FSFAPA Board Meeting
Nov. 24, 2014 – 8:30 p.m.
Conference Call
Submitted for approval by FSFAPA Secretary Charles Parker.
Meeting started by Trudy at 8:33 p.m.
Following were in attendance: Trudy Petkovich (President), Harriett Wynn (Exec VP, President-elect), Orlando Avila (Director of Programs), Maria Bond (Treasurer), Charles Parker (Secretary), Kara Elliot-Jordan (RVP), Lillie Blackshear (RVP), Dorothy Alvarez (RVP), Trish Allen (Adoptions), Lynda Thompson (Parliamentarian/Bylaws/Conference Chair), Coleen LaCosta (FAST Coordinator), Victoria Herrin (Band Manager), Amanda Williams (Nex Gen/IL), , Harry Dubia (Membership), Gay Frizzell (QPI Advisor) and Carrie Toy (DCF Advisor).
Not in attendance: Chris Johnson (RVP), Keith Best (RVP), Wendy Vernon (Advocacy), David Brown (CBC Advisor),
Meeting kicked off with a report from Carrie; the first item was that DCF had approved to pay for 1 Foster Parent from each CBC to attend the QPI National Conference in California (Jan 20-22 in San Diego). They are also expecting to send 1 additional per DCF region (at this point this included one licensing person, a CPI, 3-4 youth shine members). Carrie also will be attending. (On the board several members expressed they are already planning on going: Coleen, Harriet, Amanda)
Carrie also announced that the Office of Child Welfare is going to do something a little different. For their holiday party they are doing a “Secret Santa” with a twist: Instead of buying a gift for the person, find a toy that represents that employee, and at the end of the party all the collected toys will be donated to a FAPA. The board decided that because this is happening in Tallahassee, and because of timing and logistic issues, the donation should be to Big Bend FAPA.
Gay had nothing specific to announce on QPI, but was excited that Carrie’s announcement will increase Florida’s footprint at the QPI conference and reinforce the state as the “voice of experience” for the attendees that are newer to the process.
Trudy announced that David Brown is leaving his CBC position in SW Florida to join Gay and Carole Shauffer at QPI. He wants to remain active with the association, and the board will begin looking for someone to fill his CBC advisor role.
Trudy also mentioned that Trudie Poole had submitted her resignation; and she has asked Coleen to step into the position (Coleen accepted)
Harriet updated the board on the recent NFPA mid-year meeting 2 weeks earlier;
• NFPA thanked FSFAP for our effort on the joint conference
• NFPA currently undergoing a redesign, dropping the RVP model
• Several state issues addressed (California – retention; Oklahoma lawsuit over hiring and en masse resignations of nearly 700; Nebraska now refusing to give FPs copies of case plans)
• NFPA membership stagnated
• Working on a journal for caregivers (would like state FAPAs to promote)
• Next conference at Norfolk, VA, site presenting issues with food and transportation challenges.
Trudy also called for any additional year-end reports. They are due now, with the exception of the financial report which is still active (Maria). Maria promised a provisional financial report soon.
Moving to the Secretary/Webmaster report, Charlie belatedly asked for and received approval of the minutes (with corrections) from the October meeting (motion my Harriet, second by Dorothy, no opposition).
Charlie reported that the website stats are settling into a predictable trend, with more than 2,600 visits for the last two months and projected to be similar this month (even with the holidays.) The thing that he is more impressed with is the “organic” rankings in search engines, if you look for “foster parent associations” on Google we are currently in the No. 5 and 6 positions on the first page. (It has updated on Nov. 30 to FloridaFAPA.org pages now appearing in the 4-5 and 6 positions.) Meaning if someone is looking for us, they are extremely likely to find us.
Charlie also thanked Coleen for her work in keeping the posts on the association’s FB page fresh – we have more than 1,500 “likes” and are maintaining a strong reach for posts. The FB page is really our “daily general voice” with much conversation – while our webpage is positioning more as a resource for information and assistance.
Harriet reported that she is still searching for a Suncoast RVP, she has reached out to Pinellas County FAPA president Mark Haley and has not heard back.
Trish reported that the Post adoption survey deadline from DCF has been extended to Nov. 30, but that some CBCs were still just now sending them out. Many board members indicated they had either just received them – or still had not received any.
There was no significant update on the Winter Mini Conference other than things were progressing as expected, Orlando was going to follow up and email any updates he received.
No Legislative or Duffels updates due to absences.
Next Call is Dec. 29.
Call was adjourned at 9:14 p.m. by motion by Orlando, seconded by Charlie. No opposition.
