A Place To Call Home

The Coalition partners with St. Louis’ NBC affiliate, KSDK NewsChannel 5, to produce a weekly adoption segment - “A Place to Call Home.”  This award winning, program features children who are legally free for adoption. It airs Mondays at 6 p.m., Thursdays between 5:30 and 6 a.m., and Saturdays during the 9 a.m. newscast.  This program has been enormously successful.  Out of the hundreds of children who have been featured, 55% of them have, or are in the process of being placed, in an adoptive home.  For more information please contact Jessi Brawley, Development & Community Relations Manager.

Extreme Recruitment
Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition, in partnership with Good Shepherd Children & Family Services and Catholic Charities, launched an innovative program in St. Louis called Finding Family.  The program, which uses multiple databases to track individuals' addresses and phone numbers, is designed to identify extended family members and engage them in case planning with the youth, as well as explore the possibility of establishing meaningful and lasting relationships.  For more information, contact Denise Kelley.

Wendy’s Wonderful Kids 
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is committed to ending the wait through its signature program, Wendy's Wonderful Kids (WWK).  They awarded a grant to the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition to hire Wendy's Wonderful Kids Recruiters.  Edna Green, Wendy's Wonderful Kids Recruiter, focuses on finding adoptive families for children in foster care.  Edna works aggressively to find adoptive parents for her caseloads of youth waiting for families of their own.  Contact Edna for more information about the program or to express your interest in a particular child. 

30 Days to Family™
The purpose of 30 Days to Family™ is to find safe, appropriate relative supports for children entering foster care.  Building on the success of Extreme Recruitment, the goal of 30 Days to Family™ is to find a relative placement for children in at least 70% of cases within the first 30 days.  For more information, please contact Melanie Ohmes, 30 Days to Family™ Program Coordinator.

Child in Need
Twelve local newspapers feature stories about children who are waiting for adoptive families.

Crisis Intervention

The Coalition now offers 24-Hour Crisis Intervention services to adoptive & pre-adoptive children & families in St. Louis County, St. Louis City, Jefferson County, and St. Charles County.  This program is based on the Home Builder's Model and gives families that are in crisis access to 24-hour Family Intervention Specialists.  This program is made possible thanks to the St. Louis County Children's Service Fund, the St. Charles County Community and Children's Resource Board, and the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis.   For more information or to make a referral, click here or contact Dawn Milburn, Director of Crisis Intervention, at 800.FOSTER.3.

Educational Advocacy

The Coalition's Educational Advocacy program provides one-on-one case based advocacy to foster/adopt families and offer parents appropriate training, so they have the tools needed to advocate for their children academically.  Our Educational Resources is a place for parents and professionals to seek advice and resources in educating foster and adoptive children.  For more information, please contact Tricia Taddeucci or Tiffiany Lovelace.

 

Family Advocacy

The foster care system is difficult to navigate, but no one has to do it alone.  Denise Kelley is our Director of Family Advocacy, and each year she helps hundreds of foster and adoptive families figure out the best ways to address their particular situations.  The Coalition offers a variety of newsletters to help keep you up to date.  For more information, contact Denise Kelley.

 

Family Development
Any parent will tell you that foster care and adoption takes more that love, it takes skill, too!  To help our families and kids, we offer quarterly in-service trainings.  Foster parents can receive 7.5 in-service hours at our quarterly Training Extravaganzas.  For more information please contact Nickie Steinhoff, Director Training & Community Support.  

[RE]FRESH: A Fashion Coalition™
[RE]FRESH is open now!  Refresh (located at 1710 South Brentwood Blvd., St. Louis, MO 6314)) is a fashion adventure of new and repurposed clothing for teens and twenties.  We offer special reduced-pricing to foster and adoptive families and are open to the public on weekends.  All proceeds benefit the Foster & Adoption Resource Center.  Click here for more information on [RE]FRESH including hours, donations, and more!

KidStore
Children often enter foster care with only the clothing on their backs.  To help, we manage a small resale shop open exclusively to Missouri and Illinois foster and adoptive parents, relative caregivers, caseworkers, and GALs/CASAs.  The KidStore provides high-quality clothing and equipment at “garage sale” prices; nothing costs more than $1.  The KidStore is located on the 2nd floor of Tyler Place Presbyterian Church (2109 South Spring Street, Saint Louis, MO 63110). The store is open the first and third Wednesday of the month and every Saturday (except holidays) from 9 a.m. to noon.  For more information please contact Cindy Ysaguirre, KidStore Manager.

Little Wishes

The "Little Wishes" program is sponsored by the Coalition and KSDK-TV NewsChannel 5.  The goal of the program is simply to help foster children have a childhood.  Little Wishes raises donations from the public to fund opportunities that help kids grow and thrive.  For example, a week at summer camp enables a girl to be just one of the kids and not labeled as a foster child.  When wishes like these are granted, kids begin to realize what it's really like to be a kid.  They get to discover who they are, what they are capable of and what it means to be happy.  For more information please contact Barbara Kane.

 

Parent-to-Parent Network

A temporary relief for caregivers and families who are caring for foster and adoptive children.  The Coalition believes that respite is an essential part of support that helps a family take a break from the daily routine and stress.  Click here to learn about upcoming respite events.  For more information, contact Nickie Steinhoff, Director of Training & Community Support.

FosterServe
No matter your schedule or lifestyle, there are many ways to be a part of Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition.  We have opportunities to help out at our KidStore, [RE]FRESH, to mentor a foster child, to help out a foster family, or assist with our fund-raising events.  For more information, please contact Shelley Thomas-Benke, Director of FosterServe Volunteers. 

Parent Support Groups

Foster care and adoption takes a great deal of love and skill.  Thanks to the National Foster Parenting Association, we are able to offer a variety of skill-building support groups.  For more information, contact Nickie Steinhoff, Director of Training & Community Support.  

  

Youth Support Groups

In October 2007, the Coalition began a support group for adopted tweens and teens as well as those preparing to be adopted.  Youth will gain a better understanding of adoption and also have an opportunity to discuss their own, unique concerns.  We also offer support groups for foster/adoptive parents.  Support groups are held at the Foster & Adoption Resource Center (1750 S. Brentwood, St. Louis, MO 63144).  For more information, contact Nickie Steinhoff, Director of Training & Community Support.