Welcome back to The "F" Word: Foster Care! We are back after a long year and half! We welcomed a new baby into our family, had a house flood and are finally back on track and excited to lift more voices. Enjoy this episode Fall 2021. New recordings coming soon! We welcome Sasha, a foster and adoptive parent, to the conversation this week. Sasha is an adoptive mother of one, and foster parent to 12 children. She has been part of 9 reunifications with another one just around the corner. Sasha fosters with United Hope, and focuses a lot on partnership parenting. Sasha shares valuable insight an ..read more

Welcome to The “F” Word: Foster Care! This week we continue our National Reunification Month celebration with Bobby Jo. Bobby Jo is a mother of 3 and she shares her reunification story and her new journey supporting other parents in similar situations as she experienced. Bobby Jo became a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) in 2019. She completed Trauma Informed Care and Mental Health first aid. She also received her certification in Whole Health Action Management (WHAM). Bobby Jo completed training with the Respect Institute and has received additional training in WRAP, Wellness Recovery Action P ..read more

(We are delayed in getting our remaining Reunification Month episodes out) This week we welcome Samantha Walker, Reunification Director for Georgia Division of Family and Children's Services. We discuss reunification month in June, types of reunification, conditions to return and why it's important to not only work and support children but families as a whole. Samantha N. Walker received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of New Orleans and a Master of Social Work degree from Southern University at New Orleans. After college, she began her career as a CPS investigator ..read more

Erin is a mother of four beautiful children. She has lived experience as a parent with child welfare involvement. Her parental rights were terminated and then REINSTATED after a period of incarceration and rehabilitation. She successfully reunified with her son in 2020. She is currently employed by the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network where she serves as the Training Coordinator for RESPECT Institute of Georgia. Her role is to assist peers in developing their own stories of recovery through a five-day training process. She is a Certified Peer Specialist-Mental Health as well as a Certifi ..read more

Carmen is the owner of Families Advocating for Voices of Resilience, Inc. (FAVOR) she is a mother of four and a grandmother of two. Through her experience being a mother of children living with serious emotional disorders, she helps families maximize their fullest potential and empower them to have a voice in their treatment, education, and daily life. Carmen collaborates with numerous child service agencies which provides communities with different resources. She is a member of the GA Parent Advisory Council, part of the DeKalb Family Policy Council, co-chair of the Youth and Family workgroup ..read more

Mistin is a momma of three beautiful children. Her children were removed outside of her care. She shares her journey of finding her voice and sobriety. Sadly, not all parents have great representation. Many times parents are lost in the system. Their personal faults are exposed publicly and in ways that belittle them. Their strengths are minimized and their progress ignored. Mistin shares her story of how the system took her voice away, but  how she turned her story around and found empowerment which led to her founding her voice. If it wasn't for her voice and strength she may not have r ..read more

!!!!Child Abuse Prevention Month 2021!!!! Join us today as we discuss what child abuse prevention truly is. Our guest today, Natalie Towns, shines a light on child abuse prevention, different levels of prevention, services, hopes for our families and how we all can prevent child abuse in our own homes, neighborhoods and communities. Today may be the last day of Child Abuse Prevention Month, but prevention is important every day! Natalie Towns is the Director of the Prevention and Community Support (PCS) Section within the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.  In addition to ..read more

Christina is a mother with lived experience. She has three beautiful children ages 9, 7 and 4. Christina is a parent in leadership through her community and state. She is a member of the Georgia Parent Advisory Council through the Department of Family and Children Services. Christina works with local non-profits as a Parent Peer Advocate. She is a TBRI Practitioner. And was awarded the 2021 George Pullen Community Leadership Award by Rome Floyd County Commission of Children and Youth.   Christina joins the conversation today discussing her reunification story and her position of parent ..read more

"I couldn't be a foster parent, I'm worried I'll get too attached" This week we end our conversation with Crystal Casey discussing more about attachment and working with the families of her foster children. Crystal, her husband Ryan, and their two daughters welcomed their 48th foster baby into their home little over a year ago. They are respite and long term foster parents. Make sure you listened to PART ONE before you jump into this episode! We do apologize something went wrong with the audio with Zoom towards the end. Some of the audio is distorted but the conversation was too important n ..read more

"I couldn't be a foster parent, I'm worried I'll get too attached" Crystal Casey joins us this week to discuss her journey becoming a Foster Mom and why attachment is so important in foster care. Crystal, her husband Ryan, and their two daughters welcomed their 48th foster baby into their home little over a year ago. They are respite and long term foster parents. Our conversation was so great we are doing this in two parts! Check back later this week for the 2nd part! We do apologize something went wrong with the audio with Zoom towards the end.  Email: thefwordfostercare@gmail.com&nb ..read more