Author: Emily Baumann
Liam
13-year-old Liam is a special young man who lives for Legos and art! Liam loves to build, take apart, and rebuild all sorts of designs with Legos or any type of building blocks. Liam enjoys spending his time playing video games, drawing, coloring in coloring books, and playing outside. Liam would like to learn how [...]
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September 24 | Know Your Rights, Know Your Role
About Session Know Your Rights, Know Your Role September 24 | 6–8:30 p.m. | Virtual 2.5 hours training credit Understanding the foster care system can be challenging and overwhelming, especially while you’re also providing care to children who have experienced trauma. Parents are often given incorrect or contradictory information, leaving them feeling unsupported and frustrated. [...]
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October 1, 8, 15, & 22 | Resource Parent Curriculum Trauma Training
About Session Resource Parent Curriculum Trauma Training: Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma October 1, 8, 15, & 22 | 6–9 p.m. | Virtual 14 hours training credit Parenting children who have experienced trauma is different than parenting typically developing children. Children who have experienced the trauma of abuse, neglect, and/or the loss of [...]
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October 2 | What’s New with Your Child’s Healthcare: An Evening with Show Me Healthy Kids
About Session What’s New with Your Child’s Healthcare: An Evening with Show Me Healthy Kids October 2 | 6–8 p.m. | Virtual 2 hours training credit Did you know: Your child can earn money for well care doctor visits? Birth parents can utilize transportation to visit their children? Some children qualify for a free sensory [...]
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October 3 | Ask the Advocate: Least Restrictive Environment/ School Placement
About Session Ask the Advocate: Least Restrictive Environment/ School Placement October 3 | 10–11 a.m. | Virtual This is your opportunity to have questions answered about educational support for students impacted by foster care. We’ll discuss how to meet the ever-changing needs of our children. This session will cover how a student’s learning environment may [...]
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October 7, 14, & 21 | Teens: Understanding & Managing Challenging Behaviors
About Session Teens: Understanding & Managing Challenging Behaviors October 7, 14, & 21 | 6–8:30 p.m. | Virtual 7.5 hours training credit Parenting teens who have experienced trauma can bring additional challenges. This training will focus on topics such as rejection, aggression, social media, sex, and self-harming. You will learn techniques and build skills to [...]
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October 9 | Maintaining Connections for Youth
About Session Maintaining Connections for Youth October 9 | 6–8:30 p.m. | Virtual 2.5 hours training credit The child welfare team traditionally focuses on the immediate needs of youth and not the lifelong connections that are so important throughout life. This training will help you understand the importance of having key people in the lives [...]
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October 23 | Secondary Traumatic Stress
About Session Secondary Traumatic Stress October 23 | 6–9 p.m. | Virtual 3 hours training credit This training addresses the complex impact of secondary traumatic stress. You will learn about the risk factors for and signs of secondary traumatic stress as well as techniques for prevention and self-care. This course is intended for anyone who [...]
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October 28 | The Adoption & Guardianship Journey: Navigating Relationships with Birth Families
About Session The Adoption & Guardianship Journey: Navigating Relationships with Birth Families October 28 | 6–8:30 p.m. | Virtual 2.5 hours training credit This training will help participants recognize the benefits for children being aware of their adoption/guardianship story and maintaining connection with their birth families. Participants will become more aware of strategies for maintaining [...]
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Sisters United, Family Preserved
20-year-old “T” recently took placement of her younger sister with support from the Coalition. When Makayla, Family Connections Specialist, was initially brought on the case, she fought hard for the youth’s team to consider her older sister as a placement option. Makayla reflected, “There are always ways that people can be involved.” As it turned [...]
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“Yes” Changes Everything
When Dee and Eric learned that their daughter had given birth to a baby boy, it wasn’t through a joyful phone call from the hospital: it was from a social worker. Jonah was born drug exposed and was in the ICU. Dee and Eric were overcome with guilt that they could not care for Jonah [...]
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30 Days to Family® in Michigan
The Institute for Child Welfare Innovation (the Institute) is a program of the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition that offers training and replication services for child welfare professionals across the country. Since inception, the Institute has trained more than 5,023 professionals in family finding throughout 35 U.S. states and parts of Canada. Bethany Christian Services, [...]
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Helping Youth Find Meaningful Careers
Our Older Youth Readiness team recently met with the Director of the Carpenter's Union and learned about a unique opportunity for young people to explore careers in the trades. Molly, an Older Youth Readiness Navigator with the Coalition, connected one of her youth to take part in a tour. The youth was reluctant to [...]
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Learn About RESPOND
Did you know? Our local community is in desperate need of more African American foster parents. In St. Louis alone, African American children represent nearly 70% of kids in foster care, but less than 1/3 of the general population. Furthermore, only 13% of local foster parents are African American. Twice the number of African American children [...]
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That’s a Wrap on Trivia Night!
That's a wrap on Trivia Night: A Night at the Movies! More than 200 movie buffs attended our sold out event. Thanks to their support, we exceeded our goal, raising $46,074 to support children in foster care! Now that’s an Academy Award-level achievement! From classic quotes to big-screen soundtrack rounds, their energy and generosity made [...]
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Helping Families in Times of Need
Over the past weeks, the Coalition has rallied to support our foster and adoptive families who were impacted by devastating tornadoes. While our hearts are heavy with compassion for everyone who was affected, they are also filled with hope. Witnessing our community come together in the wake of this tragedy has been truly inspiring. We'd [...]
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Advocacy in Action: Reuniting Four Brothers
The staff at Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition (the Coalition) are no strangers to fiercely championing the children and families we serve. In February 2024, Daniel and Connor contacted Karen Alyasiry, Director of Family Development, seeking information about the fostering and adoption process. After speaking with Karen, the couple determined that pursuing licensure to foster [...]
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Kaiya
Kaiya is a beautiful young lady with a creative mind that’s endlessly inventive and wildly original. At just ten years old, her humor is sharp, deadpan, and delightfully unexpected—she’ll catch you off guard in the best way! Though she can be shy at first, Kaiya’s bold and witty personality soon shines through. A girly girl [...]
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Keeping Children in Foster Care Connected
Alarmingly, up to 85% of youth in foster care are separated from their siblings. For children who have already experienced immense trauma from being removed from their parents, staying connected with siblings is vital. This is where the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition’s program 30 Days to Family® comes in: to ensure siblings stay together. [...]
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William
William is an active and inquisitive 9 year old who can brighten the room with his smile. Despite the challenges he’s faced in life, William is not afraid to be his authentic self. He is social and loves to play games like hide and seek and tag outside with his peers when the weather is [...]
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$245,679 Raised on Give STL Day!
The 12th annual Give STL Day was a huge success. We beat our goal by more than $100,000! Our supporters showed up for the Coalition, giving generously of their time and treasure to help us spread the word about our promise to serve 100% of local children entering foster care by 2029. Not some, not [...]
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The Path to Permanency
Marla*, a licensed foster parent, was motivated to follow in the footsteps of her biological mother to create a nurturing space where foster youth impacted by trauma could heal. Marla became licensed through the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition in 2024 and immediately took placement of a teenage boy. Marla leaned on her training from [...]
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A Space Just for Teens
For nearly nine years, Elizabeth Maize has been a dedicated and compassionate volunteer at the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition. With a professional background in merchandising, Elizabeth honed her skills while working with major corporations like May Merchandising Co. and Maritz. Her extensive experience in the retail industry has given her a unique perspective on [...]
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Summer Camp & Daycare Resources
It's summer camp and day care preparation season for many families. Daycare for kids is getting trickier, and not all summer camps will continue to accept a daycare subsidy. We've compiled the following resources to help you find the right fit for your family. Summer Camp & Daycare Resources Special Education Foundation Kid-2-Camp Program [...]
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Johnnie
Johnnie is a 15-year-old teen who loves to have intelligent conversations. Johnnie is shy but communicates well with those who he has built a trusting relationship with. He is most likely to bond with one of his peers, classmates, or foster siblings. Then, his playful personality will start to shine through. If you want to [...]
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Jimmy
Meet James, also known as Jimmy! Jimmy is an intelligent and creative 10-year-old boy who loves to be outside, riding his scooter or go-kart by himself or with friends. Jimmy is fascinated with insects and loves to meditate while in nature as he manicures flowers in the garden. His favorite subjects in school are science [...]
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Aniya
Twelve-year-old Aniya is a quiet, thoughtful young woman. She is a storyteller at heart, spending a lot of time creating and writing stories, even adding hand-drawn art to each of her story pages. Her prior foster parent noted “our finest moments together occurred when we could be playful together and really use our imagination!” Aniya [...]
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Jeff Dyson-Perkins Joins the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition as Chief Impact Officer
The Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition is thrilled to welcome Jeff Dyson-Perkins to our team as Chief Impact Officer. In this role, Jeff will introduce an integrated approach to the Coalition’s community impact efforts through relationship-building and collaboration with agency partners. Additionally, Jeff will provide inspirational leadership to develop and implement efforts to advance the [...]
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Jesse
Jesse is an incredibly kind and playful 13-year-old. He is known to be respectful and so helpful at home. Jesse is smart and confident and his favorite subjects in school are math, science, and gym. He loves sports, but especially basketball, football, and dodgeball! When Jesse grows up, he hopes to be in the NFL [...]
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Ian
Meet Ian, a 11-year-old boy with blondish-brown hair, bluish-green eyes, and a strong build. Ian is very intelligent and inquisitive, which leads him to ask questions to ensure he has a clear understanding of the who, what, when, where and the how’s of life. He has a knack for multiplication and addition, which consequently are [...]
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Kevon’s Big Wish
For the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition, this is the time of year in which we focus on making every child in foster care’s Big Wish come true: the wish for a place to call home. That’s kids like Kevon, whose Big Wish was just granted! Kevon, now three, spent the first several years of [...]
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Foster Hope Day 2024
This year, we celebrated Foster Hope Day in a BIG way, raising an astonishing $2.07M to close out the Coalition's two-year, $10M capital campaign. Now, we can move into our new headquarters, from which we will serve 100% of children entering foster care, quadruple the number of foster parents, and much more! We are extremely [...]
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WOW! A Record-Breaking Trivia Night!
We are immensely grateful to everyone who attended our eras-themed trivia night! Your participation made the evening memorable and fun, and your support is invaluable to our mission. We’re even more excited that you attended this 35th Anniversary edition of trivia night, Transforming Lives at 35: Rewriting the Next Chapter of the Foster Care Story [...]
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$235,000+ Raised on Give STL Day!
You've made this an unforgettable start to our 35th anniversary. With your incredible support, you've helped us kick off our 35th anniversary by raising over $235,000! Your gift, along with hundreds of like-minded individuals, reaffirms our shared belief that every child deserves the support of a safe, loving family. Your gift will be the catalyst [...]
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Thank You for Another Successful Hope in a Handbag!
Thank You for an Incredible Hope in a Handbag; 35th Anniversary Edition! Hope in a Handbag was a HUGE success, and we couldn’t have done it without every single one of you! Heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for your support of Hope in a Handbag. Whether you attended, contributed, or simply [...]
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