Kristin and Greg Roberts and Alissa and Andrew Getzin have a lot in common. Both couples are foster parents. Kristin and Alissa are both in caregiving careers. And, both families are adopting children on November 19, the day before National Adoption Day. November is National Adoption Month, but November 20 is specifically National Adoption Day. Families from all over the country select this special day to create their forever families through adoption. “We’re just excited to make it official,” Greg Roberts said. Before transferring to SaintA as foster parents, Kristin and Greg fostered sev ..read more

September is Kinship Care Month, which highlights and celebrates the importance of kin caregivers. Kinship care is the placement of children with non-parent relatives, such as grandparents, or like-kin adults who have existing relationships with youth and their families, such as family friends. For many families and communities, it’s a long-standing and important practice to work together to care for children. Kinship care is also crucial for making the child welfare system more stable and supportive for children and families involved with it. Research shows that when children and youth must ..read more

Youth Transitioning to Adulthood (YTA) client, Josh, is 19 years old and has recently come out to his friends and family as gay. As a wrap-up to Pride Month, I sat down with Josh and his case manager, Keaira Bonner, to talk about what it’s been like for Josh to celebrate pride by coming out. “I came out to Keaira two weeks ago,” says Josh. “She was the last to know,” he said, jokingly, since he really only started the coming-out process in earnest a couple of weeks ago. “It felt like he was saying, ‘Hi, I’m the real Josh!’” said Keaira. “We were driving and he pretty casually just said, ‘I wa ..read more

Want to improve a child’s future? To learn about case management career opportunities with SaintA, go to our Case Manager Job Listing. To become a foster parent, visit GrowHope.net. As a licensing specialist with several years of child welfare experience, Lisette Whittaker knows how important the present day is to the future of a child. That’s one reason she is so impressed by foster parents Zandra Webster and Barbara Collier. She feels the Webster/Collier family exemplifies one of the 5 Ways Foster Parents Impact the Lives of Children: Future. Read her blog post about the family below. Fut ..read more

What is Reason to Be? Reason to Be is one of SaintA’s Seven Essential Ingredients of Trauma Informed Care and is practiced by everyone from licensing and placement workers to case managers to administration. To learn about case management career opportunities with SaintA, go to our Case Manager Job Listing. To become a foster parent, visit GrowHope.net. It wasn’t that long ago that Jeremy and Jessica Carnes made a decision that would change their lives and the lives of children. They became licensed foster parents through SaintA in March of 2016. They’re the kind of foster family that stand ..read more

Care for Birth Parents as Well as Children The Sieglaffs have a knack for working with biological families. SaintA licensing staff and case managers play a role too. To learn about case management careeer opportunities with SaintA, go to our Case Manager Job Listing. To become a foster parent, visit GrowHope.net. Foster parents Nicole and Brittany Sieglaff currently have their hands full with 10-month old twins. But, caring for the little boy and girl is just the beginning of their commitment to the birth family. Read on for a blog post that describes one of the 5 Ways Foster Parents Impact ..read more

Want to Learn More About Stability for Foster Kids? Antuan’s team consists of case managers, licensing and placement specialists and of course, his foster family. To learn about case management careeer opportunities with SaintA, go to our Case Manager Job Listing. To become a foster parent, visit GrowHope.net. Throughout the month of May, we are publishing blog posts from SaintA staff who know our foster families well and who are so appreciative of everything they do for children. Read the blog post below about one family who exemplifies one of the 5 Ways Foster Parents Impact the Lives of ..read more

Want to help kids stay safe? To learn about case management careeer opportunities with SaintA, go to our Case Manager Job Listing. To become a foster parent, visit GrowHope.net. People often wonder what makes a good foster parent and the answers can be complex. Hours of training, extreme commitment, and a good sense of humor are all must-haves. Foster parents attend training in trauma informed care so they can best help children who have been exposed to adversity. Much of that knowledge is based on science. Foster mom Heather Ford has all of that – plus, she has begun to master the art of c ..read more

We recently told our foster parents about ABC-V, an innovative approach that allows foster parents to provide real-time coaching to bio families by being present during Family Time interactions. Thus far, nine SaintA caregivers have been trained in the ABC-V intervention model and are interested in joining this pilot once the time is right. Children placed in their home need to be between 0 and 6 years old and it needs to be safe and appropriate for the caregiver to supervise the bio family interaction session. “Fostering Relationships” is more descriptive As we continue on this journey in co ..read more

Oftentimes, we go through our lives believing that the decisions we make, the actions we take and the beliefs we have – because they serve our own personal best interests – are independent of others’ trajectory through life’s processes. Other times, we purposefully choose to get involved, to help those we feel may not be as blessed as we are at achieving a higher quality of life. Sometimes although our intentions may be well-aimed, things do not always go as planned. William Smith At a recent SaintA Child Welfare All-Staff Meeting, five former foster children presented on the effects child w ..read more