Sunshine Health offers Trauma Informed Care Courses

Graham Perkovich of Sunshine Health shared that they are holding Trauma Informed Care (TIC) online trainings.  The trainings are live webinars in the evenings, (register on the links below) and then enjoy some great evening trainings!  All trainings are at no cost, and all participants will receive a certificate of attendance, within 5 business days. https://attendee.gototraining.com/3jw00/catalog/2750617808034076672?tz=America/New_York Trauma Informed Care (TIC) training dates: TIC part 2            January 31, 2017 from 7:00 PM- 8:30 Eastern Time TIC part 3             February 13, 2017 from 7:00 PM- 8:30 Eastern Time TIC part 4             February 27, 2017 from 7:00 PM- 8:30 Eastern Time TIC part 5             March 13, 2017 from 7:00 PM- 8:30 Eastern Time

FCC’s Rally in Tally Schedule Released

Join the Florida Coalition for Children Foundation in advocating on behalf of  Florida’s abused, abandoned, neglected and at-risk children at Rally in Tally! Register Now (See FSFAPA’s event page for Rally in Tally for additional updates) Rally in Tally is dedicated to educating our foster youth, families, and child welfare workers on advocating for their needs with Florida’s lawmakers. We want to offer our advocates, especially our youth, the opportunity to meet one-on-one with legislators and share their stories and experiences. As part of the child welfare system, they bring awareness to the issues facing the system each day across the state. This year, we will offer our members the opportunity to take one of two workshops: Advocacy 101, geared toward our youth and families or those who are new to the legislative process; and Advocacy 102, focused on refreshing those who have advocated previously and who are leading discussions on the Coalition’s legislative priorities. Event Timeline: Monday, January 9 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. CEO Cocktail Reception DoubleTree An informal opportunity to network and discuss the upcoming event, the cocktail reception will feature light hors d’oeuvres, beer, and wine. Legislators are invited to attend. Tuesday, January 10 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Event TBA Lunch – On Your Own 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Registration City Hall 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Workshops – Advocacy 101 and 102 City Hall Advocacy 101 – All foster and adopted youth, families, and staff are invited to attend this workshop focused on introducing participants to the legislative process, advocating on behalf of the child welfare system and etiquette.Advocacy 102 – All CEOs, lobbyists and executives are invited to attend this workshop focused on the Coalition’s legislative priorities and advocacy efforts for the 2017 Legislative Session. 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Pizza Party Fire Betty’s Arcade Bar Camp Warrior and the Florida Coalition for Children Foundation invite all Rally in Tally attendees to join us for an Old Fashioned Pizza Party at Fire Betty’s Arcade Bar! Food, Drinks, and Arcade Tokens will be provided! Wednesday, January 11 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Legislative Kick-Off Breakfast Capitol Building, 22nd Floor Join us as we kick off the 2017 Legislative Session and hear from some of child welfare’s leading legislative advocates, and a special appearance by All-American and former Florida State Seminole, Corey Simon! 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Meetings with Legislators Capitol Building The Florida Coalition for Children Foundation encourages you to meet with legislators during this time, for more information on how to schedule those meetings, please click here Participating is easy… Register for the Event!Your payment of $60/person; or $100/Foster Family can be made online with your registration. All registrations are final and refunds will not be given. Only substitutions or transfers will be allowed. Reserve Your Hotel Room!This year Rally in Tally has partnered with two Hilton properties in Tallahassee to offer our participants a discounted group rate: DoubleTree offers both 1- and 2-bed Guest Rooms, and is located just 2 blocks from Kleman Plaza. The group rate they are offering Rally in Tally registrants is $169/night. You can reserve your room with DoubleTree (link coming soon). You can reserve your room with DoubleTree online, or by calling 877-800-2652 (be sure to reference group code “Rally in Tally”). Home 2 Suites offers both 1-Queen and 2-Queen Suites, and is located less than 1.5 mi from Kleman Plaza. The group rate they are offering Rally in Tally registrants is $119/night. You can reserve your room with Home2Suites online, or by calling 850-402-8900 (be sure to reference group code “Rally in Tally”). Contact Legislators to Schedule Meetings!Click here to learn more about scheduling meetings with your local representatives.

Lawmakers consider therapy dogs, other benefits for foster children

Click to see original story on News4Jax website. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Therapy dogs in court and free family access to state parks are among provisions pending before the Florida Legislature next year to help foster children. Alan Abromowitz, executive director for the state’s guardian ad litem program, said he thinks having dogs with children who have to go through the justice system will be helpful. “It makes a big difference in kids being able to testify,” Abromowitz said. “The courts love it, but most important, it reduces trauma.” State Sen. Aaron Bean sponsored two of three proposed bills next session aimed at helping those in the state’s foster-care system to grow and thrive. Bean calls the state park fee waiver a win-win. “It’s a small token to say, ‘Thank you,’” Bean said. “We know going to a park is a great way to bond with your family.” Bean is also supporting helping foster families with expenses when the children turn 15 and qualify to start driving. “I have a driver in my household, and it increases your insurance. It increases the wear and tear on a vehicle,” Bean said. Abromowitz said this bill, called the Keys to Independence Act, is already in use for select families and he’s hopeful it will gain statewide traction. “It was pilot, and we want to make it permanent, and Aaron Bean is a champion for kids, so we’re excited about him taking on these two issues,” Abromowitz said. The 2017 legislative session begins March 7. Copyright 2016 by WJXT News4Jax – All rights reserved.

2016-11-28 BOD Minutes

Board of Directors Meeting Conference Call Monday, November 28, 2016 Meeting opened at 8:35 pm by President Harriett Wynn Roll call see attendance chart attached – Curtis Byrd Minutes of the previous meeting were distributed.  A motion was made by Anne Whiteside and seconded by Amanda Williams.  The minutes were passed with corrections as needed. Treasurers Report – Maria Bond Maria sent a vendors list to Trudy for change of address notification Maria reported: Income $195,493.32 Expense  $174,167.73 Net  $21,325.59 Bank Account Balance  $116,853 Transition of the Treasurer – Maria & Denise have spoken and some equipment needs to be purchased, Maria will discuss with the Executive Board.  They have one more call before meeting in person for the transition of the accounts. Chris Johnson reported on the RVP – Trudy has the names of several in the Southern Region who are interested in the position and we hope to make a decision in the next week or so. For those who do not know Melissa has moved from the Suncoast Region, but she is still covering the RVP position.  Chris spoke with someone from Duncoast and he will connect again after Thanksgiving. Hopefully, we will fill that position soon. No trending problems with the RVP’s, as a reminder please have your reports in on time.  Please send on a separate document.  Do not send as part of an email.  Make sure you put the date and your name on it.  If they are not on time we can’t get our report to DCF on time which will create a concern.  So please try to get you report in by the last day of the month. Year End Report, we have some that we can use from the monthly reports but they are not consistent.  I will send everyone a template to put together a Year End Report.  This should relay your partnership with DCF, CBC and the local FAPA’s.  And how that is improving communication etc. for our families.  This will show the things we are doing to encourage families and partners around the state through FSFAPA. Orlando has had some computer issues and does not have the RVP reports for the Regions assigned to him.  Please remember to send him your reports, those who he is responsible for.  Chris will remind everyone who they are to send their reports to, himself or Chris, in an email next week. Reminder, please let Curtis and Trudy know who needs the FSFAPA address change in your Regions. Standardize your Board signature on all email concerning FSFAPA, please.  This should include FSFAPA, your title and FSFAPA mailing address.  Curtis will check the email address change for Anne Whiteside. Election questions – Membership is looking at revamping paypal as well as looking at other programs.  Curtis an email to Thomas about his Go Foster! program.  The election results were attached to the Board minutes.  Recap”  128 ballots sent out 88 returned which was 69%,  of the ballots.  Harriett received  57%, Chris received 44%, Denise received 67%, Paul  received 33%.   Thomas did not receive the email from Curtis, so please resend.  Thomas brought up that he received questions from around the state about the election process and the confusion due to changing the date of the mini conference and hence the election.  He would like to make a motion that the next time we meet face to face, appoint an election committee as there were several questions he was unable to answer.  Thomas so moved, seconded by Orlando, discussion:  clarification that would be an ad hoc committee, the motion passed unanimously. Events Updates – Trudy Petkovich Rally in Tally – reservations need to be made this coming week, please let Trudy know by Friday .  If you are going to Children’s week for the dinner, we need to know this week as the price does go up $25. If your CBC is sending you just let us know that you will be attending.  Kurt Kelly said on the call this morning that they are looking for as many families as possible to attend.  We will set up appointments to meet with key legislators to let them know who we are as a statewide organization representing foster and adoptive parents. Update from Advisors: Gay update the biggest thing happening with QPI is an effort to provide training options to get quality training out to the families.  There are several webcasts dealing with sexual abuse and Lora Diaz has been diligently making these opportunities available to the parents.  Please when you get this information pass it on to your local FAPA and any other foster parents you know.  On the front page of the QPI website are the Myth Busters!  They are out there to cover policy changes and clarification for our families.  The next Florida Quarterly QPI meeting is January 17th sponsored by Heartland.  Melanie asked to be put on the call list for the QPI calls and Gay will check on this. Xiomara updated us that DCF is working with QPI on foster parent investigations.  There is a workgroup that is in the process of discussing how the investigations are conducted and we are coming up with an assessment tool.  Feedback coming from foster parents and people in the field has been great! Xiomara has been working on 65 C-13 & 14 she will be training on these two rules around the state – Home Licensing and Child Placing licensing.  Xiomara asked Melanie to give her a call to discuss her participation. Lauralyn update – we don’t have a second date at this time for the meeting on investigations so Melanie you are more than welcome.  Membership in FSFAPA by the CBC’s needs to be discussed.  Who sent the money last year,  and thanking them for last year.  The CBC’s who didn’t join FSFAPA send a letter asking them to join this year.  Discussion followed about what came in this year.  Including there is a sponsorship for the foster parent conference. Lauralyn will

Miami Dade/Monroe Counties Kinship Parent’s Association

Date:  1st Saturday of every month Time:  10 am – noon Membership $20 per year Meeting Location: South Dade Regional Library, 10750 SW 211 Street, Cutler Bay Mailing Address: 22315 SW 108th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33170 President Lucille Howard, lilmc_e@hotmail.com Association Email: mdmckpa74@gmail.com

Miami Dade/Monroe Counties Kinship Parent’s Association

Date:  1st Saturday of every month Time:  10 am – noon Membership $20 per year Meeting Location: South Dade Regional Library, 10750 SW 211 Street, Cutler Bay Mailing Address: 22315 SW 108th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33170 President Lucille Howard, maxandtherockaremine@gmail.com Association Email: mdmckpa74@gmail.com

2016-10-15 General Membership Mtg

Membership Meeting Minutes Mulberry, Fl. October 15, 2016 Type of Meeting: Quarterly Membership Meeting Meeting Called to Order by Harriett Wynn, President A motion to approve the minutes from 9/08/2016 with changes if needed was made by Charles Parker.  Seconded by Dorothy Alvarez, with no further discussion a vote was called.  Motion Carried The attendees were given a detailed layout of the new RVP’s organizational chart. Chris Purche – discussed fire safety, explained the difference between types of extinguishers and the fires they extinguish. Monthly inspection is important. Smoke detectors over 10 years old should be replaced. Sabrina Gonzales- talked about teens aging out of the system and the effect of life in foster care is affecting young adults. At 11:30am all remaining ballots from members at the meeting were collected.  Curtis asked for two volunteers, Linda Gauntt and Ennis Clements volunteered.   Ballots were opened and sorted and counted by Linda and Ennis.  Curtis and Trudy separately tallied the counts three times to be sure all the numbers agreed.  The election results were announced to the general membership. President Harriett Wynn and Treasurer Denise Sasiain.  The other nominees were thanked for participating in the election process. Trish Allen – discussed Normalcy and how it impacts our children. Jonathan – explained the partnership between All Pro Dads and DCF to recruit new foster parents and bring about awareness around the state. A motion was made by Dorothy Alvarez to adjourn the meeting, it was seconded.     With no discussion a vote was called for. Motion Carried       Respectfully Submitted by Curtis Byrd Secretary