2016-09-07 BOD Minutes
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association Board Meeting Agenda September 7, 2016 10:00 am (Please arrive by 9:30) Type of Meeting: Board of Directors Meeting Facilitator: Harriett Wynn Invitees: See Attached Special Guest: Fawn, Heather Rosenberg Call to order – Harriett Wynn A motion was made by Ann and seconded by Lillie to accept the minutes from 8/29/2016 with any necessary changes. There was no discussion so a vote was called. Motion Carried Harriett then invited Heather to explain her new position with DCF. Heather informed everyone that her job description was still being defined. DCF Summit Harriett reminded everyone that there was still available Exhibitor Table. And ask everyone please see Trudy at the table. The floor was then turned over to Chris, who presented a condensed version of the class that he took a Rollins College. He informed everyone that he was going to email a 90 page document to everyone. He presented a 3 page document for everyone to review. It was discussed that Laurallyn and Trudy should start working on the new CBC letters and should start mailing them in Nov. Adjournment: Orlando made a motion to adjourn it was seconded with other business a vote was called. Motion Carried Attendance Record Florida State Foster/Adoptive Parent Association Inc. [42] NAME Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 # % 1 Trudy Petkovich x X x x x X X x x 9 75.0% 2 Harriett Wynn x X x x x X X x x 9 75.0% 3 Maria Bond x X x x X x x x 8 66.7% 4 Lillie Blackshear X x x x X x x x 8 66.7% 5 Lynda Thompson x X x x x x x x x 9 75.0% 6 Curtis Byrd x x x x x X X x x 9 75.0% 7 Coleen LaCosta x X x X x x x 7 58.3% 8 Dorothy Alvarez x X x x X x x 7 58.3% 9 Chris Johnson x X x x x X x x x 9 75.0% 10 Orlando Avlva X x x x X x x x 8 66.7% 11 Ann Whiteside x X X x x 5 41.7% 12 Melissa Schol x X x x x X x x 8 66.7% 13 Melanie Stimell x X x x X x x x 8 66.7% 14 Thomas Croom x X x x x X x x x 9 75.0% 17 Harry Dubia x X x x x x X x 7 58.3% 18 Laurallyn Segur (Advisor) x X x x x X X x x 8 66.7% 19 Gay Frizzell (Advisor) x X x x x 5 41.7% 20 Xiomara Turner (Advisor) X x x x 5 41.7% 21 Kara Elliott x X x x x X X x x 9 75.0% 22 Amanda Williams X X x x x x x x 8 66.7% 0 0.0%
2016-08-29 BOD Minutes
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association Board Meeting Minutes August 29, 2016 8:30 pm Type of Meeting: Board of Directors Meeting Facilitator: Harriett Wynn Invitees: See Attached Call to order – Harriett WynnApproval of Minutes from 7/25/2016 A Motion to except the minutes with changes if needed was made by Ann the motion was seconded by Orlando. With no discussion, a vote was called: Motion CarriedQPI National Conference Open it up to the board to see if anyone else to go? Once opened to the board, Lynda stepped up and agreed to attend and represent FSFAPA. Thank you Lynda Announce that Melissa will be taking over Social Media (Facebook) Melissa has volunteered to take over the Facebook, Thank you Melissa we are looking forward to your changes.Go Fund Me – how much money did we receive? Is it still up? – Orlando. As this being related to Social Media, Orlando will get with Melissa and provide her with the login information and she will assume responsibility for its promotion. Conference 2016Financial Reports: Maria has given herself a target date of this weekend to have all reports completed.RVP’s use of Website Charles will provide a 30 min. training at the Summit. This training session will let the RVP’s know what new changes are coming with the restricting. Chris will be passing on information about starting up a 5013c Update on upcoming events ( Summit, Quarterly) – Trudy Schedule for the Exhibition table. Ask Chris if there were anything that he needs printed. Trudy will send out the table schedule on Wednesday there are still open positions. Please look at the schedule and see where you can fill in. Trudy also requested that everyone ware their red shirts on Thursday. These shirts will also need to be worn in October at the Mini Conference. Open Discuss Gay states that all is good around the state. As far as the Summit the only problem is a conflict with our meeting and QPI meeting. DCF Appoints Children’s Ombudsman Heather Cox Rosenberg appointed to work with youth and young adults in care. Congratulations Heather Adjournment With there being no other issues a motion to adjure was made by Chris, Melanie seconded, with no other discussion a vote was called and Motion carried @ 8:54 pm Respectfully Submitted by: Curtis Byrd, Secretary
2016-09-08 General Membership Mtg
Meeting Facilitator: Harriett Wynn Location: DCF Child Protection Summit, Orlando Call to order – Harriett Wynn A motion to approve the minutes from 6/11/2016 with changes if needed was proposed by Denise. Seconded by Coleen, 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 reviewed the sheet and answered any questions. Curtis reviewed voting requirements, and reminded attendees that only paid members are eligible to vote, and that they must have been paid members prior to the June conference. Orlando educated the attendees on benefits and explained the working of FAST. Update on upcoming events October Mini Conference update everyone was encouraged to attend. QPI National Conference Harriett informed attendees that Lynda would be representing the Association at this conference. Adjournment: A motion was made by Orlando to adjourn the meeting it was seconded. With no discussion a vote was called for. Motion Carried
2016-07-25 BOD Minutes
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association Board Meeting Agenda July 25, 2016 8:30 pm Type of Meeting: Board of Directors Meeting Facilitator: Harriett Wynn Attendees: See Attached Call to order – Harriett Wynn Approval of Minutes from 5/31/2016, 6/09/2016 Ann made a motion to approve the minutes with any necessary changes. Harriett seconded the motion the floor was opened for discussion, there was no discussion. So, a vote was called: Motion Carried Discuss thoughts on Evaluations Report We will start this conversation and continue it at the summit. The floor was opened for conversation, Melanie, discussed one of the comments that the monitors, needed to better trained. There were several other comments on how well everything went. The rest of the conversation was then tabled until further discussion at the DCF Summit. Are we going to send the comments out to presenters? Melanie reported that she personally called each one. And felt that there was no need to send them. III. Survey Monkey do we have a use for it. – Orlando Survey Monkey has not been used since the 2015 conference. Orlando stated that he did not have time to come up the surveys, but if someone else wanted to come up with questions he would be glad to help. This issue was added to the agenda for the Summit to see if anyone is interested in working on Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey has a yearly cost of $300 dollars. It was discussed that we cancel the subscription to save the $300 dollars. And just use the free version that is available. This issue will need a motion and vote to finalize. Go Fund Me – how much money did we receive? Is it still up? – Orlando Orlando reported that he has been busy and had not kept up with this fundraising project. He thought that once it was sent out that the entire board would forward it to all their contacts and spread the word that way. We have a total of $200 donated to the fund. Conference 2016 – Wrap up Discuss thoughts on Evaluations Report Most everyone thought that as a team everything went wonderfully there some minor adjustments that need to be made. Financial Report No Reports were available Melanie is still working with the hotel on the final bill. Attendee Reports Melanie is still compiling the information. She has several questions for Trudy and should have this done shortly. RVP’s use of Website Calendar RVP’s to start inputting dates of events from their regions on the website calendar or at least send them in to be added by webmaster. Chris admitted that he had totally forgot about this and will add it to the agenda for the RVP training at the DCF Summit. VII. Update on upcoming events (NACAC, Summit, Quarterly) – Trudy Schedule for the Exhibition table. Trudy will provide a schedule of times that the table will be need to covered. VIII. Discussion about webmaster? We need to decide what we are going to do? After a lengthy discussion it was decided that we would let the current webmaster go. Trudy was then given permission from the board to approach our former Secretary, Charles Parker and offer him the position. DCF Advisor – Xiomara Turner Xiomara reminded everyone to remember that our major concern is the confidentiality of the children. A specific example she used was an email that was sent out looking for kinship caregivers caring for siblings for a reality show on Bravo. We representing FSFAPA should not make any recommendations without the Boards approval. We need to be aware of confidentiality of others within our system of care. Adjourned: 9:20 With no other business to discussion Orlando made a motion to end the meeting. Chris seconded the motion and a vote was called. Motion Carried NAME Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 # % 1 Trudy Petkovich x X x x x X X 7 58.3% 2 Harriett Wynn x X x x x X X 7 58.3% 3 Maria Bond x X x x EX X x 6 50.0% 4 Lillie Blackshear X x x x X x 6 50.0% 5 Lynda Thompson x X x x x x x 7 58.3% 6 Curtis Byrd x x x x x X X 7 58.3% 7 Coleen LaCosta x X x EX X x 5 41.7% 8 Dorothy Alvarez x X x x EX X x 6 50.0% 9 Chris Johnson x X x x x X x 7 58.3% 10 Orlando Avlva X x x x X x 6 50.0% 11 Ann Whiteside NA NA NA NA x X X 3 25.0% 12 Melissa Schol x X x x x X x 7 58.3% 13 Melanie Stimell x X x x X x 6 50.0% 14 Thomas Croom x X x x x X x 7 58.3% 17 Harry Dubia x X x x x x 6 50.0% 18 Laurallyn Segur (Advisor) x X x x x X X 7 58.3% 19 Gay Frizzell (Advisor) x X x 3 25.0% 20 Xiomara Turner (Advisor) X x x 4 33.3% 21 Kara Elliott x X x x x X X 7 58.3% 22 Amanda Williams X X x x x x 6 50.0% 0 0.0% Respectfully submitted, Curtis Byrd, Secretary
2016-06-09 BOD Minutes
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association, Inc. Board of Directors Face to Face Meeting Thursday, June 9, 2016 Respectfully submitted for approval by FSFAPA Secretary Curtis Byrd The monthly meeting was called to order at 1:15 pm by President Harriett Wynn Secretary Curtis Byrd took Roll: Attendance attached. May Minutes were not available so they were tabled. Motion was made to table the minutes until our next meeting was made by Maria Bond and Seconded by Lillie Blackshear. Motion Carried. Open business Melanie Stimell: Melanie goes over everyone assignments, and answers questions. Monitors will meet in the Hospitality Room to receive assignments. Curtis asks that all the board members at least monitor one training session. Christopher and Orlando: RVP Training: RVP’s should be promoting the FAST Program every opportunity they have. Summit there will be an additional training – in depth for all the RVP’s and it will be mandatory – we will hold that meeting on Wednesday, September 7th from 10 – noon. Trudy will make arrangements with Amy for that and the Quarterly Membership to be at lunch on Thursday at the Summit. Maria suggested that each time we meet there be in depth trainings for the RVP on specific subjects. Trudy will send her some suggestions, possibly the United Way can help with trainers. Trudy Petkovich: Executive Board meeting Tuesday night September 6th at 8 pm Fall Quarterly meeting will be on October 8th. TLC volunteered they have put together support for funding, child care and everything is in Heartland area. This was approved by the Executive Board to move forward. Mulberry Christian Academy Church of God 200 Dean St. Mulberry, 33860 Limited Childcare 0-12 cost $5.00 per child Conference will start at 9:00am to 4:00pm. Lunch will be served. The Hotel will be announced later. Lori Decker will be handling registration, Phone 813-892-3016 or email: She also reminded everyone that they should wear their Red Shirts. Curtis Byrd: Discussed the upcoming elections: Informed every one of the names that had been sent to him for nominations, President: Harriett Wynn, Chris Johnson Treasurer: Denise Sasiain, and Paul Vernon. Curtis informed every one that we printed a letter to be distributed to the Conference goers and post it on the website and send it out through Constant Contact. Motion to adjourn made by Thomas Croom and seconded by Melanie Stimmell, the motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 2:30pm.
2016-05-31 BOD Minutes
FSFAPA Board of Directors Meeting May 31, 2016 Monthly Conference Call Welcome Harriett Wynn Reminder the Board call is the last Monday of the month for the entire Board. Roll Call – Absent Maria Bond, Dorothy Alvarez, Coleen LaCosta – on a plane. Melanie Stimmell Minutes – motion to accept the minutes with changes Chris Johnson, Thomas Croom seconded motion carried RVP Report – Chris Johnson, nothing at this time. All RVP reports are due today or tomorrow before the conference. We will go over all the RVP changes at the Board meeting at the Conference. Kara – their area is drowning with capacity concerns – homes over capped are stunning, trying to get to the root of the issues. All local FAPA’s are coming together at the conference to discuss concerns. Thomas, last few months several requests to assist with 501C3’s and bylaws to discuss how we can facilitate these things – at the conference some training will be welcome. Chris acknowledged we have that on the table and will discuss next week. Conference request for exhibitor – Melanie was going to try and reach out to the new association in Panama City, to reach Judith. Chris explained the concern that they want their teens to sell items at the conference.. Harriet asked for Chris to please contact her before the conference. Thomas will send a phone number if he has one. Suggestions of giveaways at the Summit: mouse pads, jelly bracelets, send to Trudy. Silent Auction – Lillie reported that she does have baskets and a couple of associations have contacted me. It always works out and I don’t worry about it she announced. Harriett announced that she appointed Anne Whiteside as the RVP over the southwest region. Anne was welcomed by the Board, she is looking forward to meeting everyone next week. Conference hotel contract for 2017 – Melanie and Chris said the hotel has been great to work with for the 2016 conference. They are completely pleased with how everything at the hotel is working this year. Trudy reported we signed a contract for the Renaissance at Sea World in 2017. 2018 will be a joint conference with NFPA and will probably be at the Caribe Royale as NFPA has a long standing relationship with the Caribe. At the Dependency Summit the FSFAPA Quarterly Membership Meeting will be held at lunchtime on Thursday. The Board of Directors meeting will be held on Wednesday morning at 10 am at the Summit. We will primarily be discussing the new RVP positions. October 8, 2016 will be the Quarterly Membership meeting and Mini Conference. Hosted by TLC in Mulberry. 2016 Conference – Executive Board Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursday the Board of Directors is at 1 pm not noon in the Zander Room. The Membership meeting will be on Saturday morning during breakfast. The QPI meeting is on Thursday. Conference discussion – Harriett asked about the meals and Chris gave her a run down of the meals and the luncheon and breakfast speakers. Children’s meals are similar but child friendly. Meeting on Thursday we will not have access to our training so Friday morning is when we will set up the rooms. Kara asked do we have any spots for childcare, teens or adults. No scholarships left but we can take any additional families. The hotel is full so we have some option for an overflow hotel in the area. Stuff the conference bags on Thursday. Chain will go up on Friday. Amanda Nex Gen update need some volunteers, food speaker and surfing set. There are three waivers she will be contacting the foster parents of teens registered. Lauralyn, concurred that there are high levels of kids all around the state at this time. Due to the fact Trudy now has a position at DCF Southern Region, so Curtis will now be the Contract Manager moving forward. Harry wants to know where to bring the Chain on the 8th. Chris said to text him. Orlando needed a rundown of the meeting schedule for the Board and a review of the support schedule. Anne Whiteside has a question, state holding a focus group on June 28th for foster parents CFSR Stakeholder and Focus Groups. State and Federal doing focus groups, so there is not a lot of information at this time. A motion to adjourn by Chris Johnson and seconded, no discussion and motion carried. Respectfully Submitted Cutis Byrd
2016-06-11 General Membership Mtg
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association, Inc. Quarterly Membership Meeting, Orlando, Fl. Saturday, June 8, 2016 The Quarterly Membership Meeting of FSFAPA was called to order at 7:30 am by Harriett Wynn, President. A motion was made by Orlando Avila to accept the minutes as corrected, seconded by Thomas Croom. Motion passed Open business Harriett introduced Lynda Thompson, Bylaws Chair Lynda discussed the changes to the Bylaws and fielded any questions from the floor. After discussion on the Bylaws, Lynda asked everyone to mark their green voting card Yes or No to approve the Bylaws. Once all green voting cards were collected they were counted. The final vote was 61 Yes and 0 No, so the changes to the Bylaws passed. Harriett then yielded the floor to Orlando Avila, who was standing in for Curtis Byrd, Nomination Chair. Orlando then opened the floor for nominations and announced the candidates previously submitted. President: Harriett Wynn, and Christopher Johnson; Treasurer: Denise Sasiain, and Paul Vernon. Orlando asked for nominations from the floor. If no further nominations are brought forward nominations will be closed at the end of the Quarterly Membership Meeting. Harriett then introduced Trudy Petkovich, Executive Director Trudy announced the upcoming October Mini Conference & Quarterly Meeting T.L.C. Association, Inc will be hosting the Quarterly Membership Meeting & Mini Conference October 8, 2016 at Mulberry Christian Academy Church of God 200 Dean St. Mulberry, 33860 Limited Childcare 0-12 cost $5.00 per child Conference will start at 9:00am to 4:00pm. Lunch will be served. The Hotel will be announced later. Lori Decker will be handling registration, Phone 813-892-3016 or email: loriadeckertlc@gmail.com Harriett and Gay Frizzell then presented the 2016 Award Winners: Caring Heart Award/Foster – Marcia and Stephens Croom Dee Wilson/Adoption – Reyna Alvarez Partner in Caring – Holly Torres Leadership through Example – Eckerd Community Alternatives/Pasco & Pinellas Counties Harriett thanked everyone for coming. Motion to adjourn made by Thomas Croom and seconded by Stephen Rollo, the motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 am. Respectfully submitted for approval by FSFAPA Secretary Curtis Byrd
2016-03-12 General Membership Mtg
Quarterly Meeting in Daytona, FL Saturday, March 12, 2016 Respectfully submitted for approval by FSFAPA Secretary Curtis Byrd The general meeting was called to order at 1:28 pm by President Harriett Wynn Secretary Curtis Byrd took Roll call. All available Board Members and Advisors were there. A motion was made by Orlando Avila to accept the minutes as corrected, seconded by Thomas Croom. Motion passed Open business Harriett introduced Laura Diaz and Gay Frizzell. Laura and Gay reviewed the QPI meeting. The QIP meeting covered the topics of information sharing, normalcy/babysitting, transitions, and investigations, clarify existing law/policy. On the topic of information sharing, the speakers stressed the critical need for full information sharing with foster parents, the necessity for clear definition on what documents are truly HIPAA protected, and that some information about birth parents should never be shared. Specifically, substance abuse/mental health and domestic violence center records. On the topic of normalcy/babysitting, the speakers stressed a need for clearness on emergency care and on-going babysitting requirements with background checks, etc. They also discussed a need for common sense in terms of licensing requirements and chemicals storage for items like baby wipes, cleaning products, etc. The speakers emphasized providing information to assist caregivers in careful parenting decision making. They also stressed revisions to current rule about babysitting need to provide balance with structure but also flexibility. On the topic of transitions, the speakers explained that the Children’s Legal Services (CLS) will continue to monitor and encourage connections between former and current caregivers critical to the child. On the topic of investigations, the speakers believed that Practice across the state on foster parent referrals seemed to be working. They pointed out that generally staffing on foster parent investigations are not occurring. They also stressed that there is often a lack of clarity about removals of children when investigation underway and that information about F.A.S.T. needed to be shared across the state. The presenters felt that generally existing policy is functioning but some clarifications are needed. They recommend that Statewide QPI meetings occur every 3-6 months to ensure information is broadly shared and to surface issues as they arise. They also stressed that results of this meeting will be posted on qpiflorida.com and shared with all partners. Harriett thanked everyone for coming. Motion to adjourn made by Thomas Croom and seconded by Stephen Rollo, the motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 3:34 pm.
2016-04-25 BOD Minutes
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association, Inc. Board of Directors Monthly Conference Call April 25, 2016 Respectfully submitted for approval by FSFAPA Secretary Curtis Byrd The monthly meeting was called to order at 8:31 by President Harriett Wynn Secretary Curtis Byrd took Roll: All other Board Members and Advisors were on the call. A motion was made by Orlando Avila to accept the minutes as corrected, seconded by Maria Bond. Motion passed Open business Lynda Thompson presented the revised bylaws to the board for approval. A motion was made by Coleen LaCosta and seconded by Harry Dubia; a vote was called and the motion passed. Chris Johnson reported on the RVP’s all seems to be going well. Coleen reported on FAST – more of the same concerns have been coming up. One concern is that biological family members (children) with allegations and are labeled as sexual predators. Melanie Stimmell reported that all is well with conference. Harriett thanked everyone for their participation on the call. Motion to adjourn made by Thomas Croom and seconded by Melanie Stimmell, the motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 pm.
2016-03-12 BOD Minutes (Revised)
Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association, Inc. Board of Directors Monthly Quarterly Meeting in Daytona, FL (Face to Face) Saturday, March 12, 2016 Respectfully submitted for approval by FSFAPA Secretary Curtis Byrd The monthly meeting was called to order at 1:28 pm by President Harriett Wynn Secretary Curtis Byrd took Roll call. All other Board Members and Advisors were there. A motion was made by Orlando Avila to accept the minutes as corrected, seconded by Thomas Croom. Motion passed Open business Harriett introduced Laura Diaz and Gay Frezell. Laura and Gay reviewed the QPI meeting. The QIP meeting covered the topics of information sharing, normalcy/babysitting, transitions, and investigations, clarify existing law/policy. On the topic of information sharing, the speakers stressed the critical need for full information sharing with foster parents, the necessity for clear definition on what documents are truly HIPAA protected, and that some information about birth parents should never be shared. Specifically, substance abuse/mental health and domestic violence center records. On the topic of normalcy/babysitting, the speakers stressed a need for clearness on emergency care and on-going babysitting requirements with background checks, etc. They also discussed a need for common sense in terms of licensing requirements and chemicals storage for items like baby wipes, cleaning products, etc. The speakers emphasized providing information to assist caregivers in careful parenting decision making. They also stressed revisions to current rule about babysitting need to provide balance with structure but also flexibility. On the topic of transitions, the speakers explained that the Children’s Legal Services (CLS) will continue to monitor and encourage connections between former and current caregivers critical to the child. On the topic of investigations, the speakers believed that Practice across the state on foster parent referrals seemed to be working. They pointed out that generally staffing on foster parent investigations are not occurring. They also stressed that there is often a lack of clarity about removals of children when investigation underway and that information about F.A.S.T. needed to be shared across the state. The presenters felt that generally existing policy is functioning but some clarifications are needed. They recommend that Statewide QPI meetings occur every 3-6 months to ensure information is broadly shared and to surface issues as they arise. They also stressed that results of this meeting will be posted on qpiflorida.com and shared with all partners. Harriett thanked everyone for coming. Motion to adjourn made by Thomas Croom and seconded by Melanie Stimmell, the motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 9:34 pm.