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.

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.

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!

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

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.

MWV has billboards!

Mission West Virginia has billboards going up throughout the state! We hope that those who see our board, give us a call! There are two billboards in Clarksburg and one in Fairmont. There are three more and we will give an update soon so you can seek them out.

If you do live in Clarksburg or you are in the area, you can see our billboards on Rt. 50 near Minard's Spaghetti on "dealership row" and on West Pike St. just off of Rt. 50 headed into downtown Clarksburg.

The board in Fairmont is on Locust Ave at Beverly St. near intersection routes 250 and 19.

And out of curiosity, do you pay attention to billboards when you are out and about? If so, what makes one catch your attention. Where do you go to seek out information?

Thanks for reading!

Support foster/adoptive programming and win!

The Hurricane Rite Aid has generously provided an Easter Basket valued at $216.87 to be raffled for a good cause. All funds raised from the raffle will be donated to Mission West Virginia’s FrameWorks program, which works to find loving families for foster children in WV.
The Easter Basket contains a Polaroid MegaPixel Camera, a remote control Mini Cooper, a Hurricane Redskin Hoodie, two Hurricane Redskin bears, Disney Pez, and a variety of candy and other goodies. You may purchase a one chance ticket for $1 or ten tickets for $5.

We hope if you live in the area you stop by and buy a few tickets!

Adoption/foster Resource Library

If you are interested in learning more about adoption, foster care, kinship care, child behavior, mental health, parenting, etc. it is likely that you will be able to find the information in the FrameWorks' Resource Library. A variety of books,DVDs, periodicals and articles are available for loan and three (3) books can be "checked out" at one time. (Photocopied copies of articles and other publications will be provided and will not count toward your borrowing limit).

To view a complete list of the resources available through the FrameWorks' Library, click on the following link: FRAMEWORKS RESOURCE LIBRARY

Books are due back three weeks from the date of being mailed or given to recipient. A pre-addressed and stamped mailing envelope will be provided. Materials should be returned via media mail. If books are not returned within one month , the borrowing party will be responsible for the replacement costs.

Borrowing requests may be made by phone (1-866-CALL-MWV/304-562-0723) or by e-mail (rprobst(at)missionwv.org).

Requests may be made for materials which are not currently available through the resource library. Materials will be purchased based on funding availability and relevance of topic.

Thanks for reading the FrameWorks Blog and please call us if you have any questions.
866-CALL-MWV

Thanks and have a great Wednesday!

12 ways to support foster care all year long

After the blog article I wrote about resolving to make the difference in someone else's life this new year, one of our facebook "fans" asked for suggestions of how they could help to empower the lives of foster children and those who are dedicated to either finding or providing forever families that can provide a home filled with support and love. So, we came up with a list! If you would like to do everything on this list or just one thing on this list, it will provide more support and encouragement than you could ever being to realize. Also, if you would like any help in fulfilling any of the "ways to help" on the list below, just call us and we would be more than glad to help out.

Thanks for reading and we hope to hear from you. Do you have any ideas to add on to this list?

FrameWorks' 12 ways to support foster care:

1. January - Write a note to a foster kid that provides encouragement and advice for the new year.
2. February – Bake heart shaped cookies and donate them to a group home facility.
3. March – send flowers to a social worker who works hard to find families for children. A group of people could chip in on this and a member of the FrameWorks staff could help you with finding a social worker to give to if you don’t already have one.
4. April – put together a “rainy day” care package for a kid living at a group facility.
5. May – Make a team for Walk Me Home! The walk will be May 15th this year!
6. June - Time for another care package that could include sidewalk chalk/beach towel/sun screen.
7. July – Send 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.
8. August – School will be starting and a little pencil pouch full of cool pencils, pens and erasers would be a handy gift to give a foster child.
9. September – this is a time of year when a lot of kids get to go school shopping with their families and children living in a group facility don’t get to enjoy that experience. A gift card to a clothing store would come in handy and an adoption recruiter could go for a one on one shopping trip with one of their kids. This way, the kid would get to feel extra special.
10. October – My favorite, Halloween! Send a group home a bunch of candy or Halloween themed baked items. Maybe by now you have been buying for one special foster kid who needs a family and you would like to buy them a mask or something fun to wear on Halloween.
11. November – November is National Adoption month and a tough 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 foster children who are waiting for a family.
12. December – The holidays are here! You know what you can do!

Happy 2010!

The staff at FrameWorks hopes you have all had a wonderful holiday season and are now getting back into the routine of daily life. At the office this week, we are reviewing the past year and discussing our goals for 2010. 2009 was a great year and several of the children we work with were placed in permanent homes with loving forever families, but the work isn't finished until every foster child in our state has a family.

Leading up to Christmas and the New Year, I kept thinking about the children we work with who would be spending the holiday at a group home or treatment facility. We do all we can to make the holiday extra special for these children and I cannot thank everyone enough who donated gifts.

With each new year, many of us come up with personal resolutions to lose weight, finish a project, quit smoking, etc. I thought it would be nice if FrameWorks and our blog readers came up with resolutions to help others. For example, what can you do this year to make sure another foster teen doesn't spend another Christmas at a group home? Or, what can you do this year to empower the life of a foster child?

Please comment on this post with resolutions of how you plan to help out someone else this year. By making a donation, buying personal items, etc. What are your ideas?!

Thanks for reading!

Carrie

Foster Parents Forming Statewide Group

An article was posted in the Charleston Gazette today about the new group that is being formed in West Virginia. To read all about it, please click on the following link: http://wvgazette.com/News/200912040573

We hope you give us a call at 866-CALL-MWV and speak with Rachel if you are interested in participating!

Please vote for Mission West Virginia

Chase Community Giving is giving away 5 million dollars to various charities and is letting YOU pick which ones! All you have to do is vote for your favorite nonprofit organization, (Mission WV!), and the top 100 organizations will receive 25k!!! We, like many nonprofit organizations, could really use this donation and we know that if our supporters and friends pull together, we can be a part of that top 100!

Please click here: Vote for Mission West Virginia! or on one of the two image links in this post and vote for us! We sure do appreciate it, and we would really appreciate it if you would ask all of your friends, family and neighbors to support us as well.

FrameWorks is a program of Mission West Virginia that works to find loving forever families for children in West Virginia who are legally eligible for adoption. With approximately 1000 children legally eligible for adoption and waiting for a family of their own, we could really use your help! It only takes a couple seconds!

Thank you very much!

Please give to WV Foster Children this holiday season!

Have you been wondering what you can do to help someone else out this holiday season? If so, we have a great opportunity for you to make a foster child's Christmas extra special this year!

FrameWorks has teamed up with eight Rite Aid stores to receive gift donations for West Virginia Foster Children. With approximately 4,000 children in the WV foster care system, we ask that you open your life to them and give from the heart.

You can currently donate gifts to foster children at one of the eight Rite Aids at the following locations: Hurricane, Teays Valley, St. Albans, Charleston (South Hills), S. Charleston (McCorkle Ave.), Charleston (West Washington Street), Dunbar, and Huntington (5th Ave.). Barrels that have been decorated with art created by foster children are available at each store for the deposit of gifts.

Thanks for giving and if you have any questions or would like to donate directly to FrameWorks, give us a call at 866-CALL-MWV.

Happy Holidays!

Adoption Month Press Conference

A National Adoption Month Press Conference was held yesterday at The Supreme Court Chambers in Charleston, West Virginia. The purpose of the conference was to promote awareness of the thousands of children in foster care and encourage West Virginians to consider adoption.

Speakers included, Steven Canterbury (Administrative Director), Chief Justice Brent D. Benjamin, Justice Workman, and concluded with a touching adoption story from the E family about their special choice to adopt two different sets of siblings after first having a biological daughter. Spoken with love and compassion in his voice, the adoptive father's story was very touching and when his 9 year old adoptive daughter spoke, almost everyone in the crowd was in tears. His daughter, spoke of the many homes she had lived in while in foster care and about how happy she is now that she has found love in her new adoptive family with her new mommy and daddy.

Above: The E family with Justice Workman
Chief Justice Benjamin and Justice Workman spoke about their personal experiences with adoption as well as their professional experiences helping children who have been abused and/or neglected. As they mentioned, there are thousands of children in the foster care system and approximately 1,000 of them in WV are legally eligible to be adopted and waiting for a permanent family. Chief Justice Benjamin mentioned how important it is for West Virginians to help our children and realize the small things that are important in the life of a child. A child who is waiting to be adopted doesn't have a family of their own to come home to after school, a family to eat dinner with, or a family to be encouraged by.

Those who spoke, urged everyone listening to open their lives, hearts and homes to West Virginia children. There are so many wonderful kids in our state who are legally eligible for adoption, but sadly, their age or other circumstances keep them from finding a loving family. We at FrameWorks encourage you to please visit our website (click here: Waiting Children) or visit the State's site http://www.adoptawvchild.org/ and learn more about the children in West Virginia who are waiting for a loving family. Also, our number is 866-CALL-MWV and we are waiting to hear from you.

A special thank you to Nikki Tennis and staff of the Administrative Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals of WV for organizing and hosting this wonderful event.

Event Reminder!

We hope to see you on Saturday at the Clay Center in Charleston, West Virginia for our big National Adoption Day Event! Below is a recap of the schedule:

Starting at 3 PM, event participants will have free access to the Discovery Museum, followed by refreshments and a luminary project for children at the Intermezzo café from 4:45 to 5:30. The celebration will conclude outside with a candlelight ceremony.

We hope that if adoption has touched your life in any way or if you would like to open your heart and life to adoption, that you join us.

If you have thought about adoption, what kinds of questions do you have? Please feel free to comment on our blog and we can get some discussion going! Or, if you feel more comfortable making a phone call, our number is 866-CALL-MWV. Thanks for reading our blog and we look forward to seeing you this Saturday at the Clay Center in Charleston, WV!

A BIG THANKS to IHOP of Barboursville, WV!

Above: IHOP's friendly Staff

We had a wonderful event last night at the IHOP in Barboursville. We had several people show up in support of the event and met lots of new people. The highlight of the evening was seeing the Bo family with their daughter J. J’s adoption was finalized yesterday morning and we celebrated with cake and balloons!

Above: The B family entering IHOP

20% of proceeds between the hours of 5 to 9 PM will be donated to FrameWorks. The IHOP staff worked really hard for us and were very accommodating. We are most appreciative for everything Barboursville IHOP and their wonderful staff have done to help us empower the lives of West Virginia Foster Children.

Above, FrameWorks adoption worker, Carol Phipps,

talks with adoptive parent and friend of FrameWorks, Rita Boyles.
And below: Kellie Booton and Patti Harold, WVDHHR Social Workers

came out to support FrameWorks!We would like to thank everyone who came out in support of FrameWorks last night!