July 2023 Issue 64

Summer Water Safety Reminders

As Arizonans, we all love to spend time in the water. While water activities offer countless opportunities for fun and relaxation, it is essential to prioritize water safety, especially when children are involved. Understanding the potential risks and taking appropriate precautions can help create an environment where children can enjoy the water safely.

For licensed caregivers, there are very specific requirements for pools and bodies of water, as outlined in the Arizona Revised Statute. There is also an entire Pool Guide in the Life Safety Inspection Guide. These are all technical, but what about practical application of water safety?

• Supervision is Key - The first and most crucial aspect of water safety for children is constant adult supervision. Whether at a pool or a lake, children should never be left unattended near the water. Assign a designated adult as the "water watcher" to ensure constant vigilance. Avoid distractions such as phone use, engaging in lengthy conversations, or reading, as these can hinder your ability to respond quickly in case of an emergency.
• Teach Swimming and Water Skills - Enrolling children in swimming lessons is an effective way to build their confidence and competence in the water. Ideally, children should learn basic swimming and water safety skills as early as possible. However, even if your child is an excellent swimmer, they should always be supervised and never considered water-safe without adult supervision. Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation can fund swimming lessons, as well as CPR/First Aid training for children in DCS care.
• Establish and Enforce Rules - Setting clear rules and boundaries around water safety is essential. Teach children to never swim alone and to always ask for permission before entering the water. Emphasize the importance of staying within designated areas, such as the shallow end of the pool or the supervised swimming area at the lake. Reinforce rules regularly to ensure they become ingrained in their behavior.
• Educate about Water Hazards - Teach children about potential water hazards, including the dangers of diving into shallow water, the risk of entrapment near pool drains or lake structures, and the importance of staying away from abandoned or submerged objects.

When visiting a lake, follow these guidelines to ensure a safe experience:

• Choose designated swimming areas: Stick to areas that are designated for swimming, as they are usually monitored and safer for children.
• Be cautious of currents and underwater hazards: Educate children about the risks of strong currents, underwater vegetation, and sudden drop-offs. Encourage them to stay close to the shoreline and within their depth.
• Wear life jackets: Children, especially those who are not confident swimmers, should wear properly fitting life jackets while near or in the water. Adults should lead by example and wear life jackets too.

For more information on water safety, check out these resources:

• Phoenix Children's Hospital Water Safety Program
• Child Crisis Arizona's Water Safety Online Workshop
• BoatUS Foundation's FREE Online Boating Safety Course
• Red Cross Water Safety for Parents and Caregivers Online Course
• Arizona Department of Health Services Drowning Prevention Resources

Supporting Children and Youth Coping with Unresolved Loss

Ambiguous loss occurs when a parent is physically or emotionally absent, whether due to a child welfare removal, incarceration, substance use, or physical or mental health struggles. Children facing ambiguous loss are dealing with grief, uncertainty, confusion, and many other conflicting emotions. Ambiguous loss can cause challenging reactions and affect a child’s behavior, relationships, and learning. Understanding ambiguous loss, its impact on children, and how to promote resiliency and healthy coping for them, is important for both child welfare intervention and prevention communities.

Kin Safety and Needs Assessment Survey

Child Welfare Playbook is a collection of promising practices with the ultimate goal of seeing children placed in family-like settings with adults who can fully meet their needs. Right now, they are collecting feedback on an early draft of their kinship safety and needs assessment form now through July 20th from case workers, supervisors, and kinship caregivers.

If you are a kinship caregiver and want to give feedback, email bloom-safety-assessments@bloomworks.digital. Kin caregivers receive $100!

Trauma-Informed Parent Education Classes

The Strengthening Families Curriculum is a program designed to support parents, improve family relationships, and reduce problem behaviors, delinquency and alcohol and drug abuse. We do this by providing a safe space for families to increase family communication and discuss topics that may be too difficult to have at home. By providing our workshops to the families from the Children’s Advocacy Center, we have begun to build a community of strong families. Families will learn about the following topics that include considerations for raising children with complex trauma:

• Healthy Brain Connection
• Notice and Compliment the Good Daily
• Great Communication Skills and Fun Family Meetings
• Rules, Rewards, Responsibility, Routines, and Happy Family Rituals
• Limits and Consequences
• Problem Solving and Win-Win Negotiation
• Grooming, Red Flags, Abuse
• Natural, Concerning, and Healthy Sexualized Behaviors
• Stress and Anger Management Skills
• Using Goals and Contracts to Change Behavior
• Alcohol and Drugs Damages the Teen Brain
• Choosing Good Friends and Monitoring Kid's Activities
• Values, Traditions, and Service

Vision It Summer Camp

Indian Child Welfare (ICWA) Symposium

FosterEd Arizona Foster Care Conference

Guardian Tips - Special Allowance Invoice

In addition to the standard monthly reimbursement that caregivers receive for a child in their care, there are also annual "Special Allowances," which are funds that are available for specific purposes. These allowances renew each fiscal year on July 1st and can be disbursed in 1 or 2 installments, depending on the DCS Specialist's or caregiver's preference. Emergency Clothing is up to $150; Books/Education is up to $82.50 (to be used for books, supplies, course fees, student services, and physical education fees/equipment); Special Needs Allowance is up to $22.50 (available to assist with expenses such as holidays, birthdays, and special occasions).

These allowances are requested by the DCS Specialist. Some will request the funds automatically at the beginning of the new fiscal year, and others will wait for the caregiver to request it. Please reach out to the assigned DCS Specialist for any questions about Special Allowances.

The invoices for Special Allowances are a little tricky, as they will show as $0.00 in Guardian. Don't worry, it's not an error! Follow the instructions below to submit the Special Allowance invoice.

1. Once you navigate to Invoices Pending Verification, click the invoice number under the Invoice Name column. The invoice form will open for you to review the invoice details.
2. Click the checkbox to the left of the line that you need to confirm. Enter 1.0 for the Confirm Units and click Save Selections. You will see the amount change once you enter the number of units. Note: Special Allowance units should always be 1.0.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page. Click the checkbox to certify that services were rendered. Then click Submit Invoice.

If you need assistance with anything and are unsure who to contact, please reach out to your Licensing Worker or the Warmline. If you contact the Warmline, you must leave a message with your name, provider number (if you know it), and the child's name, date of birth, and date of placement/departure: 877-543-7633, option 3. Please allow 1-2 business days before reaching out to the Warmline again regarding the same issue.

Therapeutic Foster Care Info Sessions

Dear Caregivers,

We thank you for your ongoing commitment and support to the children and families you support in our community. We are writing today to discuss a growing need in our community to support more children in a family setting. There are opportunities to support children in need by being a Therapeutic Foster Caregiver. We believe many community caregivers have the skills and experience needed to be successful serving children with higher therapeutic needs. Children in therapeutic foster care need consistent and stable caregivers with behavioral health experience and skills in order to help them on the path to succeed in their next family environment.

We would like to invite you to attend a virtual information session with the agencies that support Therapeutic Foster Care and learn how you can use the skills garnered from your experience as a caregiver to serve children needing therapeutic care. These information sessions will review specific guidelines and requirements for becoming a Therapeutic Foster Caregiver. We hope that you will consider attending to learn more and see if this is something that you and your family might be interested in pursuing. If it is not right for you, consider that you may know someone who is a good fit. If so, please recommend this opportunity to them.

Virtual Information Sessions:

• Every 2nd Thursday of the month (6pm)
• Every 4th Saturday of the month (10am)

Thank you so much for your time and dedication to children and families in need.

Sincerely,

Gillian Vanasse, AZ DCS Chief Operations Officer

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 provides essential needs for children in foster care in an effort to help every foster child feel safe and loved. Our programs provide beds, clothing, hygiene items, birthday packages, backpacks filled with school supplies, licensing safety items, foster footlockers, and more. Our services are open to kinship and foster families with a current Notice to Provider.

We are so excited to share everything you need to know about Back-to-School season at Arizona Helping Hands. In addition to the backpacks and school supplies given out at the AHH resource center, we will also be doing our first-ever pop-up shops with our new mobile unit for foster families across the state!

Throughout the month of July, we will be doing Back-to-School Pop-Up shops across the state for foster families who don't have the ability to come to the AHH resource center. Let us know which pop-up you're coming to at the link below! The exact location and time coming soon!

SIGN UP FOR POP UP LOCATIONS: BTS 23 Pop-Up Shops - Foster Family & Advocate Sign Up Form

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, bikes, and Community Awareness events. Join us today before the Family Camp registration opens! Visit www.azafap.org/membership for more information.

Sign up on our Event Calendar! If you aren’t a member yet, check out our free membership so you can sign up! Ever need adult conversation during the week? We also have weekly drop-in chats on the calendar on Tuesdays and Fridays!

Christian Family Care Training

Helen's Hope Chest

At Helen's Hope Chest, our mission is to engage the community to provide for the basic needs of children and teens in foster and kinship care. Helen's provides more than just clothes for kids in care. It is important that every youth who comes through our door feels a sense of confidence, acceptance, and dignity. Our boutique environment allows kids to choose their favorite items and feel like they are in a regular store, all at no cost to the foster/kinship family.

Families with a current foster or kinship placement are encouraged to call us at 480-969-5411 to schedule an appointment.

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, a 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.

Aviva Children's Services - Tucson