February 2022 Issue 47

Random Acts of Kindness Day

It can be easy to get caught up in our own lives and forget that others may need support so we celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day on February 17th to remind us that kindness costs nothing but a few moments of our time. Encourage them to practice kindness every day! Here are 40 free ways that we can be kind to others.

1. Hold the door open for someone.
2. Do a chore for someone without them knowing.
3. Tell a joke.
4. Return someone’s cart at the store.
5. Pick up litter.
6. Let someone go ahead of you in line.
7. Compliment a friend.
8. Write a thank you note for your mail carrier or sanitation worker.
9. Check in on an elderly neighbor.
10. Set the table for dinner.
11. Tell someone why they are special to you.
12. Talk to someone new at school.
13. Write chalk messages on the sidewalk.
14. Tell a manager how good your service was.
15. Call a friend you haven’t seen in a while to say hello.
16. Read a book to someone.
17. Tell someone how much you love them.
18. Say hello to everyone you see.
19. Make someone else’s bed.
20. Choose to walk away from a peer conflict.
21. Wave at kids on school buses.
22. Invite someone to play on the playground.
23. Tell the principal how great your teacher is.
24. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.
25. Help make dinner.
26. Make a get well card for someone.
27. Bring your neighbors’ garbage cans up for them.
28. Share a special toy with a friend.
29. Clean up your room without being asked.
30. Tape a video message for faraway friends.
31. Teach someone something new.
32. Reuse paper when you are drawing.
33. Write a note for someone’s lunch.
34. Write a poem for a friend.
35. Ask for donations instead of birthday gifts.
36. Help someone unload groceries at the store.
37. Clean up your toys without being asked.
38. Give high fives to a friend.
39. Let your sibling choose what to watch.
40. Smile at everybody. It’s contagious.

Black History Month

February is Black History Month. It presents the opportunity to learn, appreciate, and reflect on the strides African Americans have made and to connect the children in your care with their culture. As with all history, it should be presented at an age- and developmentally-appropriate level.

Read an educational book with them. There is a plethora of books that have been written for the sake of educating children about African American history and culture.

Watch a movie with them. Film is a medium that can help introduce children to complex topics that are best experienced in a visual manner.

Check out the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Smithsonian recently launched the Searchable Museum, which has digitized the museum’s historical narratives, collections, and educational resources. NMAAHC also offers free online educational events on topics such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., The Black Panthers, African Americans in World War II, and so much more.

If you’re in the Phoenix area, the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center is worth a visit. Or it will be, once it reopens, post-COVID. For now, everything is virtual, but the content is extensive. There is even a Kids Zone with some coloring pages and a video telling George Washington Carver’s story.

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.

Tip: Shared parenting doesn't necessarily mean being attached at the hip with the parents. It could be as simple as using supportive language around the children, sending photos on visits, or asking the parents' input on things, such as what makes their child feel better when they are sick or how birthdays are celebrated in their family. Of course, it can be as involved as all parties wish it to be, including inviting the parents to family events or helping the parents locate classes and resources to support reunification. This is also known as "bridging the gap," and there are excellent examples of how to do this on the DCS website. Be sure to check with the assigned Specialist for any safety concerns before proceeding with direct contact.

Youth Mental Health First Aid

Registration is now open for Youth Mental Health First Aid, which will be held virtually on Wednesday, February 23rd! This course includes a self-paced online portion that must be completed in advance.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training that teaches parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors and health and human services workers and any other citizen how to identify, understand and respond to an adolescent (ages 12-18) who may be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. You must be at least 18 years old to participate in this course.

This virtual training will include a 2-hour, self-paced online course that must be completed before joining the instructor-led videoconference on February 23rd. By registering for this course you are agreeing to complete the self-paced online course by Monday, February 21, 2022.

This training, sponsored by the Arizona Foundation for Human Service Providers, is available at no cost to individuals working with or caring for youth.

If you have any questions, please contact Amy Meyertholen at 602-252-9363 or amy@azcouncil.com. If you can't make it this time, but are interested in future course offerings, email Amy to be added to the distribution list.

To learn more about Mental Health First Aid USA, visit www.MentalHealthFirstAid.org.

When: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 from 9:00 am to 400 pm MST (add to calendar)

Where: Virtual event - Self-paced online course (2 hours); Instructor-led videoconference on 2/23

Free Theater Tickets

Arizona Christian Theatre and North Mountain Church are offering free tickets to "Room for One More" to foster families! Please see the synopsis for anything that may be triggering to a child in your care.

No matter how hard it was to make ends meet, Poppy and Mother Rose could never say "no" to a child in need of a home, and in the Pumpkin Shell, their tiny summer cottage by the ocean, it was often hard to tell their own children from the strangers they took under their wing. But Janey, their latest guest, was somewhat of a problem. They had promised the Home to keep her for two weeks—and here it was the day before she was to go back, and still she acted like a stranger—afraid to go into the water with the others—almost scared of her own shadow. It wasn't that Janey didn't want to belong—she just didn't know how. Then Miss Winston, from the Home, arrives a day earlier to take Janey back with her. Janey rebels. She doesn't want to go. The rest of the children take a vote—they always decide such matters—and they decide that Janey can stay. They have no sooner shifted the sleeping quarters around to make room for her, when Jimmy John—another child—who had been waiting out in Miss Winston's car, comes in. Jimmy John is not only a lonely child but wears braces on his legs. No one had ever been kind to Jimmy John before, and Mother's heart goes out to the boy. Before she herself realizes it, Jimmy John is taken into the ever-growing family—and they shift again to make room.

Then in the midst of their hectic but happy existence, tragedy strikes. Poppy, who has been overworking, succumbs to a heart attack. Mother's biological and adopted family rally 'round and pitch in to keep the Pumpkin Shell going. It's not easy, for Joey is starting his first year at medical school in the fall, and Mother's rejection slips from her writing have been coming in with alarming regularity. When Joey realizes how tough things are for the family, he decides to give up medical school and accepts a job—but Mother puts her foot down on that idea. Meanwhile Jimmy John has been making remarkable strides. Several operations—which have caused the drastic drain on the family income—enable him to walk with hardly a trace of a limp. Finally, Mother decides the only solution to their financial problems is to sell the Pumpkin Shell. When Jimmy John overhears Mother and Mrs. Biddle discussing the sale and realizes that the bills for his operations make it necessary to sell the Pumpkin Shell, he runs away. But the kids find him and bring him back. Then like a sudden burst of sunshine, fortune smile upon the Pumpkin Shell—and all because of Jimmy John. The heart-warming conclusion is one that will delight and enchant your audience.

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 four course series with the four course being optional. The three main course topics will be repeated to give you more opportunities to attend!

The three 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 are parents and family members of children with disabilities and 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