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

2016-10-15 BOD Minutes

Florida State Foster Adoptive Parent Association Board Meeting Minutes October 15, 2016 Type of Meeting: Board of Directors Meeting Facilitator: Harriett Wynn Invitees:  See Attached Special Guest:  None Call to order – Harriett Wynn A motion was made by Melanie and seconded by Lynda to accept the minutes from 9/07/2016 with any necessary changes. There was no discussion so a vote was called. Motion Carried Maria reported on the finances of the association currently we have 174,791.00 in the bank. It was asked if anyone is using a signature in emails please try to make them uniformed with everyone else’s. Curtis announced that membership was now open for the 2017 period. And that the new membership form can be found on the website. The importance of prompt reply to emails is an area that all board members could work on, it was stated by all that they would try better. Chris and Kara will be attending the Faith Symposium and will report on any interesting information that they receive while there. Lynda reported that the QPI National Conference was very informative. Gerald Waters along with Kara Jordan prepared a proposal that we the February 2017 Mini Conference be held in Crestview, Fl.  The executive board agreed and it was presented to the board for their approval all agreed. Adjournment: At 5:00 pm Lillie made a motion to adjourn it was seconded by Lynda and with no other business a vote was called. Motion Carried Admendment-1 Election results: 128 sheets were mailed. 88 sheets were returned. Incumbent Harriett Wynn with 57% of the votes defeated Christopher Johnson with 44% of the votes. Denise Sasiain with 67% of the votes defeated Paul Vernon with 33% of the votes. Admendment-2 The total attendance for the Mulberry Mini Conference on 10/15/2016 was 40. Respectfully Summated by:  Curtis Byrd, Secretary 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 x     9 75.0% 2 Harriett Wynn x X x x x X X x x x     9 75.0% 3 Maria Bond x X x x   X x x x x     8 66.7% 4 Lillie Blackshear   X x x x X x x x x     8 66.7% 5 Lynda Thompson x X x x x x x x x x     9 75.0% 6 Curtis Byrd x x x x x X X x x x     9 75.0% 7 Coleen LaCosta x X   x   X x x x x     7 58.3% 8 Dorothy Alvarez x X x x   X x x   x     7 58.3% 9 Chris Johnson x X x x x X x x x x     9 75.0% 10 Orlando Avilva   X x x x X x x x       8 66.7% 11 Ann Whiteside         x 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 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 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 x     9 75.0% 22 Amanda Williams X X x x x   x x x       8 66.7%                           0 0.0%    

Florida’s GAL Program Receives $250,000 Grant

[Tallahassee, Florida] – Alan Abramowitz, Executive Director of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem office, announced today that the Florida Guardian ad Litem(GAL) Program will receive a 2016 National Court Appointed Special Advocate (National CASA) Association State Growth Grant in the amount of $250,000.   The purpose of the 2016 National CASA Association State Growth Grant is to support statewide initiatives to significantly increase the number of CASA/GAL volunteers who advocate for Florida’s abused and neglected children in the foster care system that have experienced abuse or neglect. National CASA’s vision is that every abused or neglected child is given the opportunity to thrive in a safe and loving home and this investment in Florida’s program helps to move closer to that vision.    With the National CASA State Growth Grant, the Florida GAL Program will relaunch the “I am for the Child” campaign – statewide; in each of its twenty local programs; in every community; and in every city. “Over the past nine months we have worked very closely with the National CASA Association in preparing the Florida GAL Program for the relaunch of the “I am for the Child” campaign. The simple yet powerful statement – I am for the Child – supports the mission of the Florida GAL Program and informs everything we do. We look forward to more volunteers joining us in our efforts to be a voice for all of Florida’s abused and neglected children. We are grateful to National CASA for this incredible opportunity to share our mutual vision in a coordinated way across the state,” said Alan Abramowitz. “Volunteer Florida congratulates Florida Guardian ad Litem for securing this grant to serve more at-risk young people in Florida,” said Chester W. Spellman, CEO of Volunteer Florida. “We look forward to working with GAL to encourage Floridians to volunteer with GAL and demonstrate that our state is ‘For the Child.’”   In 2011, National CASA launched the “I am for the Child” campaign with print, web and social media. Through materials and support from National CASA, states across the nation supported and promoted the “I am for the Child” campaign to grow their volunteer base and expand their services to more of America’s most vulnerable children. Florida, via its statewide program and its twenty local programs, also embraced the campaign that resulted in substantial volunteer growth. That growth has continued over the last four years. In fact, the Florida Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Program has over 10,000 volunteers giving a voice to Florida’s abused and neglected children.   “The Florida GAL Program’s track record of growth and plan to serve more children with the “I am for the Child” campaign made them a clear choice for National CASA’s largest grant award,” said National CASA Chief Executive Officer Tara Perry. “The continuous growth of our volunteer base is a critical element of National CASA’s goal to serve every child in foster care or court system who has experienced abuse or neglect nationwide. Florida is a strong partner in our work to ensure that every one of these children has a trained and caring volunteer advocating on his or her behalf rather than going it alone in the system.” To learn more about the Guardian ad Litem Program or to become a volunteer visit www.GuardianadLitem.org or call 1-866-341-1GAL.

Election Results: Sasiain & Wynn Win

FSFAPA’s election results are in: Harriett Wynn will be returning as President Denise Sasiain will be assuming the position of Treasurer Congratulation to both