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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

FREE Relatives as Parents Legal 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 Court Circuit.

When: Saturday, March 27, 2010 - 10AM to 3PM

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 MARCH 19. 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.

To view and download the flyer, visit this link: http://www.missionwv.org/frameworks/News.html

Walk Me Home 2010!!!

FrameWorks is excited to announce that we have a date set for the Walk Me Home 2010 event! Please join us on Saturday May 15th at the Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, WV for a foster care celebration and fundraiser.

The website is now open for registration and we hope that you register soon! By clicking here: Walk Me Home 2010, you can visit the Walk Me Home website and either form a team, register as an individual, or make a contribution.

We are really excited to see everyone who attended the walk last year and we hope to see new faces this year. Walk Me Home provides a great opportunity for foster care supporters from all over the state to come together in celebration of those who dedicate their lives to improving the lives of children while also remembering the thousands of West Virginia children in the foster care system.

Last year, the weather was beautiful and we all had SO MUCH FUN! We hope that this year is just as wonderful and we will have prizes for the top 3 fundraisers and a plaque for the top fundraising team.

Funds raised from the event will go towards the Recruitment and Retention Collaborative and to FrameWorks Programming, which works to empower the lives of WV foster children and recruit families for children who are legally eligible for adoption and waiting for a forever family.

If you are interested in volunteering, we would appreciate your help!

We look forward to another great Walk Me Home event and hope to see you there!

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!

Computer training for WV foster children

During the week after Christmas, our e-impact tech program at Mission WV was able to team up with FrameWorks on a project that combined the mission of empowering foster youth's lives and teaching technology to the youth throughout our state. Thanks to a grant given by the Mollohan Foundation, Mission West Virginia was able to provide free computer training to a few of the foster youth who live at Stepping Stones, a group facility for foster children. The program called BIKISI, stands for Build it Keep it Share it. Youth who participate in the program are given the tools, parts, and knowledge to build a computer of their very own that they are allowed to keep at the end of the week.

“These young men were not able to visit with family over the holiday” said Susan Fry, Stepping Stones Executive Director, “and the positive engagement, knowledge and priceless opportunity this program afforded them certainly brought a smile to their faces during a time that is very difficult for many of our kids.”

We are so happy that this was such a good experience for everyone involved. We hope to continue seeking funds so that more foster youth can also have the opportunity to get involved in the BIKISI Program.

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

PRIDE Training - The Adoption Process

There are several steps in the process of certification so that one can adopt, and one of the most important steps is called PRIDE. PRIDE stands for Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education and is a training is designed to prepare you for fostering/adopting and explain the details of becoming a foster/adoptive family.

The training is designed to help you gain the best possible understanding and preparation for parenting and adopted or foster child. The training provides an excellent opportunity to meet with other families and social workers, answer your questions, ease fears, dispel myths and educate yourself on children in the child welfare system. In a two parent household, both parents are required to attend training. The standard training in West Virginia is called PRIDE. Training schedules vary between agencies, however many try to accommodate workday schedules and host trainings on evenings or weekends.

At this point, you might be asking yourself why you have to take this training. You are probably thinking something along the lines of "I've raised 2 kids, I have grandkids, I know what I am doing!" However, we would like you to read the following story from two recently certified foster parents and hopefully this will ease you into being more comfortable with PRIDE training.

"My husband John and I completed the PRIDE training 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."

We hope that you too are able to register for a PRIDE training and receive such wonderful instruction. If you are interested in becoming a foster/adoptive parents and would like to know more about PRIDE, please give us a call at 866-CALL-MWV. Or perhaps you have a PRIDE training story you would like to share?

Thanks for reading and for the PRIDE training calendar, follow this link: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!

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!