Author: Emily Baumann
“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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September 4, 11, 18 & 25 | Spaulding Adoption Training
About Session Spaulding Adoption Training September 4, 11, 18 & 25 | 6–9 p.m. | Virtual 12 hours training credit Forming a family through adoption is different than forming one biologically or being a foster family. While adoption brings great joy and happiness to families, children who have experienced the trauma of abuse, neglect, and/or [...]
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September 5 | Ask the Advocate: Requesting Special Education
About Session Ask the Advocate: Requesting Special Education September 5 | 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 what is special education, how does my student [...]
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September 6 | Attachment 101
About Session Attachment 101 September 6 | 9–11 a.m. | Virtual 2 hours training credit This training is an introduction to attachment. You will learn the importance of attachment in parenting for yourself and the child. It covers the impact of fractured /lack of attachments on children's ability to attach and identifies strategies to develop [...]
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September 10 | Kinship Caregiving: Building Resilience
About Session Kinship Caregiving September 10 | 6–8:30 p.m. | Virtual 2.5 hours training credit This training describes parental resilience, why resilience is important, and how caring for children who have experienced trauma, separation, or loss can impact a caregiver’s own well-being. This theme also covers the behaviors that foster a protective environment for parents [...]
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September 13 | Attachment 102
About Session Attachment 102 September 13 | 9–11 a.m. | Virtual 2 hours training credit Children and youth who have experienced the trauma of separation, loss, or grief often have a difficult time forming new attachments and allowing themselves to trust the new caregivers in their lives. This new training takes our Attachment 101 course [...]
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September 17 | Kinship Parenting: It’s Complicated
About Session Kinship Parenting: It’s Complicated September 17 | 6–8:30 p.m. | Virtual 2.5 hours training credit This training acknowledges the complexities associated with caring for children who are related, including: divided loyalties; redefining roles and relationships; setting boundaries with parents and other relatives; and the range of emotions including anger, resentment, guilt and/or embarrassment [...]
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September 20 | Impact of Prenatal Substance Use
About Session Impact of Prenatal Substance Use September 20 | 9–11 a.m. | Virtual 2 hours training credit This training will help you understand the characteristics of prenatal substance exposure, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and their potential impact on development. We will also discuss common challenges faced by caregivers and how to reframe them. [...]
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September 23 | Mental Health Considerations
About Session Mental Health Considerations September 23 | 6–8 p.m. | Virtual 2 hours training credit This training provides a basic understanding of mental health disorders and conditions that commonly occur in childhood. Content is shared to illustrate that not all ‘survival’ behaviors or symptoms of grief relate to mental health disorders. This training will [...]
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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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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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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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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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