Author: Emily Baumann
April-May Cohort | Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) Parent Practice Labs (PPL)
About Program Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) Parent Practice Labs (PPL) Saturdays, April 26 - May 31 | 9-11 a.m. The DDP-PPL program has been designed to meet an unmet need in the community to more comprehensively support children with histories of developmental trauma heal and thrive. It is aimed at giving support to the parents [...]
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April 1 | Kinship Parenting: It’s Complicated!
About Course Kinship Parenting: It's Complicated! Tuesday, April 1 | 6-8:30 p.m. 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 that [...]
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April 3 | Secondary Traumatic Stress
About Course Secondary Traumatic Stress April 3 | 6-9 p.m. 3 Hours Training Credit This training addresses the complex impact of secondary traumatic stress. It describes risk factors for and signs of secondary traumatic stress as well as prevention and self-care. This course is intended for anyone who works directly with the child welfare populations [...]
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April 5 | Mental Health Considerations
About Course Mental Health Considerations April 5 | 9-11 a.m. 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 are connected with mental health disorders. Commonly administered psychotropic medications [...]
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April 8 | Kinship Caregiving: Building Parental Resilience
About Course Kinship Caregiving: Building Parental Resilience April 8 | 6-8:30 p.m. 2.5 Hours Training Credit This training describes parental resilience, why resilience is important, and covers 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 [...]
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April 10, 17, & 24 | NEW MATERIAL! Teens: Understanding & Managing Challenging Behaviors
About Course Teens: Understanding & Managing Challenging Behaviors April 10, 17, & 24 | 6-8:30 p.m. 7.5 Hours Training Credit This training has been updated with new material. 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. Learn techniques [...]
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April 12 | Bullying and How it Impacts Our Kids
About Course Bullying and How it Impacts Our Kids April 12 | 9-11 a.m. 2 Hours Training Credit Bullying has been a pervasive issue for youth around the world, both in person and the virtual world of social media. Many children do not know how to protect themselves or help a friend facing this problem. [...]
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April 15 | The Adoption & Guardianship Journey: Navigating Relationships with Birth Families
About Course The Adoption & Guardianship Journey: Navigating Relationships with Birth Families April 15 | 6-8:30 p.m. 2.5 Hours Training Credit It is not a question of ‘if’ your adopted child will connect with birth family, it’s ‘when.’ This training will help participants recognize the benefits for children being aware of their adoption/guardianship story and [...]
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April 22 | Maintaining Connections for Youth
About Course Maintaining Connections for Youth April 22 | 6-8:30 p.m. 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 assist resource parents in understanding the importance of having key people in the lives [...]
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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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Celebrate Black History Month with 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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Atreyu
Meet 14-year-old Atreyu! This tall handsome young man will have you laughing in no time. Atreyu may come off as quiet at first, but once you find some common ground you will quickly realize how much of a joy he is. Atreyu enjoys being goofy and may actually have the BEST smile ever! His laugh [...]
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Malina
Malina is a bright and happy 11-year-old with a quick wit and a heart full of kindness. She’s always ready to make someone laugh or help a friend. She has a playful nature that makes her a joy to be around. Malina loves the color pink- which matches her cheerful personality perfectly! Her favorite foods [...]
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Justin
Justin is a fun-loving, outgoing thirteen-year-old boy with an adorable personality and smile. Justin is expressive, advocates for himself and is eager to learn. His favorite subject in school is Reading and he is a fan of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Man” series. When he gets older his desire is to be [...]
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Jamaya
7-year-old Jamaya is a special little girl who loves to listen to music and sing and dance along! Jamaya doesn’t let her limitations or anything else stop her! Jamaya communicates differently than others, but that doesn’t stop her from letting others know what she wants. Jamaya is a very happy little girl who loves life, [...]
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Braxton
Twelve year old Braxton is a bundle of energy! After spending just a few minutes with Braxton you will be falling out of your chair laughing at his jokes and pop culture references. His dream job is to become a video game developer, but he is such a dedicated and well-rounded student that the world [...]
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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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Davion
Davion is an inquisitive and imaginative 12-year-old boy who’s always eager to learn and help. Davion has a colorful personality which is very fitting as he has several favorite colors which include red, blue, orange, yellow, and black. He uses this color scheme when building new worlds with his Legos. Davion loves to be active [...]
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Ian
Meet Ian, a 12-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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