5
Page 6
.The Reason I Disagree With A Foster Care Advertisement In Our City
by Mike Berry
Let’s not candy-coat it. It takes a lot to be a foster parent. It’s completely worth it, but it’s not a walk in the park and certainly not for the faint of heart. That’s precisely the reason I disagreed with a fos-ter care advertisement I saw recently.
I was driving my daughter, and some of her fellow students, to school the other day in our hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana enjoying a nearly perfect spring day. My mind bounced back and forth between all that I had to accomplish in the day and the excitement that I finally felt knowing winter was over. As we drove along the beautiful street, leading straight into the heart of our city, one particular sign, out of the thousands we passed, caught my attention.
It was posted in front of a building near the street, and it said, “Time. That’s all you need to be a foster parent.” I drove a while longer, thinking about it, and processing it in my mind. I thought about the many years we spent in the system, caring for vulnerable children. I reminisced back to the dark days, where frustration and anxiety invaded our hearts and home like an army invading enemy forces. I replayed conversations with case managers that seemed to get us nowhere, and repeated outbursts from some of our children, in public places, that sent us running for our car.
And then I shook my head and whispered, “Wrong.” I’m sure the girls riding along quietly in my car couldn’t hear me, but the further I drove, the greater my disagreement with this advertisement grew. Frankly, it was misleading. Sure, you do need time. Lord knows, we gave a lot (I mean, A LOT) of time during our years of foster parenting. But that wasn’t all we gave, and it certainly wasn’t all it took to travel this journey, and do so with success. So, later that day, I made a list of some of the other things I believe it takes to be a foster parent. Here’s what I came up with…
Note:
WFAPA now accepts CREDIT and DEBIT cards for EVERYTHING, in-
cluding the Auction & Raffle!
(continued on next page)
Page 7 1. Unconditional love. Fact is, this journey will test you. The children you are car ing for will test you.
It’s not because they intend to be bad, they’ve just come from a place of trauma (sometimes extreme) and they are speaking from that place. You must have a heart that is open to loving even when you receive nothing in return for it. And especially when you are pushed away by a child after giving the utmost love you have to them.
2. Resilience. There will be more days than not, when you feel like giving up. You will look at your situ-ation and feel hopeless. You’ll wonder why you signed up for this, if you’re making a difference, and if anyone in the system is actually listening to you, or cares that you are doing a great service. Resilience is the game-changer here because it keeps you moving even through the roughest storm.
3. Time. Yes, you DO need this. There’s no question. You will end up giving lots of it over the course of your career as a foster parent. But time is accompanied with the rest of these points. It has to be. It cannot stand alone. Perhaps the sign I saw meant more, or maybe it was part of a campaign. Not sure. But, to leave it without explanation could lead someone down the wrong path if they’re not equipped with the entire re-ality.
4. Belief. You must believe in yourself, your influence, the child you are car ing for , and the difference this work is making in the world, even when the vast majority of the world will never acknowledge it. Be-lieving in you, your influence, and the child in your care, goes a long way to finding success on this jour-ney. Plus, it greatly impacts the child. He or she needs someone to believe in them. They need a cheerlead-er, even if it’s for a brief time.
There you have it: love, resilience, time and belief. I know there are so many more characteristics I could list here like patience, compassion, and servanthood (lets file those under love shall we?) to name a few, but these 4 coupled together paint a more accurate picture of what it really takes to be a foster parent. Time? Yes. But time alone? Nope. The foster care journey is beautiful, amazing, and worth it! There’s no doubt in my mind. If you’re considering it and have the heart, time, resilience, and belief that you can make a difference, go for it. But, be ready. It will stretch you. That’s why I have to disagree with an advertisement that only paints one pixel of a much bigger picture.
SUMMER CAMPS
Here’s a bit more information for summer camps available in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp: visit http://www.wcyc.org 715-284-2979
Camp To Belong: visit http://www.CTB-WI.org/ 920-904-5643
Camp Daniel: http://www.campdaniel.org/ 715-757-3880
For more camps specifically for children with special needs, check out this link: http://www.veryspecialcamps.com/Wisconsin/
Special-Needs-Summer-Camps.shtml
NATIONAL FOSTER PARENT ASSOCIATION
The National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) and the Texas Foster Family Association are proud to present NFPA 2017
Education Conference 6/21/17 to 6/24/17 in Houston Texas. Registration will open in February 2017. [email protected]
(Reprinted with permission from confessionsofanadoptiveparent.com. )
WFAPA Membership Form Name _______________________________________________________________________________________________
County, State or Agency Name (that licenses you) _________________________________________________________
Your Address ________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone ________________________ Fax ______________________ Email _________________________________
Additional Donation: ____ $5 _____ $10 _____ $25 _____ $50 ____ Other ________
Would you be willing to help out with WFAPA? _____ yes _____ no
For Individual memberships, return this form and $7.00 to:
Michelle & Larry Ward * W7018 Discovery Dr. * Fond du Lac, WI 54937 Email: [email protected]
GO GREEN! ______ I’d like to “go green” and paperless by receiving my newsletter online only.
SWEATSHIRT ORDER:
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Size: S ____, M ____, L ____, XL ____ ($26.00) 2X ____, 3X ____, 4X ____, 5X ____ ($36.00)
Orders may be picked up at next conference, or shipped for an additional $15. Amount enclosed: __________________________
Did you know?? The Coalition
The Coalition for Children, Youth and Families always has helpful information, resources from their library, and trainings. They, too, are there to support and help you! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Resource Specialists at the Coali-tion: (414) 475-1246, (800) 762-8063, or [email protected]. Look up their calendar of events for the state of Wis-consin. There will be a webinar coming up on “Grief and Loss in Adoption,” the presenter will be Jaclyn Skalnik. Jaclyn is the founder of Adoption Wellness and is also a transracial internationally adopted person. Jaclyn earned a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has assisted adoptive families throughout the adoption process for nearly two decades. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS AN ONLINE WEBINAR TRAINING ONLY, NO IN-PERSON ATTENDEES. $20/single online participant. THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017 from 6-8 pm. Register online or call (414) 475-1246.
Rawhide
Rawhide Youth and Family Counseling Services offers a FREE Support Group just for you every Wednesday from 7-8 pm at their facility located at 5500 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale, WI. Looking for answers? Need some help with your young teen or struggling adolescent? Rawhide offers ways and means for you to help your youth and support each other through the difficult life transitions of adolescence. Hear and learn from Rawhide counselors and professional staff who work with troubled youth, their loved ones and families.
These parent group sessions are offered by RAWHIDE as a free service to the community. There is no fee for attendance and participation. No registration required. Just come for any or all Wednesday sessions. Who does this involve? Parents and guardians of boys and girls age 11-18. Next meeting is May 3rd, 2017. Staff contact is Elizabeth at (414) 303-8323. Rawhide Boys Ranch offers a full continuum of at risk youth programs in Wiscon-sin, including intensive residential care for troubled young men. Check them out at www.rawhide.org.