March 2022 Issue 48
March Celebrations
March is jam-packed with commemorative days, including International Women's Day/Women's History Month (3/8), Cesar Chavez Day (3/31), and International Transgender Day of Visibility (3/31). Read Across America Day kicks off the month on 3/2, and what better way to learn about all of these great holidays than to cozy up with a book!
PBS has put together a list of 15 books that celebrate women in history. There are women of all ages, races, and accomplishments on this list, so any child can find inspiration here!
Amazon's Cesar Chavez list includes books for all ages and reading levels. There are award-winning illustrated books to informative middle-grade books available.
Oak Park Public Library in Illinois has compiled a list of books for early learners and grade schoolers written by transgender and nonbinary authors and illustrators. Although the links are to the library's directory, these books are available at other retailers, and they may also be available at your local library.
Next Chapter Symposium
Are you an adult (foster parent, caregiver, relative, teacher, counselor, CASA, etc.) who is caring for or working with a teen transitioning to adulthood? If so, the Next Chapter Symposium is for you!
It is a free, virtual, two-morning conference (Friday, February 25th and Saturday, February 26th, 2022 from 9:00am - 12:00pm via Zoom). Topics will include information and resources about vocational training, financial aid and scholarships, on campus support programs, housing resources, dually adjudicated youth, AHCCCS, substance abuse, and more!
KIDS Blitz
This training will be held virtually via Zoom. Participants will be able to choose between taking an AM (8:45am-12:00pm) class, PM (12:45-4:00pm) class, or both. We are happy to offer you up to 6 hours of training credit at a low cost. Please follow the prompts carefully or email info@azkidsconsortium.org with any questions. Thank you for all that you do as a foster/adoptive parent.
Best For Babies Community Connections Summit
The Summit will include trainings on trauma, shared parenting, and community resources. This training is for families and professionals and can be entirely virtual, as in-person seating is limited.
UMPS Care Charities Scholarship Opportunity
The UMPS CARE Charities All-Star College Scholarship is for youth adopted at or after the age of 13. This scholarship gives students $10,000 per year for a four year institution and $5,000 for a two year institution. To learn more about the eligibility visit our scholarship page. Here is the application which can be saved and returned to at a later date. The deadline for submission is May 13, 2022.
Shared Parenting Tips
What is shared parenting? Shared parenting is the relationship between an out-of-home caregiver, like a foster parent, and the birth parent(s) of the child in their care. This relationship is important for making the child's transition into care as comfortable as possible. In addition to making them feel comfortable throughout this journey of building a new family, you must remember that safe reunification is what’s best for the children in your care. It’s comforting to them when they know that you understand that they want to be with their birth parents and to keep that relationship in focus.
Going forward, each issue of Thrive will have tips and info regarding shared parenting and how to engage better with families. If you have tips, information on activities, want to share success stories, or are in need of a Shared Parenting Journal, email Rhiannon Schaudt-Hobkirk.
Shared parenting benefits everyone and makes things run smoother. It benefits the child by preserving their sense of identity and history, decreasing their sense of abandonment and rejection, and allowing for consistent messages from both parents and caregivers, resulting in less confusion and fewer feelings of divisiveness. It benefits the parent by allowing them to feel respected for their expertise on their child, reduces their fear and anxiety of strangers caring for their child, and provides an opportunity for them to benefit from role modeling and mentoring by the caregiver. There are also benefits for the caregiver, including the ability to gain accurate and comprehensive information about the child's history, being seen as an advocate rather than an adversary, and opening up the possibility of a lifelong relationship with the child. When there is open communication and willingness to work together as a team, everyone benefits.
CPR/First Aid Certification
Jose's Closet Foster Care Classes
At Jose's Closet, we are excited to offer our latest FREE foster care classes. These classes will be CEU approved, and certificates will be provided upon completion of each course. Classes are being held from January through April 7th, specific times and dates are listed on the flyer.
We are offering a three-course series with a fourth optional course. The three main course topics will be repeated to give you more opportunities to attend!
The classes include:
- Attachment and Trust: Building Therapeutic Relationships
- Challenging Behaviors: Understanding Behavior Foster Care
- Fostering Children through Transition, Grief and Loss
- Optional course: Embracing a Child's Culture: Transracial Adoption
For questions, email Sydnie at sbarboza@atsu.edu.
Arizona Grandparent Ambassadors
We are a statewide support and legislative advocacy network of, by and for grandparents raising grandchildren and non-parent caregivers raising children. We are the families who give these children safe, stable homes and keep them out of the foster care system. Join us as we work with legislators and policymakers to create positive changes for our families. Check out our website for information and resources, including parenting classes, respite services, support groups, therapy and parenting help, and more!
Raising Special Kids
Raising Special Kids began in 1979 as a grassroots effort of families, professionals, and community leaders determined to provide support and information for parents of children with disabilities and special health care needs. Today, Raising Special Kids serves as Arizona’s Family-to-Family Health Information Center, and as Arizona’s Parent Training and Information Center. Helping parents access information about health care, community resources, and support services so they can make informed decisions regarding their children’s care has been our mission from the beginning. We support thousands of Arizona families each year through our programs and services.
Raising Special Kids provides programs and services at no cost to families. No eligibility determinations are required. Any parent or family member of a child with a disability can take advantage of services provided in English, Spanish, and other languages.
- Individual Consultation - Our staff of Family Support Specialists is comprised of parents and family members of children with disabilities who can relate to the challenges facing parents and family members who call for support. Our staff receives on-going training on Federal and State programs, as well as community-based programs and resources, available to individuals with disabilities and special health care needs. We provide families with support for the full spectrum of issues a family may encounter from birth through age 26, and sometimes beyond. Raising Special Kids staff specializes in information and training in the areas of Education, Health Care, Behavior Support, and Transition to Adulthood. Families who contact us or are referred for individual consultation will receive: a call from one of our Family Support Specialists by the end of the following business day; compassion and understanding from our staff of professional, experienced, fellow parents or family members of a child with a disability; information, resources, problem-solving support, and strategies to help parents access and advocate for the support their child needs.
- Parent-to-Parent support has always been the heart of Raising Special Kids. Each year, more than 300 families in Arizona are connected with veteran “mentor” parents who have walked a similar path and who understand the challenges of raising a child with a disability or special health care need.
- Raising Special Kids’ Positive Family Coaching (PFC) program provides enhanced support to families of children receiving behavioral health services through AHCCCS. Through the child’s Child & Family Team (CFT), Raising Special Kids can provide support with education, health care system navigation, development of effective advocacy skills, and strategies for positive behavior support. Currently, Raising Special Kids PFC program is only available to families of children with Mercy Care and United Healthcare plans through AHCCCS, with more plans to come soon. If you have Mercy Care or United Healthcare and would like to receive Positive Family Coaching from Raising Special Kids, please contact your child’s case manager to request our Positive Family Coaching services. For more information, please call us at 602-242-4366.
- Events & Trainings - At this time, most events and trainings are being held virtually. Trainings/workshops include topics such as Talking to Your Child About Sexuality, Understanding 504, IEP Training, High School Transition, Early Childhood Education, Positive Behavior Support, and more.
Family Involvement Center Resources
For plenty of parents, teachers, and school staff, anxiety is running high as school is back to in-person learning, and COVID-19 cases are rising again. So we want to remind you that support is available right now. Our team is trained to help with recovering from the psychological effects caused by the pandemic. Thanks to our partnership with Resilient Arizona, you can receive confidential help at no cost in group or one-on-one settings. This includes for supportive crisis counseling, education and development of coping skills. Again, services are 100% free and confidential.
Resilient Arizona providers are located throughout Arizona. If you live in Northern Arizona, call (928) 440-6181. If you reside in Central Arizona, call (602) 704-0440. And if you live in Southern Arizona, please call (520) 485-5858.
This help also includes assistance with finding food, paying house bills, accessing free childcare, and other essential services. You can also dial 2-1-1 anywhere in Arizona 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or visit www.ResilientArizona.org. Feel free to email us at pac@familyinvolvementcenter.org if you have any additional questions.
Child & Family Resources Youth Mentoring Services Program
Child Crisis Arizona Education Programs
ASA Now
ASA Now is a non-profit organization that ADVOCATES for, SUPPORTS, and ASSISTS children and families impacted by foster care. We are passionate about providing support to families and professionals by restoring hope and empowering them to better serve these children in need.
Services we offer include tutoring & extracurricular activities, food pantry, clothing, and meeting basic necessities. Other services include life skills for youth, respite care, therapeutic programs, family activities, peer-to-peer support groups, education and training on utilizing Jacob's Law to obtain behavioral health services, providing resources to families and caregivers to successfully navigate the foster care system, raising awareness, recruiting new foster families, and advocating for families and their children.
Arizona Helping Hands
Arizona Helping Hands is the largest provider of essential items for children in foster care in Arizona. Their programs provide a safe place to sleep, clothing, hygiene items, birthday packages, backpacks filled with school supplies, licensing safety items, foster footlockers, and more. If needed, kinship and foster families with a current notice to provider are eligible to receive basic needs such as clothing, diapers, wipes, and hygiene items every four months.
Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents
AZAFAP wants to support you and the children in your family (foster, kinship, adopted, biological). We are a non-profit, statewide organization that serves families who adopt children and provide foster and kinship care. Working in partnership with child welfare professionals and the community, our purpose is to support, educate, empower and provide a unified voice for Arizona’s foster and adoptive families, with the goal of increasing the well-being and stability of Arizona’s most vulnerable children. AZAFAP’s programming is open to all foster, kinship, and adoptive families in Arizona. Basic membership is free and includes a subscription to our monthly newsletter with information and resources, our online support groups, and some of our training. Premier membership is available for an annual fee of $75 for two-parent families and a discounted rate of $50 for single-parent families. Premier members are eligible to participate in all program activities. Our programming includes Family Connections events like camps, picnics, and staycations, Family Support Services such as training, Children’s Basic Needs with new shoes, jackets, toys and bikes, and Community Awareness events. Join us today before the Family Camp registration opens! Visit www.azafap.org/membership for more information.
Papa John's Partnership
Southwest Human Development Head Start
Southwest Human Development is offering Early Head Start and Head Start Programs. The in-person classes will be small to encourage physical distancing while being socially together. There will also be virtual programs that families can participate in from home. In-person groups will be limited to 8 children with 2 or 4 teachers, depending on the length of the program day.
For children under 3 years old, the Early Head Start program offers a 10-hour program for working families designed to provide a high-quality learning environment while encouraging physical distancing, as well as a virtual curriculum families can participate in from home.
The Head Start program has in-person, small group programs offering 10 hours, 6 hours, or 3.5 hours of care in a high-quality learning environment designed to limit close physical contact, as well as a virtual option for families to participate in from their home.
Child Crisis Arizona Training
Child Crisis Arizona's spring program calendar is live! Classes include Adoption 101, Neurosequential Model in Caregiving, Trauma Informed Parenting Techniques, and more! All trainings are virtual via Zoom.
Email FCATraining@childcrisisaz.org to register for training or the support group!
STEP Training- TUCSON
Support, Tools, and Education for Parents (STEP) is designed to build positive relationships between family members. It provides a safe space to discuss topics that may be too difficult to talk about at home. These conversations are about peer pressure, stress, and the importance of working together as a team. When caregivers and children work together, it creates a stronger family! The Children’s Advocacy Center understands that family does not always mean a biological parent and child. STEP is a program that will benefit the whole family, including biological, foster, kinship, and adoptive families.
Families enrolled in STEP will meet virtually each week. Each session consists of different topics such as communication, stress management, substance abuse prevention and how to talk to your child about difficult topics (identifying potential child abusers, child abuse, healthy and concerning sexualized behavior), each session building on the next. Child care will be available when classes are offered in person again. For questions, please contact Jackie Ballesteros at jballesteros@soazadvocacy.org or 520-724-2148.
Christian Family Care Training
AZ.127 Foster Family Support & Connections
AZ.127 will be offering support via Facebook & Instagram mini-sessions of techniques and tools from the Trust-Based Relational Intervention program. Additionally, they will be matching mentor foster families with foster families in need of support.
Caring Connections for Special Needs
Arizona Early Intervention Program
Yavapai CASA for Kids
Tucson Resources
Spreading Threads is a grassroots, nonprofit community clothing bank that provides free clothes to foster youth in southern Arizona. The organization was founded by two foster moms in Tucson who have fostered and adopted several children in Arizona. Your donations go directly to local children in need. The second Saturday of each month foster, adoptive, and kinship families can visit the clothing bank. A Notice to Provider will be needed. The clothing bank events are held at 1870 W. Prince, Suite 54 in Tucson.
Respite Resource
A Mighty Change of Heart
A Mighty Change of Heart provides FREE duffle bags to foster children with new, age-appropriate items inside: 2 outfits, shoes & socks, underwear, book, diapers/wipes, hygiene items, and more. These bags have the children’s names embroidered on them, and are something that they can call their very own. They have delivered over 3,500 bags across the state.
Please check out their website for more information: www.amchaz.com. If your family, business, church group or school would be interested in holding a donation drive, please contact A Mighty Change of Heart. Items are always needed.
Warmline Supports Kinship and Foster Families
The Foster Parent Warmline is available for kinship families and licensed foster parents. While not an emergency number, Warmline staff can assist with information, authorizations for services, timely communication, and support. It is not intended to discourage or replace direct and regular communication between the DCS Specialist and the out-of-home caregiver. You can reach the Warmline by calling 1-877-KIDSNEEDU (1-877-543-7633) and selecting Option 3. Warmline staff are available during business hours. Please leave a message with your name and contact information in order to receive a call back.
Children's Heart Gallery
More than 70 percent of the children in need of forever families are adopted by their relatives or foster parents. For the remainder, special recruitment efforts like the Heart Gallery are used to connect them with a forever family.
The children featured in the Heart Gallery represent all ethnic groups and range in age from toddlers to teenagers. Some have special behavioral or medical needs, some are without siblings, and others are in groups of siblings.
Johnie
Johnie is an active and chatty boy with an inquisitive personality. His pastime is spent watching educational TV shows such as Animal Kingdom and building things out of Legos. He also enjoys playing outside and superheroes. In school, Johnie’s favorite subject is science, and he also does well in math.
Johnie was born in 2011.
Mia
Mia is compassionate, independent and hard working. She is extremely dedicated to her goals. Like most girls her age, she also likes anything related to hair, makeup, or getting her nails done. Mia is interested in forensics and hopes to work in the field someday. She once had dreams of being a DEA agent but has since been intent on exploring other opportunities within forensics.
Mia has been working diligently to graduate high school a year early. When Mia isn’t busy trying to obtain her educational goals, she can be found hanging out with friends or playing video games. Mia especially enjoys Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. Her favorite food is wings, and her favorite place to get wings is 5 & Diner. Mia says she also really likes 5 & Diner’s shakes!
Mia was born in 2006.
Awaxsie and Yona
Awaxsie and Yona are a sweet and affectionate sibling duo. They are very close, and both share more reserved personalities.
Awaxsie ejoys swimming, sports, nerf guns and playing video games, especially Fortnite. When he is not playing or talking about Fortnite, he is watching YouTube videos on Fortnite. He also enjoys his "stuffies" and playing with his friends. Awaxsie's favorite foods are cheese and Peter Piper Pizza, and his favorite candy is Jolly Ranchers. He enjoys school and is excited about the progress he is making. His favorite subject is math. Awaxsie has hopes to be a police officer one day.
Yona enjoys dolls, princesses, dresses, getting her hair done, and singing. Like Awaxsie, she also enjoys electronics and likes to play on her tablet. Yona is quiet and loveable. She likes a lot of one-on-one time with others. Yona can be shy at first but will open up after a bit. She also enjoys being silly and laughing.
Awaxsie was born in 2010, and Yona was born in 2014.
AZ Families Thrive is published monthly by the Arizona Department of Child Safety to inform foster, kinship, and adoptive families across the state. Rhiannon Schaudt-Hobkirk created this edition. Please feel free to email with questions, comments, or content you may be interested in seeing in future editions. Sign up to receive email updates when new issues are posted.
Interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent? Call us: 1-877-KIDS-NEEDU (1-877-543-7633) or email us: FosterAdoption@azdcs.gov. Visit us online: www.azkidsneedu.gov.
To report child abuse or neglect: 1-888-SOS-CHILD