September 2023 Issue 66
Active Encouragement of Reunification
The foster care system plays a pivotal role in providing temporary care and support for children whose biological families are facing challenges that prevent them from adequately caring for their children. While the ultimate goal is often reunification, the process can be complex and emotionally charged for all involved parties. Foster caregivers, as vital stakeholders in this process, can make a significant impact by actively encouraging and supporting biological parents in their efforts to reunify with their children.
Open Communication: Effective communication is the cornerstone of any relationship, and it holds true for caregivers and parents as well. By establishing open and non-judgmental lines of communication, caregivers can create an environment where parents feel comfortable sharing their progress, setbacks, and concerns. Regular updates on the child's well-being and milestones can help bridge the gap and foster a sense of partnership.
Empathy and Understanding: The journey towards reunification can be arduous for parents, often accompanied by feelings of shame, guilt, and frustration. Caregivers can help by practicing empathy and understanding. Recognizing that these parents are likely undergoing immense personal growth and transformation, caregivers can extend a compassionate hand, offering reassurance that the process is about healing and growth, not judgment.
Strengths-Based Approach: Caregivers can focus on the strengths and positive qualities of parents. Recognizing and highlighting the efforts parents are making, no matter how small, can boost their confidence and motivation. It's crucial to help parents see that they possess the capacity to change and provide a nurturing environment for their children.
Skill-Building Opportunities: Caregivers can actively seek opportunities for parents to develop essential parenting and life skills. This could involve recommending relevant workshops, connecting them with community resources, and offering guidance on practical matters like budgeting, time management, and conflict resolution. These skills not only empower parents but also demonstrate the caregiver's genuine commitment to their success.
Inclusion in Child's Life: Where appropriate and safe, involving parents in the child's life during foster care can provide a sense of continuity. This might involve visits, phone calls, or even joint activities with the child. Such interactions help maintain the parent-child bond, reassure children that their parents are still present, and show parents that their efforts are recognized and valued.
Cultural Sensitivity: Understanding and respecting cultural differences is crucial when working with families. Caregivers can demonstrate cultural sensitivity by acknowledging and respecting the values, beliefs, and traditions of parents. This promotes a sense of inclusivity and helps build trust between both parties.
Celebrate Progress: Reunification is a process marked by incremental progress. Caregivers can celebrate these achievements, both big and small. From completing a parenting program to securing stable housing, each step taken by parents deserves recognition. Celebrations provide a sense of accomplishment and motivate parents to continue their journey towards reunification.
Maintain Boundaries: While fostering a supportive relationship is vital, it's equally important to maintain appropriate boundaries. Caregivers should be mindful of their role and not overstep their boundaries, which could potentially hinder the parent's growth. Additionally, the caregiver should check with the DCS Specialist to ensure that it is safe and appropriate to move forward with any form of communication.
Fostering is more than just providing a temporary home for children; it is about facilitating healing, growth, and reunification. By approaching their role with empathy, communication, and collaboration, caregivers can play a critical role in encouraging parents on their journey towards reunification. The impact of their support extends beyond the immediate process, contributing to the overall well-being and future success of families striving to heal and stay together.
For more information on shared parenting and active encouragement of reunification, email Rhiannon.Schaudt-Hobkirk@azdcs.gov.
Seeking Connection, Not Just Placement
Therapeutic Foster Care Info Sessions
Foster Cooperative
Foster Cooperative is an open-sourced online community powered by Foster Arizona for anyone helping children and youth facing adversity to find connections, peer support, quality resources and training, community events, and innovative communication methods to be empowered with tools needed to succeed.
Arizona State Parks - Free Passes
Foster families can receive a free pass to 30+ Arizona State Parks and Trails! Email engage@azdcs.gov and include the caregiver's full name and mailing address.
swappow+ Skateboard Workshop Series
Free Arts - Family Empowerment Nights
Free Arts’ Family Empowerment Nights are an opportunity to spend quality time together as a family. Pizza, salad, and water will be served. Families will be informed about upcoming Free Arts programs and community events for families. For questions, please contact Erina Sanchez at esanchez@freeartsaz.org, or 602.258.8100, ext. 920. To register, please click on one of the links below:
FREE Foster Family Weekend
FosterEd Arizona Foster Care Conference
Birth to Five Helpline Awareness Week
The Birth to Five Helpline is a free resource for any caregiver, childcare provider or professional in Arizona with questions or concerns about a young child (pregnancy to 5 years of age). No problem is too big or too small for the Helpline early childhood specialists answering the calls. Call for yourself or together with a family you support to get the personalized recommendations our Helpline specialists can provide callers when dialing (877)-705-KIDS (5437). Bilingual, knowledgeable, and compassionate specialists are available Monday through Friday, from 8am to 8pm, for support, information, and resources. We also invite you to download the free app in the Apple App Store or on Google Play so you have the option of texting or emailing your questions as well.
Boys & Girls Clubs - Free After School Programming
Free Virtual Reading Program
AZAFAP Family Support Services
ASA Now
ASA Now is a non-profit organization that ADVOCATES for, SUPPORTS, and ASSISTS children and families impacted by foster care. We are passionate about providing support to families and professionals by restoring hope and empowering them to better serve these children in need.
Services we offer include tutoring & extracurricular activities, food pantry, clothing, and meeting basic necessities. Other services include life skills for youth, respite care, therapeutic programs, family activities, peer-to-peer support groups, education and training on utilizing Jacob's Law to obtain behavioral health services, providing resources to families and caregivers to successfully navigate the foster care system, raising awareness, recruiting new foster families, and advocating for families and their children.
Arizona Helping Hands
Arizona Helping Hands provides essential needs for children in foster care in an effort to help every foster child feel safe and loved. Our programs provide beds, clothing, hygiene items, birthday packages, backpacks filled with school supplies, licensing safety items, foster footlockers, and more. Our services are open to kinship and foster families with a current Notice to Provider.
Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents
AZAFAP wants to support you and the children in your family (foster, kinship, adopted, biological). We are a non-profit, statewide organization that serves families who adopt children and provide foster and kinship care. Working in partnership with child welfare professionals and the community, our purpose is to support, educate, empower, and provide a unified voice for Arizona’s foster and adoptive families, with the goal of increasing the well-being and stability of Arizona’s most vulnerable children. AZAFAP’s programming is open to all foster, kinship, and adoptive families in Arizona. Basic membership is free and includes a subscription to our monthly newsletter with information and resources, our online support groups, and some of our training. Premier membership is available for an annual fee of $75 for two-parent families and a discounted rate of $50 for single-parent families. Premier members are eligible to participate in all program activities. Our programming includes Family Connections events like camps, picnics, and staycations, Family Support Services such as training, Children’s Basic Needs with new shoes, jackets, toys, bikes, and Community Awareness events. Join us today before the Family Camp registration opens! Visit www.azafap.org/membership for more information.
Sign up on our Event Calendar! If you aren’t a member yet, check out our free membership so you can sign up! Ever need adult conversation during the week? We also have weekly drop-in chats on the calendar on Tuesdays and Fridays!
Christian Family Care Training
Helen's Hope Chest
At Helen's Hope Chest, our mission is to engage the community to provide for the basic needs of children and teens in foster and kinship care. Helen's provides more than just clothes for kids in care. It is important that every youth who comes through our door feels a sense of confidence, acceptance, and dignity. Our boutique environment allows kids to choose their favorite items and feel like they are in a regular store, all at no cost to the foster/kinship family.
Families with a current foster or kinship placement are encouraged to call us at 480-969-5411 to schedule an appointment.
A Mighty Change of Heart
A Mighty Change of Heart provides FREE duffle bags to foster children with new, age-appropriate items inside: 2 outfits, shoes & socks, underwear, a book, diapers/wipes, hygiene items, and more. These bags have the children’s names embroidered on them and are something that they can call their very own. They have delivered over 3,500 bags across the state.
Please check out their website for more information: www.amchaz.com. If your family, business, church group, or school would be interested in holding a donation drive, please contact A Mighty Change of Heart. Items are always needed.
Aviva Children's Services - Tucson
More Than a Bed - Tucson
Spreading Threads - Tucson
Spreading Threads is a grassroots, nonprofit community clothing bank that provides free clothes to foster youth in southern Arizona. The organization was founded by two foster moms in Tucson who have fostered and adopted several children in Arizona. Your donations go directly to local children in need. On the second Saturday of each month, foster, adoptive, and kinship families can visit the clothing bank. A Notice to Provider will be needed. The clothing bank events are held at 2945 N Flowing Wells in Tucson.
STEP Training- Tucson
Support, Tools, and Education for Parents (STEP) is designed to build positive relationships between family members. It provides a safe space to discuss topics that may be too difficult to talk about at home. These conversations are about peer pressure, stress, and the importance of working together as a team. When caregivers and children work together, it creates a stronger family! The Children’s Advocacy Center understands that family does not always mean a biological parent and child. STEP is a program that will benefit the whole family, including biological, foster, kinship, and adoptive families.
Families enrolled in STEP will meet virtually each week. Each session consists of different topics, such as communication, stress management, substance abuse prevention, and how to talk to your child about difficult topics (identifying potential child abusers, child abuse, healthy and concerning sexualized behavior), each session building on the next. Child care will be available when classes are offered in person again. For questions, please contact Jackie Ballesteros at jballesteros@soazadvocacy.org or 520-724-2148.
Warmline Supports Kinship and Foster Families
The Foster Parent Warmline is available for kinship families and licensed foster parents. While not an emergency number, Warmline staff can assist with information, timely communication, and support. It is not intended to discourage or replace direct and regular communication between the DCS Specialist and the out-of-home caregiver. You can reach the Warmline by calling 1-877-KIDSNEEDU (1-877-543-7633) and selecting Option 3. Please leave a message with your name and contact information in order to receive a call back.
Children's Heart Gallery
More than 70 percent of the children in need of forever families are adopted by their relatives or foster parents. For the remainder, special recruitment efforts like the Heart Gallery are used to connect them with a forever family.
The children featured in the Heart Gallery represent all ethnic groups and range in age from toddlers to teenagers. Some have special behavioral or medical needs, some are without siblings, and others are in groups of siblings.
Calysta
Calysta is an outgoing young girl who loves to meet new people! Calysta is passionate about singing and dancing. She will perform for anyone and has a beautiful voice. Calysta hopes to begin taking ballroom dance lessons and play the guitar. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her two sisters, laughing with friends, and doing her hair and makeup.
Calysta was born in 2008.
Enrique
Enrique is a sweet and relaxed person. He enjoys playing video games, watching YouTube, and being outside on nice days. He is always down for some spicy food. Enrique enjoys a good laugh and has a great sense of humor.
Enrique was born in 2008.
Jessie and Mark
Jessie is a creative and energetic girl, who loves to express herself artistically and enjoys spending time in the water. Her perfect day involves pool time and eating her favorite birthday cake pancakes. Jessie loves warm hugs and has a playful spirit.
Mark is a talkative and charismatic boy. He lights up when talking about Spider-Man, action figures, and monster trucks. He loves to let his imagination flow! When Mark is outside, he enjoys riding his scooter and learning new tricks on it.
Jessie was born in 2014, and Mark was born in 2017.
AZ Families Thrive is published monthly by the Arizona Department of Child Safety to inform foster, kinship, and adoptive families across the state. Rhiannon Schaudt-Hobkirk created this edition. Please feel free to email with questions, comments, or content you may be interested in seeing in future editions. Sign up to receive email updates when new issues are posted.
Interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent? Call us: 1-877-KIDS-NEEDU (1-877-543-7633) or email us: FosterAdoption@azdcs.gov. Visit us online: www.azkidsneedu.gov.
To report child abuse or neglect: 1-888-SOS-CHILD