Relatives As Parent's Program

There will be a free Relatives as Parents Workshop on Saturday March 24th, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church (1600 Kanawha Blvd. East Charleston, WV). Topics include: Enrolling Children in Care in School presented by Frances Pack of Kanawha County Schools and An Overview of the IEP (Individual Education Plan) presented by Rhonda McCormich of Legal Aid.

Those who should attend include: Kinship Parents, Foster Parents, Social Workers, DHHR Staff, and any interested parties. The day starts at 9 a.m. with coffee and registration. The first workshop begins at 9:30 and the day concludes at 4:00 p.m.

A free lunch will be provided. Please register before the DEADLINE of March 16th, 2012. You can register by calling Mission WV at 866-CALL-MWV or by emailing Laura Lou Harbert at lharbert@missionwv.org

We hope to see you there!

Happy Holidays!

The FrameWorks staff of Mission WV wishes you a very Merry Holiday and a happy New Year! We thank everyone who frequents our blog, website and/or facebook page. We thank you for openings your lives to youth who are in foster care and need to know that the community cares about them. It is important that we remember children in foster care not only during the holiday season, but all year long.

Below is our list of ways to support foster care all year long!

January - Write a note to a child in foster care that provides encouragement and advice for the new year. We will give the note to one of the children we work. We can also work with you if you would like to provide a specific child with care packages throughout the year.

February - Bake Valentine cookies and donate them to a group home facility. We can connect you with the facility!

March - Send flowers to a social worker who goes above and beyond to find families for the children they serve. A group of people could chip in on this and a member of our staff will help you with finding a social worker to give to if you don't already have one in mind.

April - Put together a "rainy day" care package for a kid living at a group facility. We can provide gift ideas.

May - National Foster Care Month! Make or join a team for "Walk with Me...for Youth in Foster Care."

June - Time for another care package that could include summer fun items.

July - Send a thank you note or a note of encouragement to a foster or adoptive family. They would probably really appreciate a small gift certificate for a family activity like a visit to the ice cream store or a night out to the movies.

August - School will be starting and a little back-to-school care package would be a great gift to a child in foster care.

September - this is a time of year when a lot of kids get to go school shopping with their families. Children living in a group facility typically don't get to enjoy that type of experience. A gift card to a clothing store would come in handy and one of our adoption workers could take a child for a one on one shopping trip. This way, the child would get to have a fun day and feel extra special.

October - Halloween! Send a residential facility a bunch of candy or Halloween themed baked items.

November - November is National Adoption Month! This can be a difficult month for kids who don't have a family to eat Thanksgiving Dinner with. This month, you can help out by attending a National Adoption Month event and saying a special prayer for children in foster care who are waiting for a forever family.

December - The holidays are here! You know what you can do!

If you would like participate in one or more of these suggested ways to help both foster parents and children in foster care - call us! Our number is 866-CALL-MWV - ask for Carrie Robey.

Carry-On Campaign back to school drive

The Carry-On Campaign, launched in October of 2010 to eliminate garbage bags as luggage for youth in foster care, is organizing a back to school drive. Every kid deserves to start the school year with the appropriate tools they need for a quality education. We are reaching out to West Virginians and asking that you please donate a book bag filled with school supplies.

We've put together a flier with suggested items for the book bags. These are just suggested and all items are not required. To view this flier, please click HERE.

Once you have your donation ready for delivery, take it to one of the following drop-sites or call and talk to Carrie - our number is 866-call-MWV. We suggest, if a number is provided, that you call the drop-site first so they can expect you and your donation.

Thanks in advance for making a difference in the lives of youth in foster care. Again, if you have any questions at all, give us a ring.

FREE Camp Alert!

Yes, this has been posted on our e-newsletter and you'll see it again on our quarterly paper newsletter, but it is really important! This is a FREE camp that is AWESOME! Your foster and/or adopted kids will love it and did we mention it is FREE!?

Royal Family Kids Camp is a National Camp for children between the ages of 7 - 11, who are or have been in foster care. There will be a camp in Putnam County and another in Cabell County. The camps are August 1-5, 2011. There are still available spaces for the Putnam County Camp! Contact Carol Phipps for camp applications. Give us a ring at 304-562-0723 and ask to speak with Carol.

A Family's Adoption Story

Below is a story written by an adoptive mother. We hope that reading this story encourages you to open your life to adoption or foster care if it is something you've been thinking about. If you have already opened your life to fostering or adopting, we hope you enjoy reading about the experience of another parent. If you would like to share your story with us, we would love to hear from you.

A family's story:

In our family there is Jonathan, Cyndi (myself), Kinsington (Kiki), and Anthony. Everyone has been a foster/adopt child except for Jonathan- he is kind of the odd person out in our family.

I was very young when I was adopted. I was the only foster/adopt person ever in my family but I was never treated any differently. My parents have a biological child that is several years older than I am, my brother Christopher, who I am very close to.

When I became old enough I realized that I wanted to adopt children. I wanted to give someone a home just like I was given. In my work life as a therapist I saw several foster children that I realized their life would improve so much if they just had two things- consistent love and consistent guidance.

I completed the PRIDE classes and the home study and became a foster/adopt parent. I was blessed with Kiki who was turning 4 and Anthony who was turning 2. Here I was 24 years old single with 2 children who had very difficult past including abuse and neglect. When the kids were 9 and 7 Jonathan and I started dating he would come over every evening for dinner and leave at 9:00pm every night. Eventually Kiki said “ Can we just sign for him already he is here all the time anyhow and I pretty much already consider him my dad” So after a brief explanation to Kiki that we do not adopt him that would mean Jonathan and I would get married. “She said adoption- marriage what’s the difference you still become a family” Needless to say Jonathan and I were married 2 months later.

Kiki was scared of everyone at first hiding in corners, scared of having a bath, would get up in the middle of the night and hoard food. I thought how am I going to help her? Time truly was the answer she has blossomed into this wonderful full of life person that is willing to try anything. Kiki is a natural with younger children and loves to play with them and comfort them when they are upset. She is in every activity available it seems including, softball, basketball, pageants, volleyball, etc. Kiki is very passionate about the work Mission, WV does and realizes that there are several other children out there that need permanent homes. Kiki’s pageant platform is Mission, WV and every chance she gets she speaks about their mission and what others can do to help. Several people have stated they are surprised “a foster/ adopt kid participates in pageants”- her answer to them is simple “We are kids just like everyone else we just had a different path given to us than you to get to where we are today”

Anthony has the greatest laugh in the whole world and while Kiki and Anthony do not look much alike as biological siblings there bond is very strong. Anthony has epilepsy and developmental delays, but there is definitely something so wonderful about having a child like Anthony. I have learned to appreciate all the little accomplishments that I used to take for granted. When Anthony is happy for a full day, or a day with no seizures, a day was he learns to read a new word, or writes his name, a day where he is able to tell me how his feels- These days are the best days. I know several people have reservations about adopting a child with a medical problem or a learning disability but these children bring so much more to your life than you realize. Anthony has recently received approval from his doctors to go to Disney World. We had planned a Disney trip 3 times in the last 2 years but unfortunately due to Anthony’s health we were unable to go. So think about us in the third week of June as Anthony is going to accomplish one of his lifelong dreams- to see the castle at Disney World. You can bet that Jonathan, Kiki and I will be crying tears of joy as soon as we hit the parking lot.

We look forward to several more years working with Mission WV to help foster children across our state. We could think of no other organization that we would want to support more than this one.

Walk With Me....for Youth in Foster Care

We have a walk name! The walk name is "Walk With Me" and the tag line is "for Youth in Foster Care." The Recruitment and Retention Collaborative voted on the name after reviewing all submissions and we are all really happy with the name. Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry - there were so many great ideas! The person who gets credit for the name of the walk is Julia Kessler from Children's Home Society - thanks Julia!

The date for this year's walk is officially set as May 21st! We will update soon with registration and start times for the day of the walk. Also, we will hopefully very soon have a website so that you can register your team or as an individual and start raising funds for youth in foster care!

A Home For the Holidays!

Don't miss this heartwarming holiday special that will air on CBS on Wednesday, December 22, 2010, featuring all-star talent. See the joy of having a family through the eyes of a child -- not just for the holidays, but forever.

Melissa Etheridge, Maroon 5, Ricky Martin, Nelly, Katy Perry and Jimmy Wayne will perform. Presenters include Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Mira Sorvino.

RAPP - Relatives As Parents Program

Did you know that there are thousands of West Virginians who are taking care of a relative child? This is called a kinship family and it is a situation where a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other family member is raising children instead of the biological parents. The Relatives As Parents Program, also known as RAPP, offers services and support to these families and there are RAPP support groups throughout the state.

On January 8th at 1PM, the Charleston RAPP group will be meeting to discuss the topic of child welfare provisions of WV State code 48 and 49. The discussion leader is Sara Thompson, Education and Outreach Services Librarian of the WV State Law Library. To learn more about Chapter 49 on child welfare, click this link: Chapter 49. To learn more about code 48 on Domestic Relations, click here: Chapter 48. The meeting will be held in room E-314 in the East Wing of the State Capitol Building in Charleston. Room E-314 is on the 3rd floor. There is free-metered parking on California Avenue.

Services to kinship families include cash stipends to RAPP groups, a resource library, workshops, a list serve, and kinship information and resources on the Mission WV web page. Additionally Mission WV maintains a warm line. Kinship caregivers can call 1-866-CALL-MWV to ask questions, receive resource information, or a listening ear. For more information about RAPP, contact Laura Lou Harbert at Mission WV. Her phone is 304-380-6775.

RAPP is a joint effort of Mission WV, the WV Department of Health and Human Resources, WVU Extension Services, The Bureau of Senior Services, and Legal Aid.

Join us for an Adoption Day Celebration!

The WV Recruitment and Retention Collaborative invites you to a day of celebration in honor of National Adoption Day. On November 20th starting at 2PM, participants can explore the Clay Center's Avampato Discovery Museum, which houses two floors of hand-on exhibits featuring more than 12,000 square feet of nonstop fun. At 4:30 we will head to the Intermezzo Cafe for refreshments and to hear guest speakers. Ending the celebration at 6 o'clock we will hold a candlelight ceremony outside of the Clay Center. Please feel free to join us at any time during the celebration event. To view the flyer for the event, please click here: Adoption Celebration Flyer

Open House!

Mission WV is organizing another Adoption/Foster Care Information Open House in Beckley, WV on November 6th at 11AM. The event will take place at the Prosperity First Baptist Church located at 308 Prosperity Road Beckley, WV 25801.

At the Open House, potential foster/adoptive parents will learn more about waiting children in WV, the certification process to foster and/or adopt,what to expect as a foster parent, international adoption and how the adoption process works, and get to hear the personal story and advice of an experienced foster/adoptive parent.

By attending this event, you don't have to make any commitments, we just hope that you will join us to learn more about foster care and adoption if it is something you are interested in. If you have any questions about the Open House or would like an information packet about fostering and/or adopting, we can send that to you today! Just call 866-CALL-MWV or email Carrie at crobey@missionwv.org

Thanks and we hope to see you on the 6th!

Foster Care/ Adoption Information Open House

Please click on the image above to download the flyer.

On Thursday September 30th at 6PM please join us for a foster care/ adoption information open house in Romney WV. If you don't live near Romney, don't worry, we plan on having one open house event in each region of the state. The first open house will be held at the Bank of Romney Community Building.

The open house is a no commitment relaxed atmosphere event for people who are interested in adopting or providing foster care in WV. An experienced foster mother who has also adopted will be at the open house to speak about the kind of real life experiences you can expect. Also, we will have speakers from the WV Dept. of Health and Human Resources, Children's Home Society and most likely Burlington United Methodist Family Services. At this event, you will be able to learn more about the foster/adoption certification process, waiting children and international adoption.

This open house is FREE and light food will be provided! If you have any questions or would like more information, please call 866-CALL-MWV or email crobey(at)missionwv.org

We hope to see you there and if you would like to help plan the open house events in either region I,II or IV, please call!

What exactly is PRIDE training and how do I sign up?

Any family who is interested in becoming certified to provide foster care and/or adopt a foster child, must complete the PRIDE training course and have a completed homestudy. PRIDE stands for Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education. The training covers topics including child abuse/ neglect, emotional and behavioral issues, discipline, and overviews of adoption and foster care.

While at the training you will have an excellent opportunity to meet with other families who are also going through the certification process. We also have a letter from a couple who took the PRIDE training and wanted to share more about their experience.

"My husband J and I completed the PRIDE classes last month. We were told we needed 27 hours of training to become foster/adoptive parents. We couldn't imagine what they would teach us since we already raised two boys and have two grandsons. Not that we know it all, but 27 hours?!?! Well, now we would like to say this: The classes provided us with so much information and necessary skills to prepare us for a child who has experienced losses. We had a wonderful teacher who did a great job sharing her knowledge and experiences. We learned things we didn't know anything about and now realize how important this information will be in caring for foster/adoptive children." - J & B from Pennsboro WV

We thank this couple for sharing their story and if you have a positive and encouraging foster/adoptive story to share, please email us! Our email is adopt@missionwv.org

If you are interested in becoming certified, please give us a call at 866-CALL-MWV and we will send you more information. Also, there is a calendar of PRIDE trainings listed on the WVDHHR website and can be viewed by clicking here: http://www.wvdhhr.org/oss/adoption/adoption_calendar/diary.asp

MWV is hiring 4 more Resource Navigators

Mission WV is hiring four "Resource Navigators" to assist and provide resources to families within their own community. Navigators will be available for one on one discussion, attend foster/adoptive related media events, recruit foster parents and spread a positive message about foster care/adoption throughout their community and seek out resources for foster children and kinship/relative families.

If you are intersted in becoming a Resource Navigator, please click here to read more: Letter describing the position and requirements. After reading this information you may decide to apply and you can find the application by clicking here: Resource Navigator Application.

The deadline for the application is September 10th. If you have any questions, please call 304-562-0723 and ask for Carrie. Thanks!

luggage for foster children and youth!

We would like to thank the Charleston Gazette for publishing this article: Luggage for foster kids to help our mission of providing luggage for foster children. We would also like to thank all of the kind people who have called in and donated luggage for foster children. There is a camp for foster children this month in WV and we are most certain all of the children will be able to leave camp with their belongings in luggage - not trash bags! Many foster children end up carrying their belongings around in garbage bags and we are trying to change that. With the kindness and generosity of others, we can accomplish this goal. Pictured above is just a portion of the luggage we have been able to collect as a result of this article. Thank you again and again.

If you have gently used or new luggage to donate, please call 304-562-0723 and ask for Carrie.

New Carrie's Kids Segments!

News anchor/reporter Carrie Cline of WSAZ does a segment called Carrie's Kids. On this segment, Carrie interviews children form KY and WV who are legally eligible to be adopted and they are waiting on a forever family. The Carrie's Kids segments run every other TUESDAY on Channel 3 WSAZ news at approximately 5 o'clock PM. If WSAZ news isn't available in your area, you may watch the videos online by visiting www.wsaz.com/carrieskids

On July 9th, the owners of Camden Park generously opened their park to KY and WV foster children and workers so that Carrie could interview several children. Toby was interviewed while playing a game of air hockey and you can watch his video on the Carrie's Kids page linked above. If you live in WV, expect to see children from WV featured on August 10, September 7, October 5 and on November 2.

If you are interested in providing foster care or adopting a child/youth, please call us at 304-562-0723 or you can reach us by calling our toll free number at 866-CALL-MWV. You may also reach us by email at adopt(at)missionwv.org

Thanks for reading and please let us know if you have any questions. Thank you WSAZ news, Carrie Cline and Camden Park for making this wonderful day at Camden Park possible for foster children.

Announcement: Mini-Grants for adoptive and foster family support groups in WV

Five $500.00 mini-grants will be issued to adoptive and foster family support groups in West Virginia. To apply for a mini-grant, please send your completed application packets to Mission West Virginia by June 25th, 2010. The grant application can be downloaded by clicking here: MWV Mini-Grant Application.

Preference will be given to newly formed or start-up groups. Preference will also be given to groups that have never received a mini-grant from Mission West Virginia before.

There are a few grant guidelines that can also be found by downloading the application.

If you have any questions about the application please call Rachel Probst at 866-CALL-MWV or email rprobst@missionwv.org

This project is made possible by the support of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

Walk Me Home Photos!

WOW! Walk Me Home was AWESOME again this year! Check out this animoto video of photos that were taken at the walk. We can always add more photos to the video, so if you have some to share - please send them our way!

Thanks again to everyone who took part in making this event so successful and fun!

Walk Me Home was a success!

Pictured above: Kaitlyn Boyles, daughter of Rita and Bob Boyes, at Walk Me Home 2010

Thank you to everyone who made Walk Me Home a successful event this year! We were able to raise near $10,000 and around 150 people came out on May 15th to walk.

There have been a couple newspaper articles published about our walk, so please click on the links below to read more!

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x631787634/Walk-for-foster-care-a-success

http://wvgazette.com/News/201005211040

We will be posting more photos soon!

Walk Me Home

Click here to watch the Walk Me Home video: Walk Me Home

Walk Me Home is on Saturday and we hope to see you there! It is really important that we recognize National Foster Care Month and honor those who open their homes and provide foster care. In America, there are over 500,000 children in foster care and in WV there are approximately 4,000 children in the state's care. Please help us to recognize the compassionate people who make a difference in the lives of children by serving as foster parents, relative caregivers, mentors, advocates, social workers and volunteers. Thank to these people, many children and teens will either safely reunite with their parents, be care for by relatives, or be adopted by loving families.

There are approximately 1,000 children in WV who are legally eligible to be adopted. Some of those children as well as adoptive/foster families are featured in a video we have made that features the Walk Me Home theme song. To view this video, please click on the link at the top of this article.

We thank all of those who work to better the lives of children. And while a lot is being done to help our youth, more help is needed. According to information provided by the National Association of Foster Parents, if nothing changes by 2020:

- Nearly 14 million confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect will be reported
- 22,500 children will die of abuse or neglect, most before their fifth birthday
- More than 9,000,000 children will experience the foster care system
- More than 300,000 children will age of our foster care system, in poor health and ill-prepared for success in higher education, technical college or the workforce
- 99,000 former foster youth, who aged out of the system, can expect to experience homelessness.

So please, if you haven't already registered or sponsored a walker, visit http://www.walkmehome.org/ to do so!

We can't wait to see you all on Saturday!

Save the Date! Another FREE workshop!

FREE Workshops on:

"What the Fostering Connections Act Means to You and Families" presented by Joanne M. Brown, JD, MSW, National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues
AND
"An Overview of WV Grandparent Visitation and Minor Guardianship Law" presented by Honorable Mike Kelly, Eleventh Family Circuit Court.

When: Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 - 10 AM to 3PM

Where: YWCA 305 Washington Ave. Clarksburg, WV 26301

Who Should Attend: Kinship families including grandparents raising grandchildren, Foster Parentes, Attorneys, Judges, FRN Directors, DHHR Staff, WVU Extension Services Staff, Private Agency Staff, CASA Staff and Volunteers, Social Workers, and other interested people.
Lunch and child care up to age 12 provided.

Preregistration for workshop and childcare must be made by MAY 14th. To register, call Mission WV toll free at 866.CALL.MWV (866-225-5698) or email Laura Lou Harbert at lharbert(at)missionwv.org

This workshop is a joint effort of Mission WV, the WV Department of Health and Human Resources, the Supreme Court of Appeals of WV, Legal Aid of WV, the American Bar Association, WVU Extension Services and the Bureau of Senior Services.