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

A Happy Adoption Story

Please follow this link: http://www.wgal.com/news/21907362/detail.html to watch a video and read an article about a man, 93, who adopts his 64 year old foster son who has been living with him since the age of 14.

Do you have a touching adoption story you would like to share? We would love to post it on our blog or possibly in our newsletter.

Please give us a call at 866-CALL-MWV or send an email to adopt(at)missionwv.org

Have a wonderful evening!

A recap of The National Adoption Day Event!

WOW! The 2009 National Adoption Day event went better than we could have asked for! Almost 200 adoption/foster care supporters came together to celebrate the love and joys of adoption while remembering the thousands of children in the U.S. who are legally eligible for adoption and waiting for a forever family.

The event started off with two hours of play time at the Clay Center Discovery Museum. At approximately 5 o'clock, all of the children were asked to participate in a craft in which they decorated a luminary for the candlelight vigil. While the craft was going on, participants were treated to light snacks of fruits, vegetables and a delicious cake.

During the vigil, the luminaries surrounded the statue of children in the front court of the Clay Center. Being in the presence of so many wonderful families and children was inspiring and heartwarming. Seeing the candles lit at the vigil provided a beautiful image of how important it is to be the light of a child's life, which was the theme of this year's event. Following the same theme, all of our speakers beautiful stories provided a light of their own as we all reflected on the importance of opening our lives to children who are waiting for a family.

Speakers at the event included Michelle Bush, CASA Executive Director, Barbara Pryor, Legislative Assistant, David & Dawn Heatwole, Adoptive family and 2009 Angels in Adoption Recipients, and adopted teen Amber Beal spoke about adoption and the importance of coming together to celebrate such a special cause.

Thank you WVDHHR and the WV Retention and Recruitment Collaborative for sponsoring the event and thank you to every member of the R&R Collaborative - this was definitely a group effort and everyone did such a wonderful job helping out! Also, thank you to the Clay Center for your hospitality. We can't thank everyone who helped out enough!

Below are pictures of the event and we promise to keep them coming! If you took any pictures at the event and would like to share them, please send them to us - Email: crobey(at)missionwv.org

2009 Drawing Contest Update!

We have great news! Sheetz is making a donation to the 2009 National Adoption Month Drawing Contest for the purchase of gift cards for prizes! We now have a very nice Sony Cybershot Digital Camera with a memory card for the grand prize winner, and funding to provide gift cards to many of the children who participate!

We are excited about this year's drawing contest as entries have slowly started making their way into our mailbox, however, we feel that more time should be allotted for the children/youth to submit their art and we have extended the due date until October 28th. We will be accepting art for the drawing contest as long as it is post marked by October 28th! So please, spread the word and submit your children's/youth's artwork - they have a great chance of winning a prize. Also, art is such a wonderful creative outlet of expression and with this year's theme "My Dreams" we hope that the children and youth who participate are able to realize their strengths and know that their dreams and goals are limitless.

We are so grateful to the donor of the digital camera and to Sheetz for providing prize money for this great cause. Thank you to everyone who has helped out, we can't wait to post photos of the art after the final submissions are made. To learn more and download the entry form, please click here: 2009 Drawing Contest.

Walk Me Home...to the place I belong.

On May 23rd 2009, the National Foster Parent Association, the WV Recruitment and Retention Collaborative and Mission,WV sponsored a walk called "Walk Me Home...to the place I belong" to raise funds for foster care programming throughout WV. Foster parents, adoptive parents, social workers, friends, family, everyone, joined together to make this event a success and we were able to raise over 15 thousand dollars!

On Saturday July 18th, Melvin Gravely, National Foster Parent Association Board President presented FrameWorks' employee Rachel Probst with a check for the remainder of the funds that were raised online.

Also, Saturday July 18th marked the date for the second meeting of the WV chapter of the NFPA. At the latest meeting, the group developed a mission statement: To Support and Advocate for WV Resource Families.

The group developed strategic directives and went over bylaws and 501(c)3 information. The next meeting will be held on Saturday, September 12 in Morgantown, with exact location still to be determined. An interim board will be elected at the next meeting. For more information on joining the WV chapter of the National Foster Parent Association, please give us a call at 866-CALL-MWV.

Again, thank you to all of those who made Walk Me Home a success. We look forward to next year's walk!

What is a Home Study?

A home study is a series of meetings between you and an agency social worker. Once you have applied to adopt, all 50 states require by law that applicants go through a home study, which is a study of a family and their home. This process involves education and preparation as well as a gathering of information about the applicants. As an applicant, you may need to gather documents such as:

Birth Certificates (for yourself and your spouse if applicable)
Your Marriage License
Child Abuse Clearance
Personal References
An autobiographical statement
Some agencies may require a health statement
You are usually asked to verify your income by providing an income statement

You will also go have several interviews with your home finder. It is important to know that the home finder isn't doing a "white glove" inspection, but is learning more about you and your family to verify that the child will be entering a safe and healthy environment.

While it may seem intimidating to face the entire process and gather all of this information, if you are armed with accurate information you can face the home study experience with confidence and the excitement of knowing you will be welcoming a new child into your loving family.

On average, a home study takes between three to six months.

If you have any more questions about the adoption process of home studies, please call FrameWorks at 866-CALL-MWV or email adopt@missionwv.org

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Dine for Kids

On Wednesday August 26th, 2009, if you eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the Southridge Bob Evans in Charleston, WV 15% of the proceeds will go to FrameWorks! All you have to do is give the cashier our flyer when you pay your bill! Please download and print the flyer by visiting: http://www.missionwv.org/frameworks/News.html

Please distribute the flyer to all of your friends and family and don't forget to bring it with you when you Dine for Kids!

The flyer can be used when you carryout or dine in. We hope this is a successful event and we look forward to seeing you at Bob Evans on Wednesday, August 26th!
The Southridge Bob Evans is located at 2809 Mountaineer Blvd.

Miss West Virginia!

Yesterday, June 30th, we were pleased to have a meeting with Miss West Virginia 2009, Talia Markam. We would like to congratulate Talia on her accomplishment and we are very excited to partner with her on our common goal of finding permanent loving families for foster children in West Virginia.

Talia is an advocate for children and their right to have a safe home and a loving family. She is very educated and passionate about issues surrounding foster care and we couldn't be more excited to work with Talia during the upcoming year. We will keep you updated on this partnership and again, CONGRATULATIONS Talia!

The children pictured in this photo are legally eligible to be adopted. If you have any questions about adoption and/or foster care, please contact us at 866-CALL-MWV or email adopt(at)missionwv(dot)org