Hurricane Matthew Forces Mini Conference to be rescheduled

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE UPCOMING STORM TO OUR AREA. THE STATE MINI CONFERENCE HAS BEEN REASCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 15, 2016. ALL DETAILS WILL REMAIN THE SAME, LOCATION, DAYCARE, HOTEL, ETC.   https://floridafapa.org/event/miniconference-mulberry/

Segur named Eckerd Kids ‘Director of the Year’

Laurallyn Segur, Director of Licensing for Eckerd Community Alternatives Pinellas-Pasco (Circuit 6 CBC) and the CBC Liaison for FSFAPA, was recently named Director of the Year at Eckerd Kids annual director’s retreat. During the same retreat, ECA Pinellas-Pasco was also honored by being named Program of the Year. Congratulations to Laurallyn on her much deserved award and to all of ECA for being named the Program of the Year.

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    

Update from Step Up For Students

Below is the recent newsletter from Step Up For Students, who oversee the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (for low-income families with K-12 schoolchildren) and the Gardiner Scholarship (for families with PreK-12 schoolchildren with certain special needs) — among other things. Summer 2016 Quarterly Newsletter Dear Partner, The 2016-17 school year has officially kicked off and we’re excited to announce Step Up For Students is already having its biggest year yet. Enrollment isn’t even complete and we already have about 91,500 Florida Tax Credit students enrolled into the schools of their choice. Another 5,800 Gardiner Scholarships have been awarded, and the applications for both scholarships keep rolling in. We expect to have a combined total of more than 100,000 Florida students using one of Step Up’s scholarships this year.  “We’re elated to be able to offer learning options to this many Florida students who need it most,” said Step Up For Students President Doug Tuthill. Each one of these scholars has an amazing story to tell. And many will be able to look back after they graduate from high school, like Lacey Nowling, who graduated in 2015 from Faith Christian Academy in Jay, Fla., and have wonderful tales to tell about college and beyond. This wouldn’t be possible without our parents who want more for their children, the teachers who guide them, the donors who make it all possible, and our community’s support. Thanks to each and every one of you, we’re confident that the 2016-17 school year will be one of excitement and success. We look forward to sharing the journey with you, and once again, we thank you for your unwavering support. Please enjoy the stories in this quarterly newsletter. Fondly, Your friends at Step Up For Students New Year Kicks Off With the final Florida schools kicking off the 2016-17 school year in the coming days, Step Up For Students team members have been busily working on applications for both the Florida Tax Credit (income-based) scholarship and the Gardiner Scholarship for children with certain special needs. For the income-based scholarship, Step Up expects to have more than 92,000 students enrolled for the new year, and another several thousand more using the Gardiner to customize their learning. Click here to learn more. Lawsuit Dismissed A unanimous three-judge panel dismissed a lawsuit challenging the nation’s largest private school choice program on August 16. The First District Court of Appeal ruled the statewide teachers union and other groups did not have legal standing to challenge Florida tax credit scholarships because they “failed to allege any concrete harm whatsoever” caused by the program, which is expected to provide scholarships to more than 90,000 low-income children in the coming school year. Click here for additional court ruling details. Student Spotlight As early as sixth grade, Lacey Nowling knew her love for children was calling her to become a pediatrician. Living in the tiny town of Jay, Fla., in the far northwestern reaches of the panhandle, she had a clear vision of her future. But certainty turned to doubt as her school work got harder and harder in ninth grade. “She had bad grades,” Lacey’s mom, Elizabeth Nowling, recalled. “She was running D’s and F’s most of the school year. She was just barely making it by the skin of her teeth. Click here to learn more about Lacey. Southern Pledges $125 Million Step Up For Students and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (Southern Glazer’s), the nation’s leading wine and spirits distributor, announced on August 10th that Southern Glazer’s has committed $125 million to the Step Up For Students Scholarship Program for the 2016-17 school year. Southern Glazer’s contribution – the largest in the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program’s 15-year history – will fund more than 20,000 scholarships in the 2016-17 school year. This is Southern Glazer’s seventh consecutive year of participating in the Step Up For Students Scholarship Program, bringing the company’s total to a record-breaking $315 million since 2010. Click here to learn more about Southern Glazer’s contributions. FTC Students Make Gains Florida’s tax credit scholarship program continues to enroll some of the most disadvantaged students from among the state’s lowest-performing public schools, according to the latest evaluation of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program. After they receive scholarships and enroll in private schools, they keep academic pace with all students nationally, based on their standardized test results. The report is the eighth annual evaluation of the test score progress, and the second conducted by researchers at the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University. Researchers examined the reading and math scores of 34,469 students in 1,285 private schools during the 2014-15 school year. Scholarship students in grades 3-10 have been required to take a state-approved nationally norm-referenced since 2006. Click here to learn more. Coming Soon… This year is the 15th anniversary of the creation of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. Please watch for details on how you can join in the celebration. Would you like Step Up fliers? If you would like to have fliers mailed to you, please contact Melissa or Stephanie. Fliers are free of charge, are two-sided (English/Spanish) and provide scholarship information, eligibility requirements and how to apply for both the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (for low-income families with K-12 schoolchildren) and the Gardiner Scholarship (for families with PreK-12 schoolchildren with certain special needs).   Thank you for sharing information on our two scholarship programs with the families you serve. Melissa Jaramillo Community Outreach Manager (904) 595-6814 mjaramillo@SUFS.org Stephanie Love Community Outreach Manager (904) 352-2250 slove@SUFS.org Step Up For Students | Website | Blog STAY CONNECTED:        A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION (CH-14609) AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800-435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE OR ON THEIR WEBSITE WWW.800HELPFLA.COM. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.

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

Volusia Foster/Adoptive Parent Association

Website: VolusiaFAPA.com VFAPA Officers Jamie Nestrick, President President@VolusiaFAPA.com Tammy Auborn, Vice-President VicePresident@VolusiaFAPA.com Jessica Lewis, Secretary Secretary@VolusiaFAPA.com Alison Coslow, Treasurer Treasurer@VolusiaFAPA.com