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FosterEd Arizona A Huge Gift Given In Arizona

Foster youth education in Arizona got a huge lift in the form of a 500,000 dollar gift to FosterEd Arizona 14 from the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation.

Joy Hankins Hair Products for Foster Families Joy Hankins started The Joy of Curls to help foster families with styling hair. That has since blossomed into her donating hair products to foster families and more. 17

Lutheran Child &Family Services of Illinois Dismantling Systemic Racism Lutheran Child & Family Services of Illinois spent two years studying systemic racism in foster care and how to tear it apart brick by ugly brick. 20 Sarah Malik Foster Kid Creates Peer Tutoring Program Sarah Malik saw a need for an online peer tutoring program for foster youth. So she created one. Find out how she sprang into action for her fellow foster kids. 23

Sherry Hursey An Enchanting Movie

Actress Sherry Hursey stops by Foster Focus to tell share her latest project; Lilly’s Light, a foster care and adoption 30 film with the support of the Dave Thomas Foundation. Meet the Team

Owner/Creator/Editor Chris Chmielewski

Fullfilment Coordinator Trisha Chmielewski

Additional Editing/Design/Photos 6 8 Carolyn Walker

Columnists Rhonda Sciortino Sandie Morgan Dr. Capri Cruz Richard Villasana Chris Chmielewski

Section Partners 10 12 Centene

Advertising Sales Chris Chmielewski [email protected] (570)-538-3608

Print House 26 Bayard Printing 1 Maynard Street Williamsport, PA 17701 www.bayardprinting.com

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Publisher Foster Focus Magazine www.FosterFocusMag.com 608 Main Street Watsontown, PA 17777 Foster Focus ; A Monthly Look at the Foster Care Industry, is a Foster Focus (570)-538-3608 LLC production. Foster Focus is an unbiased editorial/news publication, there are www.FosterFocusMag.com no affiliations with any groups (religious, political etc.) information obtained in Foster Focus should not be considered as a resource for pending court cases. The views expressed by Columnists, Contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect the views of Foster Focus or Editor, Chris Chmielewski. As a foster parent, I learned long ago that I simply cannot do it by myself.

Foster parenting is hard. To me, it has been one of the most difficult lifestyles I have ever led. Let there be no mistake, foster parenting is a unique lifestyle. A lifestyle that few will ever understand or appreciate. It is a lifestyle that your family members, your friends, those you work with, those you are closest to will never truly understand. For you see, when you bring children who have experienced great trauma and experience anxieties into your home and into your family, it can be difficult. It can be challenging. It can be stressful on many levels. And when the child who you have come to love deeply with all of you heart and has become an important member of your family leaves, for In This whatever reason that might be, yes your heart does break, and you grieve their loss in Edition: your life. Several times each week, I tell foster parents that their lifestyle is indeed so unique that I Can’t their friends, family members, and those closest to them will truly not understand what Do It All they do as foster parents, why they chose this lifestyle, and why it can be so emotionally exhausting at times. Indeed, my own family members do not truly appreciate why my By Myself wife and I became foster parents, and why we have made the sacrifices that come along with caring for children in crisis in our home over the years.

Yes, I can't do it by myself, and I don't have all the answers when it comes to foster par - enting. That's just one reason why I surrounding myself with other foster parents. Whether it is at my own local foster parent support group, that meets once a month, or when I meet other foster parents as I travel across the nation, speaking at events, and holding training seminars at private agencies and state led foster parent conferences. No one truly understands a foster parent like another foster parent.

As a foster parent, you will also need a support group. To be sure, your friends and fam - ily members can and hopefully will offer you support as a foster parent, and will be there to help out in times of struggle. Yet, you will find that you will need another group of people to surround yourself with. For you see, your own friends and family members may at some point question whether or not you should be a foster parent, whether out of concern for your well-being, confusion about what you are doing, or maybe even from Dr. John DeGarmo is the founder their own guilt they might feel because they may feel that they are not doing enough, themselves. These questions from your friends and family members are normal towards and director of The Foster Care foster parents. I have heard them time and time again from dear friends and from my Institute,. Dr. John, as he is known own family. You might also have found, or will soon find, that you are not invited to all by, is TEDx Talk speaker, and con - the parties, gatherings, and events that you once used to be invited to. You may find that ducts seminars and consults across your friends are now doing things with others, and that there is a distance growing the world on foster care, child sex between you and others. Some may feel that the children you are caring for are “too trafficking, adoption, and child wel - rowdy”, and you are no longer wanted in their homes. Soon, you may find yourself lonely, isolated, and with no one to talk to. As I noted earlier, no one will truly under - fare related issues. stand you and what you do like another who has walked in your shoes and lived your life style; another foster parent. He is also the author of several books, including the book The There are a number of foster parent support groups and associations across the nation. A Foster Care Survival Guide, and few of these organizations may be national ones, while many others are, comprised of Helping Foster Children in School. foster parent, like you. Either way, you will benefit by being in a support organization, as they will provide you with not only support, but information, fellowship, and important insight that will help you be a better foster parent. Dr. John, and his wife Dr. Kelly DeGarmo, who hails from Australia, Support groups and associations offer you the opportunity to develop relationships with are the parents of 6 children, includ - other foster parents. These relationships will are wonderful occasions for you to validate ing adopting three from foster care, that your own experiences and emotions you feel as a foster parent. Fellow foster par - and have bee foster parents to over ents will also be able to discuss common experiences and common concerns related to 60 children. the foster children living in their homes, as well as share ideas and resources with each other. No one will truly understand and appreciate what you are experiencing and feel then other foster parents. drjohndegarmofostercare.com Many associations meet once a month, while others may meet every other month. It is important that you attend these meetings, as it not only keeps you connected with other foster parents, and the resources they might have, but many associations include training during their meetings. Training will take several forms; CPR certification, drug and 6 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com alcohol awareness, behavior modifica - tions, etc. The hours spent in training will go towards the yearly amount of hours needed in order to remain certified as a foster parent.

When some of my friends and family members wonder why I continue to bring children into my home, or tell me they could never do what I do for some reason or another; when I grapple with a the grief of a child leaving my home and family; when confusion and frustration from a flawed system threatens to sweep over me; for whatever situation I might be struggling with as a foster parent, I know that I can find a listening ear, and under - standing heart, and a comforting word from my fellow foster parents, both at the local and national level.

If you are not aware of a foster parent association or support group in your area, contact your foster care agency or local child welfare agency and ask them if there is such a group that you could join in your area. If for some reason there is not a support group in your area ask your agency if there is one nearby, or go ahead and get online and do a search for one near where you live. If you find one, send them a message and ask if you could join and attend meetings. The answer will probably be “yes.” Of course, you can meet great foster parents at state and national foster parent conferences, and you might even see me at one of these, as well. Speaking of national foster parent conferences, there are also some fantastic national foster parent groups, as well, that you can join. Oh, and don’t forget the many foster parent support groups on social media, too. All of these are oppor - tunities for you to find the support, encouragement, and wisdom you need from those just like you, your fellow fos - ter parent. www.FosterFocusMag.com Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 7 The Pursuit of Victory

In the typical perspective of most people, I probably shouldn’t be talking about this. I know. We are convinced by many behaviors and situations in our lives that we should maintain a quiet, private, “secret” life of our struggles. We are to presume no one else should, could, or would help us. I can speak to this. I was a child that grew up in a home of addiction, abuse and isolation. I was a foster kid that experi - enced a desire to be wanted, a teen that searched for unhealthy relationships, and a broken child led by misleading mentors. Long into adulthood, I carried the hurt heart of a child with a desiring mind for things to be different. And, I presume, with worth to each person’s own story, that many (if not most) foster kids could relate to In This my experiences. Edition: Yet, I also must note one other, often left out, key point: I experienced good! While Please the mind of a person is naturally in need of 3 to 1 positive reinforcement, when a Welcome person has been through trauma, they are in need of positive reinforcement any - where from 7 to 10 per each negative interaction. Thus, we are statistically, socially, Amber Jewell and interpersonally tuned to miss the good.

I see why. It is so hard, uncomfortable, unusual, and unpredictable for us vulnera - ble-beings to accept the good. To trust the good. To welcome the good. To find the good. More than that, we have been tuned, conned, and mislead to believe our worth is less than those not in foster care. I remember one of my biggest triggers growing up was when I was introduced first as a foster child, then as my name. It was as though it pre-defined me. But, friends in care, we are not to be determined by our surroundings; we are worthy of more than that! Rhonda Sciortino , author of Succeed Because of What You've Been Through, Successful Thus, no matter your role relating to child welfare, one of the key components to Survivors, and Kindness Quotient, serves as a equipping vulnerable youth with tools to sustain from exploitation and abuse is to National spokesperson for Safe Families For help youth to not only hear about but also see-to-learn the impact of the many- Children, Royal Family Kids, and as national champion of the Love Is Action Community missed “goods” in the world. Initiative. Rhonda used the character traits and abilities developed throughout an abusive child - Outside of the many amazing programs across the US for prevention, intervention, hood to create successful businesses that protect - and trauma services, there is also a simple power of being strong role models for the ed and defended child welfare organizations. She vulnerable. We are the type of people that find more truth in how a person acts than is a passionate speaker, trainer, and advocate. the things they say anyway. Thus, influences, professionals, adults, friends that role model healthy boundaries, self-care, and self-worth as essential can equip vulnera - www.RHONDA.org ble youth with life-saving lessons and tips. Teach us what healthy relationships really means--in face of conflict, trials, and let-downs—so we can possibly come to desire and even seek those like them. Help us to acquire the belief that a safe haven is a universal right for others and ourselves. Equip us with the protective factors we have never been exposed to. Support is discovering that mistakes and failure is not an ending but a lesson.

As the Board President of Successful Survivors Foundation, Author of “Finding Hope: The 12 Keys to Healing from Hardships, Hurt, and Sorrow,” licensed master social worker, and successful survivor of my own, I believe that everyone plays an Dr. Sandie Morgan , Ph.D., is Director of essential role in the lives of foster kids. Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice, overseeing the Women’s Studies Minor, as well as teaching Family As for you, foster kids, I also believe you each hold the ability to acquire great, per - Violence and Human Trafficking and produc - sonal success (but may need guidance as to how to unfold those skills.) Essentially, ing the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast. we are all a team and reciprocal of one another. We are created to build relationships Sandie's background as a Pediatric Nurse that fuel one another towards success. We both, adults and youth, must learn that brought her into contact with her first victim though change is unavoidable, we can play a role in creating our own change, and of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of we will. Children. She is committed to equipping our communities to be a safer place for vulnerable So, as we walk through steps, tools, skills, and challenges that face us in life, may youth. we all link arms in pursuit of the victory over exploitation and abuse. As a team of Live2Free.org hope with action we will speak….we will stand…we will make a difference-togeth - er! 8 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com

Dear Dr. Cruz,

What are some basic things I can do to start living a life of greatness?

Dear Greatness:

To live a life of Greatness, you need to shift. What does that mean? It means you need to incorporate new strategies so you can live better, plan smarter, be more present, and execute more effectively. These six strategies helped my life shift and I assure you they will help your life shift as well. In This Edition: 1. Before you go to sleep, make the conscious decision that when you wake up you will immediately take a couple of deep breaths to center your mind and your body before you do anything else. When you awaken, don’t check your email or social Where media. If it’s helpful, use a separate alarm clock from your phone so that you’re not to tempted to check your phone. You must learn to be deliberate about how you move in Begin life. From the moment you gain consciousness to the time you go to sleep, be aware of the moment. Be a deliberate being, not robotic in your typical ways of being.

GreatDr. Capri Cruz is a former foster child who, by 2. Plan your week on Sunday, then review each new day the night before. This helps the grace of God, survived a plethora of tragic life you wake up each morning focused to hit the ground running. When you fail to plan events that attempted to destroy her. Years later, Dr. Cruz received a revelation that compelled her to take you plan to fail, undisputedly! How do you get ahead of life? How can you shift the deliberate action over her life. She has since turned influence on your own life? Deliberately plan what needs to get done before the day her life into a cinematic worthy legacy that her it needs to get done. We all have 24 hours in a day. Some people are just more effec - beloved daughter and future generations can be very proud of. tive at strategizing their time and therefore, applying their energy to certain tasks. Every second counts and when you’re serious about the results you want to create for At a very young age, little Capri suffered identity you life, you will be serious about planning your time wisely. altering physical, mental and sexual abuse, and two attempts to end Capri’s life. Never to be the same again, her life tragedies continued to multiply as she 3. Control your calendar; don’t let it control you. Great leaders wag the tail; they later witnessed the harrowing death of her mother, don’t let the tail wag them. Stay in control of where you place your focus and how became a teenage runaway to get away from her abuser, unknowingly found herself a target for racists, your time is used. Use it judiciusly. Each line on your calendar is available for you to and ultimately lost any sense of identity that she had. dictate. White space usually means wasted time when not accounted for. When you create goals for you life you realize time flies. It can get away from even the best of Unconsciously, her brain tried to protect her by sequestering her in mental oblivion for two decades us. Nonetheless, there is opportunity there for you to become more aware of the power as the depth of her trauma was just too much to of using your calendar to guide your day. Effectiveness comes from being efficient. process alone.

At 37 years old, she found herself on the losing end of 4. Visualize how you want your day to go before getting out of bed and feel your a terrifying domestic dispute with a narcissist she sincere thankfulness for at least 3 things to calibrate your energy. Visualization is the later realized she should have never gotten involved best technique to bring fort thought form into reality. Why? Because you are essen - with. Running for her life, she ended up finding safety in her best friend’s condo garage. Upon awakening tially downloading invisible software into your mainframe (your brain). You have the the next moring, Capri had an acute spiritual aware - ability to control your brain but most people live their lives in reaction to their brain. ness that everything in her life needed to change. It behooves us to ask, "whose brain is it anyway? It’s your brain. Does your car drive For the first time in her life, Capri began to “con - you or do you drive your car? It’s the same concept. Get in the driver’s seat of your sciously awaken”. Solution–Focused therapy helped mind and control it. Do you ever wonder how dreams come true? One must first her to realize that she was the problem in her own life dream. What is visualizing? It is dreaming in great detail. If you can see it, you can and she was also the solution. This new philosophy ignited a depth of personal responsibility that cata - pulted her out of powerless victimhood and into Deliberate Creation.

Since discovering the concept of deliberate creation, Dr. Cruz has become a retired U.S. Navy Veteran, PhD, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Transformational Public Speaker, Entrepreneur, Founder of “Fostering Hearts and Homes” 501(c)(3), and the acclaimed Author of From Foster Care to FABULOUS: An Imperative Movement and Maximize Your Super Powers Vol. 1. Despite her achievements, Dr. Cruz feels like her life has only just begun. Now she is on a mission to offer others the thoughtful guidance and emotional support that she wishes someone would have offered her.

10 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com achieve it. If not, you continue to let life take you in the direction it wants to take you. The choice truly is up to you. The important thing to know is that you have this majestic power. When you incorpo - rate emotions of gratitude with visualiza - tion, you essentially have activated your super powers because neuroscience research has confirmed that feelings of gratitude rewire the brain to think in a certain way. When that becomes a habit, it begins to happen automatically.

5. Brush your teeth 2x a day, gargle, and floss. This habit taught me disciple. The bonus is that it’s a healthy habit (that most people overlook). This discipline taught me to pay attention to the small things that I would otherwise not want to do because as humans we seek the path of least resistance, meaning we are natu - rally lazy. It takes discipline to do the right thing when we would rather not. What small things did this habit empow - er me to be disciplined over? Washing all the dishes at night when I’d rather just go to bed, sweeping the front porch instead of overlooking the dirt and leaves, and ultimately becoming more alert to other little things in my life that have a huge lasting impact like shutting off lights when I’m not using them.

6. Force yourself to network with “next level” people who you ordinarily would not. I view each new person I meet as my rehearsal partner for that one person I'll eventually meet who will help sky rocket my net worth. I literally force myself to be comfortable in uncomfortable situa - tions so I can stretch my comfortably. Yesterday I took it upon myself to intro - duce myself to a judge and two prosecu - tors, and today I’m a better person for it. Look for the opportunities to expand your wings so that you can learn to fly higher, stronger, and longer. Great people excel. They keep challenging themselves to become better at things that will improve their positioning in life. They are aware of the power of "shifting". I hope you will be open to challenging yourself to find at least one thing each week to become comfortable doing that you otherwise would rather not. I believe one day you will be glad you did.

To Your Best Destiny! Dr. Cruz www.FosterFocusMag.com Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 11 For three years I’ve been writing about family finding and have thought many times that people get it... but it seems I may be wrong.

“Family finding” is a social service and the governmental term for the activity of identify - ing, locating and notifying adult family members that their related child is in foster care. Federal and many state laws mandate that thorough efforts are executed by agencies to locate family members of foster kids. This is done so they can move out of foster care and into "relative" placement, living with family as opposed to complete strangers. Kinship Care is the term used for this placement.

However, almost no one understands the importance of family finding and that lack of In This understanding is a disaster for foster kids. The public more easily rallies around issues that Edition: they understand. People hear about child abuse, and they want to know how to stop it. People read a Facebook post about a foster kid who is eligible for adoption, and people Family Finding: start to ask how they can adopt the child or otherwise help. Things change when enough people are moved to voice their approval or opposition and start insisting on change. Foster Child Lynch Pin One of the most important ways that family finding changes a foster child’s life is during an adoption. Across the U.S., thousands of foster child adoptions are postponed because a parent has not been located and notified so that they have the chance to step up and take custody of their child or to give up their parental rights. If a parent’s rights are terminated without proper family finding and an adoption goes through, it’s very possible that the par - ent can show up later and have the adoption reversed in the Appeals Court.

When this happens, no one wins. The adoptive family is crushed. The child is bounced back to a parent they may not know. In many cases the parent was cheated out of years of being with their child. Time and money are wasted with appeals and court appearances that should never have happened in the first place. The way to avoid this nightmare is by per - Richard Villasana , a proud Navy veteran, is a forming a thorough family finding. leading international authority on reuniting children in U.S. foster care with their relatives. Family finding is an incredibly powerful process for foster children and their families, yet Villasana is an author and international speaker most people know nothing about family finding. This was brought home hard to me recent - who has been featured by the San Diego Business ly. My charity, Forever Homes for Foster Kids, made an appeal for donations to support Journal, the Union-Tribune Radio Network show, San Diego Finest Business Radio, and EFE, the our family finding work to help with an adoption. Instead of receiving donations, we got world’s largest Spanish language media company. comments such as this one from Margery: He is the founder of Forever Homes for Foster Kids. For more than 20 years, the organization “As a foster parent, I can assure you, locating kinship isn't outsourced. I don't know has been building stronger families and communi - who/what this organization is but I smell something fishy.” ties by locating relatives of foster children so they can move out of foster care into forever homes. Sadly, this woman is ignorant about family finding and how it works. The public usually Forever Homes for Foster Kids has handled fos - doesn't know that foster care county agencies across the country contract out many serv - ter care cases for several agencies and nonprofits ices to non-profits including family finding. These contracts with non-profits aren’t the including Casey Family Programs, Seneca Center exceptions; they are the norm. and CASA of Travis County in Texas.

Villasana’s insights on locating families have been taught to social workers around the country. He specializes in cross-cultural and “family find - ing” training for universities, social service agen - cies and nonprofits. To have Villasana speak to your company, school or association, email him at [email protected].

Visit www.ForeverHomesforFosterKids.org to become part of the growing number of supporters of foster children because every child deserves a forever home and a happier, healthier life. Contact Richard via email at [email protected]

Join Richard on Facebook: www.facebook.com/richardvillasana

Connect on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richardvillasana 12 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com Think about it. Until recently, Amazon had contracts with Fedex and the U.S. Postal Service to deliver products. Then Amazon decided to do the shipping themselves, but they now use third-party contractors like UPS so people can easily return products. Restaurants contract with Door Dash and Uber Eats. Some cities have contracts with private companies to pick up trash. It can be smart business and financially benefi - cial for government agencies – including foster care offices -- to have contracts with another company or non-profit that can do the job better, faster or cheaper.

If the public doesn’t know or understand how important family finding is, then there is no outside pressure on government lead - ers and politicians to ensure that family finding is being performed thoroughly. The downside is that poor family finding can often leave a child spending years alone in foster care when they could be in a loving home with family.

Family finding most often reunites a U.S. foster child with their family or causes a stalled adoption to go through giving a child a new life with loving adults. The process is so powerful that it is currently being used to reunite many of those 545 immigrant children who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border from their parents in 2017 and 2018.

Everyone talks about preserving families and not removing children whenever pos - sible, but there will always be situations where a child must be removed from an abusive parent. When this happens, family finding often ensures that the child is placed with an aunt or grandparent and not with strangers, no matter how loving those people may be. People need to know that family finding is the lynch pin for thou - sands of foster children to be back with their families. (If Margery knew about family finding and how it can change a foster kid’s life forever, she would proba - bly want to help in some way.)

Be part of the solution. Share this article with your friends. Go to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/familyfind - ingmx. Like the page, comment and share our posts. Everything starts with educa - tion, knowing about a topic and getting interested. Take action to become a voice supporting solutions for every foster child who desperately needs your help. Each foster kid deserves it. www.FosterFocusMag.com Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 13 FosterEd Arizona Receives $500,000 For AZ Students in Foster Care

PHOENIX – FosterEd Arizona, an initiative of the National Center for Youth Law dedi - campaign began with the launch of a cated to improving graduation rates and life outcomes for children in foster care, has demonstration site in Pima County, the suc - received a $500,000 grant from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. The impact of this cess of which allowed the organization to funding will be increased educational support for Arizona students in foster care who expe - expand programming throughout Maricopa rience learning interruptions due to multiple home and school moves and further disrup - County. To learn more about FosterEd tions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Arizona, visit foster-ed.org/topics/arizona/.

“Time after time, children in foster care have been let down by the adults in their lives,” FosterEd Arizona said PXG Founder and CEO Bob Parsons. “It’s amazing what can happen when these stu - dents have someone in their corner, fighting to help them build a better future. And that’s Through implementation of demonstration what FosterEd is doing.“ sites, bold policy agenda, collaborative learn - ing networks and research, FosterEd is s cre - The grant will allow FosterEd to take full advantage of Arizona's Foster Youth Education ating a future where each and every young Success Fund. This fund was made possible as a result of legislation signed by Governor person in foster care or under the jurisdiction Ducey in order to ensure that youth in foster care have education champions, coordinated of probation graduates from high school with a wide array of possibilities for their future. education teams and education plans based upon their strengths and needs.

“FosterEd is meeting current needs by providing direct support to vulnerable students and working toward long-term solutions,” said President and Executive Creative Director of PXG Apparel Renee Parsons. “Because of organizations like FosterEd, youth in foster care are being empowered to reach their full potential.”

Students in foster care have one of the lowest graduation rates among at-risk student sub - groups. The FosterEd approach has been shown to improve attendance and graduation rates for these students while also transforming the public agencies that serve them by advocating for legislative change and sharpening state focus around education for children in these programs. The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation

FosterEd operates under the framework that all foster youth should have an Education The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation offers Champion who can support the student’s long-term educational success. This includes support to nonprofit organizations successful - establishing an Education Team of engaged adults - caregivers, teachers and child welfare ly working to empower, educate, nurture and caseworkers - who develop an ongoing education plan based on each student’s academic nourish people during what is often the dark - strengths and needs. The FosterEd Education Team is fully invested in their role as educa - est time of their lives. Founded in 2012 by philanthropists and business leaders Bob and tion champions and ensures their students are consistently and meaningfully supported. Renee Parsons to provide hope and life- changing assistance to the country’s most vul - “For foster care students, the opportunity to learn is consistently interrupted and they are nerable populations, The Bob & Renee repeatedly faced with adults who hold heartbreakingly limiting expectations for their Parsons Foundation offers critical funding at future,” said FosterEd Program Manager, Maricopa County Rose DeBlas. “The generous critical times to those in need. The support from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation will help us realize our goal of ensur - Foundation’s giving is driven by the core ing every child in the system is encouraged and given the resources they need to graduate belief that all people – regardless of race, from high school with a full array of college and career opportunities.” religion, roots, economic status, sexual orien - tation or gender identity – deserve access to Last year, the program: quality healthcare, education and a safe place to call home. Follow @WeDealInHope on ~ Served nearly 250 students in 44 school districts across the state social media or visit TBRPF.org, to learn ~ Developed a practical toolkit to assist adults who work with children and youth in more about partner organizations and the foster care in setting them up for success important work being done in the community. ~Conducted multiple trainings with agencies and entities that support youth in foster care, including the Department of Child Safety and Court Appointed Special Advocates ~Served on multiple coalitions, workgroups and collaborative partnerships to ensure the experiences of youth in foster care are prioritized

In Arizona, FosterEd works with a committed group of local and state partners, parents and students to create a future in which the majority of foster youth graduate high school. The 14 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com

Textured Hair Care Brand Launches with Mission to Give Products to Foster Kids Joy Hankins became a licensed foster parent in 2011 and describes herself as “forever changed” after learning first hand about the traumas foster kids face. She immediately felt compelled to serve the foster community and considered her love for natural hair as an avenue for providing support to families. Joy created The Joy of Curls initially to give foster parents textured hair styling lessons, but after recog - nizing the need for ongoing support she decided to create a haircare brand.

“I knew I needed to give foster parents products that moisturize textured hair, with ingredients that are safe for kids and also affordable. I recognized how costly high quality natural hair products can be and I knew at that moment I had the perfect solution.” Knowing what ingredients she wanted to use, Joy hired a chemist to formulate the products and makes them in small batches with her husband, selling them online to the natural hair community. Joy has created a selling goal that allows her the ability to give donations of these products to agencies that serve foster children.

“This (giving) is especially important to me because I know the likelihood is that children of color will be placed in transracial homes. It took me a while to learn my own hair texture and I want this to be easier for foster parents so that the children feel good about their hair. Boosting their self-esteem is a small thing that I can do to help them feel loved during one of the most challenging transitions of their lives.”

The Joy of Curls, set to launch May 31st has partnered with Foster The Love- Louisiana to be the first agency recipient of hair care dona - tions for kids. Joy (now an Iowa resident) is hoping to partner with multiple agencies all over the US to extend donations to as many fos - ter kids as possible.

“I know there is a need for this, and I’m hoping as the word gets out I’ll be overwhelmed with donation requests. When I’m able to give to every state then I’ll feel pleased that my mission is being accomplished.

For more information on The Joy of Curls, visit the website: thejoyofcurls.shop fill out the contact form to get in touch with Joy. Joy Hankins Founder|CEO, The Joy of Curls LLC

LUTHERAN CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF ILLINOIS COMPLETES TWO YEAR-LONG ANALYSIS DISMANTLING SYSTEMIC RACISM BRICK BY BRICK IN THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM

Decrease in length of time in foster care Equitable) LCFS of Illinois set out with a and increase in permanency achieved: goal to bring urgency, focus and resources “We are proud to have moved the needle so toward significant growth of these values. more youth of color can have loving forev - LCFS of Illinois model integrated into “LCFS of Illinois cannot adequately serve er families,” shared LCFS of Illinois VP ongoing racial equity work and mission the families we are deeply committed to and Chief Operating Officer Beverly Jones. unless we embrace the principles of WIDE “What began as an internal analysis is now CHICAGO– Lutheran Children and Family and address the length of time in foster care integrated into our everyday operations to Services of Illinois (LCFS of Illinois), a for children of color,” said LCFS of Illinois make a difference in racial equity prac - non-profit dedicated to improving the well- President and CEO Mike Bertrand. tices.” being of people across the state by protect - ing children, strengthening families and After reviewing its own statewide and The WIDE commitment is included in new building futures for those who have experi - agency data, with regional sites in Chicago, employee orientation across all sites. LCFS enced trauma, announces the completion of Belleville, Decatur, Joliet, Kankakee, Mt. of Illinois continues to publish bi-monthly a two year-long analysis, “Dismantling Vernon, Oak Brook, Quincy and data results to increase transparency when Systemic Racism Brick by Brick in the Springfield, LCFS of Illinois saw implicit assessing staff and agency progress. Child Welfare System,” to achieve equity bias and institutional racism were influenc - and better outcomes for children and fami - ing inequitable outcomes, which largely LUTHERAN CHILD AND FAMILY lies of color. mirror the issues facing the entire child SERVICES OF ILLINOIS welfare system in Illinois and the rest of the The agency-wide commitment surpassed country. Lutheran Children and Family Services of its original goal of achieving a 5% differ - Illinois (LCFS of Illinois ) is a non-profit ence in the median length of stay and per - The LCFS of Illinois framework began dedicated to improving the well-being of peo - manency. Currently, LCFS has realized a with training staff to examine how their ple across the state by protecting children, strengthening families and building futures 16% decrease in the median length of time biases may contribute to disparate out - for those who have experienced trauma. After in foster care and a 47% increase in achiev - comes. Forums are held for staff to learn more than 148 years, LCFS of Illinois has and rehearse best practice techniques to ing permanency. grown into the second-largest community- improve engagement with families and uti - based child welfare agency in Illinois, with Of the more than 20,000 youth in Illinois lize those learnings in all familial meetings. regional sites in Chicago, Belleville, Decatur, Foster Care, 54% are youth of color. Increased engagement with birth families, Joliet, Kankakee, Mt. Vernon, Oak Brook, Currently, the median length of stay for both virtually and in-person as allowed, is a Quincy and Springfield. For more informa - children of color in the state’s foster care major contributor to the improved out - tion, visit www.lcfs.org/. system is 1,186 days compared with 913 comes. Additional staff training focuses on days for white children, nearly a nine- working with the judicial system to better month difference, before they are reunited navigate court processes and advocate with their family, adopted or age out of the within the courts on behalf of families of system. color, LGBTQ youth and other societal biases impacting their clients. Throughout Starting with a pledge to become WIDE each process, all staff is presented with (Welcoming, Inclusive, Diverse and Continued Quality Improvement data analysis.

Free Online Peer Tutoring for Foster Kids, Created By a Foster Kid By Sarah Malik Foster Focus Contributor When I was 13, I was sent to a new foster care group home at three students across the country who are currently in foster care, have in the morning. It was only when I got there that I realized the been discharged, or are receiving preventive services. Achillea “group home” was actually a lockdown facility little different from helps students in all school subjects, providing free, online peer jail. tutoring that works around their schedules.

Monitored phone calls, uniformed officers, body and room search - In our tutors, we look for passion about child welfare and a desire es, bullying, violence. Being treated like a criminal was traumatiz - to make a positive impact on students beyond the sessions. ing. The uncertainty of when I’d be freed made it worse. Prospective tutors take our online training courses founded in trau - ma-informed care principles, and are given an overview of the fos - During my five month stay, I sought solace in learning. From a ter care system and the challenges that foster children face. These young age, my family had instilled in me the importance of educa - courses train our tutors to empathize, create a safe space, and avoid tion. The year before, I’d worked hard to gain a highly coveted re traumatization during sessions. seat at Hunter College High School, a specialized high school in New York City. But at the facility, I couldn’t leave to go to school. Our tutors are trained in diverse teaching methods and provided The onsite classroom for students in grades 6-12 was so disorgan - with educational videos, lesson plans, and online textbooks to ized that I could barely learn. enrich the learning experience. They are also equipped with the knowledge and resources to teach children with learning disabili - Back at Hunter, I had received peer tutoring to help with my writ - ties. ing. I remembered how much it had helped me and wanted to offer Tutors send periodic check-in forms to Achillea to ensure that ses - that same support to the other residents. Living in a lockdown sions are running smoothly, as well as monthly progress reports to facility shouldn’t mean that their education needed to suffer. the student’s foster care agency. We also require that tutors submit notes from each session describing the topics covered, what their Since leaving the facility, I learned that I wasn’t alone in suffering student is struggling with, learning goals, and other relevant academically as a foster kid. The trauma that many of us carry details. Our students submit check-in forms as well, and provide forces us to prioritize survival, not learning. Frequent school and feedback on their tutors, their personal academic growth, and what placement changes hinder our academic progress and make it they think Achillea can do to improve their experience. harder to maintain friendships. Faith from others, and ourselves, is fragile. Additionally, the child welfare system often leaves chil - We encourage open communication between tutors, students, and dren with a deep distrust of adult figures, due to a past history of the students’ caregivers and agency workers. Above all, we stress maltreatment, neglect, or a lack of cultural understanding from that foster kids deserve access to quality education, not just their foster care givers.1 This makes it especially difficult for stu - because of their circumstances, but because education is a human dents in care to reach out to their educators for support. right.

With this in mind, I founded Achillea at age 14. We are a national It’s gratifying to know that I’m dedicating my time to supporting peer tutoring organization that aims to help foster youth overcome other kids in foster care like me. Especially during the COVID-19 adversity and find their own paths to success. (You can read more pandemic, the need for academic support has become greater than about the story of how I created Achillea in this Chalkbeat article.) ever. Although Achillea is now remote, we remain dedicated to reaching as many students as possible and ensuring that they con - The organization is named after the Achillea flower, which is capa - tinue to learn and thrive. Like the Achillea flower, we, our tutors, ble of withstanding drought, heavy winds, and heat. The flower is and our students, never stop growing. extraordinarily strong and resilient, just like our students. Achillea works closely with foster care agencies and tutoring nonprofits across the country to create an individualized and trauma- informed learning approach for each student. Currently, we are in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

With Achillea, I wanted to match foster kids with peers in their age range whom they felt they could trust. At the same time, I wanted Sarah Malik is 15 years old and a sophomore at Hunter College tutors who had the maturity to truly internalize the importance of High School in New York City. As a student in foster care, she under - trauma-informed care. In order to achieve these goals, we require stands the educational barriers that being in foster care poses. In prospective tutors to be in grades 8-12 and minimize the age gap response, she founded Achillea Peer Tutoring, an online, one-on-one between students and tutors wherever possible. Through these peer tutoring nonprofit. It serves K-12 kids across the country who standards, Achillea strives to create equal relationships where stu - are currently in care, discharged, or receiving preventive services. dents feel that their voices are heard. Eligible students can sign up to be matched with a trained high school peer tutor, free of charge! Her goal is to help kids in the child Those who are interested in becoming tutors or tutees can sign up welfare system overcome adversity and enjoy their learning experi - on our website. We match dedicated high school tutors with K-12 ence. Learn more about her and Achillea in this Chalkbeat article. www.FosterFocusMag.com Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 23

For Purchase Information visit www.FosterFocusMag.com/writersmarketplace

Lisa Aguirre Adam Starks Lisa Aguirre grew up in a small Adam Starks, Ph.D. is a former town in Maryland but travelled all foster youth who defied the typical over the world in her work for many outcome. Against the odds, he has years in public service at the U.S. been married for over 12 years to State department. More recently, she his wonderful wife, Emily and they transferred to the U.S. Department have three children; Jayden, Isaiah of Health and Human Services and and Susannah. Currently, Dr. Adam enjoys this work. She holds a mas - Starks is an aspiring social entre - ter’s degree in clinical psychology preneur envisioning a better today and a law degree from Tulsa for our society's most vulnerable University. She is married to Wilde children. His purpose includes with five adult children and one grandchild. She is determined to advocating for and empowering at-risk youth to encourage our do what she can, not only to mentor and support, but also to advo - society to realize each student's potential instead of life-altering cate for older teens and young adults in foster care. disciplinary action. As living proof to what it takes to break the cycle, Dr. Starks seeks to establish a more holistic education Faces of Foster Care has heartfelt and frank mes - model by offering external services to assist the most disadvan - sages from twenty people around the country who taged youth in order to transcend the dismal statistics resulting have been involved in some way with foster care. Their stories are like mini from negative experiences during their formative years. memoirs, so inspiring and sometimes heartbreaking. All profits from the book Looking back, my patchwork of memories during the first five years in go directly back into the organization for which the author volunteers and is a California revealed a much simpler life compared to the challenges I would board member, the DC Family and Youth Initiative (dcfyi.org). face moving cross-country to Virginia. My earliest recollection is falling out of my stroller onto a Hollywood Boulevard Star Walk of Fame when I was around Please support this work and foster care by ordering a copy and learn from two years old. Whether that meant I was destined for stardom or my mother this incredible window into foster care in the U.S. needed to make sure I was buckled in more tightly next time remains to be seen. My mother already had another child, my sister Eve, five years earlier Carl Hancock Rux, author of the novel Asphalt (Simon & Schuster) and alum - with the only man she would ever marry. Her alcoholism coupled with her ni of the NYC Foster Care System reviewed Faces of Foster Care: “No child blind, unproductive ambition led to their divorce well before I was born. thrives without a sense of place, identity, or familial nurturing. In the mid-19th My father was absent from the get go. I don’t have his side of the story since I century, over 30,000 children lived on the streets of New York City, facing the never met the man, so I can’t offer a guess as to why he chose to abandon me. harsh elements of homelessness without public or private assistance. The ini - The blank line where my father’s name should be on my birth certificate repre - tial campaign to extend benefits to, and provide families for displaced children sents the same void I still feel today. Gratefully, my sister’s father went above (then known as ‘The Orphan Train Movement’) eventually morphed into a and beyond to provide that foundational example. Although I struggled with bureaucratic agency constantly entrenched with all manner of budgetary con - false memories during my adolescent years, my father never existed during my straints, agency mandates, policy changes and revisionist statutes. stay in California. AdamStarks.com

catmarshall.net Judge Michael Ryan Catherine Marshall Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Catherine Marshall's stories about Juvenile Judge Michael John Ryan is a parenting and other real life adven - native Clevelander. tures have been featured in several anthologies and magazines includ - Judge Michael John Ryan was first elected ing the Noyo River Review, Foster to a full six-year term on the Cleveland Families Today, and Tales of Our Municipal Court bench in 2005 and re-elect - Lives . ed to another six-year term without opposi - tion. He was subsequently elected in November 2012 to his cur - She resides in the San Francisco rent position as judge in the Cuyahoga County Court of Bay Area and Mendocino, where Common Pleas Juvenile Division. At age 30, Judge Ryan she has a consulting practice spe - became the youngest person ever appointed to a full-time cializing in helping nonprofits and Magistrate position with the Cleveland Municipal court. community groups effect social change. She is the author of Field Building: Your Blueprint for Judge Ryan is married, has two children and is a Deacon and Creating an Effective and Powerful Social Movement . member of the Board of Directors at the Pentecostal Church of Christ. Catherine Marshall's story reveals the heartbreak and hope of foster parenting. Thirty-eight and newly married, Catherine yearned to be a mother and adoption “ I saw a rat jump out of the linen closet onto the bathroom floor and scurry seemed a viable option. The county's Foster-Adopt Program was affordable, so from the bathroom floor to the carpet in my bedroom. Then it climbed up the she and her new husband were confident they could adopt and parent two sib - bed and ran towards me. I screamed ‘Ahhhhhhhh’ as I simultaneously placed lings. But nothing was as it seemed. The birth parents used intimidation and my right hand, which was outside the covers, onto the rat, which was under - the court system to sabotage the adoption. The social services agency wavered neath the covers, as he ran near my thigh. I then squeezed the rat with my right in its support. Even the children, three-year old Jenny and six-year old Robert, hand for approximately 30 seconds. My [step] grandmother yelled...by the time were unaware of the ticking time bomb of genetics and early neglect that she made it into the room I had jumped out the bed and was standing against would detonate in their teens. the wall with the dead rat and it’s blood and guts on my sheets.” Would the family survive intact? Would the marriage withstand the stress? Would the children overcome the same afflictions and addictions that had plagued their birth parents? The Easter Moose: One Family's Journey Adopting through Foster Care provides all parents, but particularly those adopting, fos - tering, or caring for children with challenges, the assurance they are not alone. Social workers, teachers, people who work in the family court system, and anyone who believes in nurture over nature will get a reality check.

26 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com For Purchase Information visit www.FosterFocusMag.com/writersmarketplace

Rhonda Sciortino Rhonda Sciortino At age 15 Rhonda decided Acts of Kindness, small or large, to seek emancipation. One help everyone make their world a of the prerequisites was that kinder place. Through the simplest Rhonda have a job, so she act of kindness, all of our lives are went to work for the first improved. Genuine caring is best person who would hire her– expressed through encouraging an insurance agent. and helping others. Kindness fills the emotional "fuel tank" of others When her employer as well as ourselves. This book explained the concept of gives simple suggestions for con - insurance, Rhonda learned necting with others, which is the everything she could about insurance. Despite being powerful undercurrent of kindness. denied again and again, Rhonda repeatedly petitioned the Insurance Commissioner to allow her to sit for the insur - ance agent exam even though she wasn’t yet 18. An Good foster care is a profound act of Kindness that can literally change the exception was finally granted, and Rhonda became trajectory of a child's life. Everyone isn't equipped to be a foster patent, but California’s youngest licensed insurance agent at 17. everyone can be kind. Survivors of childhood abuse are some of the strongest, most talent, most Kindness isn't complicated or costly, but it can have meaningful, measurable resourceful people you'll ever meet. In fact, the more painful the mistreatment effects in the lives of both the giver and the recipient. Imagine the exponential they've survived, the more significant the character traits and learned abilities impact of Kindness in the lives of everyone you know. Kindness can make they've developed! Grouchy people friendlier, withdrawn people open up, and lead depressed people to begin to believe that happiness is possible. Successful Survivors -- The 8 character Traits and How You Can Develop Them includes story after story of people who exemplify the character traits that are Let's spark positive change in our families, workplace, and communities. The exactly what survivors of trauma need to create successful lives. The great news easiest place to start is by giving away copies of Acts of Kindness, 101 Ways is that these character traits and abilities can be developed in all of us and can be To Make The World A Better Place. If you’re interested in a purchase of five used to create personal and professional success. or more copies, email [email protected]. I’ve negotiated a deal to provide them at about half the price listed on Amazon, and all the proceeds will go to The challenge is that survivors of trauma often don't know about those assets the Successful Survivors Foundation to provide the program to TAY and until someone recognizes and celebrates them. If you know someone who hasn't rescued trafficking victims. yet discovered and unleashed their powerful character traits, give them SUCCESSFUL SURVIVORS . The next book, KINDNESS QUOTIENT , will help us show Kindness to peo - ple who cannot or will not reciprocate. rhonda.org rhonda.org

kerivellis.com YoffeTherapy.com Keri Vellis Jeanette Yoffe, M.A., M.F.T. Jeanette Yoffe, M.A., M.F.T., is the Keri Vellis and her husband are pas - Executive Director and Founder of sionate and involved parents of six Celia Center.Celia Center is a sup - children: three biological and three port center which meets the criti - adopted through the foster care sys - cal needs of all those connected by tem. Keri always enjoyed reading Foster Care and Adoption and all with her children but was surprised those who serve the community of to find that the local bookstores and Foster Care and Adoption in Los libraries did not offer age appropri - Angeles and beyond. ate, yet engaging books relating to foster care and the experiences that She is an adoptions and foster care those children encounter. She want - psychotherapist. She has specialized for the past 18 years ed the kids she fostered over the in the treatment of children who manifest serious deficits years to feel comfortable with new families and pets, in their emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development. schools and activities. It occurred to her that there was a void for all of the children who moved through the system, In 2006 she won Los Angeles Foster Care Hero Award for not just hers. her dedication to children and families in foster Care. Keri Vellis brings a message of hope and safety to children in foster care. As a moth - Jeanette founded the non-profit she named, Celia Center, er of six children, three adopted through foster care and three with special needs, after her first mother, Celia. Keri has drawn on her unique experience to self-publish two books. Filled with live - 30 Interventions for Parents, Social Workers and Parents to heal Anxiety, Fear, ly illustrations by Jin Lehr, a foster herself who aged out of the system, each book tells an identifiable story with a comforting resolution. Worry, Stress, Anger, Aggressivity, Frustration, Poor Impulse Control, Grief, Loss, Depression, in order to build Self-esteem, Identity Formation, Family, Keri’s first book, Sometimes…, was compelled by her first foster experience. Trust, Safety, Security and Attachment and Bonding for Attachment Challenged Seeking to help her own foster kiddos move through the shame and fear that accom - Children. pany transitioning to a new home, she sought a new book to incorporate into the bed - time reading routine. She found nothing, so she wrote it herself! Through a timid Groundbreaking Interventions is comprised of creative treatment methods to be foster child with a teddy bear, Sometimes… helps foster children feel good about used with children and adolescents designed in an easy to use approach which themselves and know that they can have love and happiness in their lives. makes therapy healing and fun. I have used these methods frequently in my work and am constantly adapting them to new children and circumstances. Her second book, When I Was Little…, is another message from the heart. Again, Using these ideas helps to bridge the gap between child and parent/therapist drawing from her experience with the varied circumstances that have brought over and create an environment of “play without pressure” and encourages children 19 foster children into her home, Keri tells a story that helps children overcome the to develop a creative spirit which instills hope and transformation. Children pain and difficulties experienced through abuse or trauma. It not only teaches com - find the methods easy to use and understand because they are geared towards passion but inspires trust in professionals who can help a child feel confident and helping children interact, play, and learn. loved again.

www.FosterFocusMag.com Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 27 For Purchase Information visit www.FosterFocusMag.com/writersmarketplace

Trea Jackson A.M. Grotticelli Raised in Chicago, IL, until age 5. A.M. Grotticelli is a veteran tech - After that, became a foster child and nology journalist. He's lived in the moved all over Illinois. I spent some NY/NJ area his entire life, and time in Florida and California in foster currently resides in Mahwah, New care, as well. Graduated from Jersey. The Bond is his first book. Roosevelt University with a master’s degree in Psychology. Works for the The Bond: How a Mixed Bag of Illinois Department of Human Services Foster Kids Became a Family for as a social worker for the last seven Life is a powerful memoir that years. I started writing fantasy stories at age seven. These sto - chronicles the strength of the rela - ries were always the same of what I wanted my life to be like. tionships formed among a collec - These stories lead to more realistic stories of what my life was tion of unrelated siblings who forged a remarkable, separate, really like. Writing helped me survive the foster care system. I and permanent family within a foster home. decided to share my stories and experiences from my dysfunc - tional home and my journey in the foster care system. This is my first book in the book series. This is not only my story, but Ever since we arrived at the Nelsons’ home, the thought of belonging to this fam - the story of many foster children forced to grow up this way. ily had grown from an aspiration to motivation. About a year after we came to When I was two years old, my fondest memory was not receiving my first doll the house, Mrs. Nelson surprised Charles and I with the idea that she was inter - or anything like that. It was waking up in the middle of the night and finding ested in adopting us. For a foster kid, this is like getting released into a toy store Dee crying. My father was nowhere to be found. My house was a crazy place with no spending limits. all the time. All they did was fight, scream, and yell at one another. My father would throw things around the house and sometimes, he would grab her. After I was puzzled at first. Adoption had been a dream of almost everyone’s at St. all the screaming and fighting was over, he would just walk out of the house. He Michael’s, but the word scared me, and apparently Mr. Nelson as well. I secretly would go downstairs to the bar and put even more liquor into his body, than he heard him and Mrs. Nelson arguing about the cost. So, I looked it up in the already had to begin with. When he returned home, he would just act as if noth - Encyclopedia Britannica set in the house in secrecy, avoiding Mrs. Nelson’s ing had ever happened. Even Dee would play the same game. She believed that cherished Time-Life books. I was researching a promise made. if you act like it never happened, then it really did not. But, in reality, it really did happen and will again. It said: Adoption, the act of establishing a person as parent to one who is not in fact or in law his or her child. My father was an alcoholic and went out drinking every night. He would come home late, and the fighting would start. I would hear lots of yelling, hitting, and So that’s how a parent was gotten, I concluded, if you didn’t already have one. I screaming. In addition, to things beings thrown and broken. It would then get just had to establish someone. In my mind, I had settled on the Nelsons as my quiet after that. Peeking from around the corner, I would see Dee picking up the parents. It felt good saying the word out loud. broken things off the floor.

listen.removedfilmanthology.com drjohndegarmofostercare.com

The Matanicks Nathanael & Christina Matanick Dr. John DeGarmo has been a are foster/adoptive parents, foster parent for 10 years, now, award-winning filmmakers, and and he and his wife have had advocates for kids. They firmly over 40 children come through believe that a kid's perspective their home. deserves to be told, seen, and heard. Creators of the viral short Dr. DeGarmo wrote his film ReMoved, they founded a dissertation on fostering, non-profit to elevate the voices entitled Responding to the of youth who have experienced Needs of Foster Children in foster care. Rural Schools .

Their first book, LISTEN, is an inspiring compilation of short stories, poetry, insights, and art from former and current kids of foster care. Who knew the words of a woman who had no obligations to me, spoken at bedtime, would be the superpower I needed to survive and succeed the rest of Children suffering from abuse. Neglect. Malnutrition. Even drug-related my life? problems passed on from a mother’s addiction. Children rejected by those who were to love them most, their parents. When placed into a foster home, many 14 years old of these children carry with them the physical and emotional scars that prevent Florida, USA them from accepting the love of another. This journey as a foster parent is the most difficult thing John DeGarmo has done. Nothing, worthless, alone. It's not your fault. Through the sleepless nights with drug-addicted babies, the battles with angry Sitting alone in the dark. teens, and the tears from such tremendous sadness, John DeGarmo learns that You're so much more. to follow God’s call in his life means to take up His cross in his own home. Tears run down your face. A light in the dark. Fostering Love: One Foster Parent’s Journey is the true-life account of his Sound breaks through the silence. experience as a foster parent, along with his wife and their own three children, There you are. as he followed God’s call to take foster children into his home. This is a story Happiness, longing for love. of heartbreak, sadness, and ultimately love as he came to find God in the tears It's all right here. and smiles of many foster children.

28 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com

An Enchanting Movie

By Sherry Hurse y Foster Focus Contributor

Lilly’s Light: The Movie is my heart project! It has my heart’s twofold mission. First, to “shine a light” on our thousands of displaced and foster youth and make it “cool” for every family to consider opening their hearts to assist a child in need.

Second, to demonstrate love, compassion, empathy, unity and celebration of life by using joy, laughter, imagination, music, adventure and fun to empower children (and the child in all of us) to find his or her own “Spark Of Light” and uplift them with a sense of wonder, hope and belief that no matter what life throws your way, “Life is Full of Possibilities” and “Nothing Is Beyond Your Heart”!

We are so grateful to FilmRise and the Dave Thomas Foundation for honoring and supporting our mission!! Together, we hope to create momentum and be a door where the heart is always open!! We are One family!!!

SHERRY HURSEY (Lilly) is an award-winning actress, vocalist, writer and producer whose face and voice are very familiar to television, radio and film audiences worldwide. Most recognized as Ilene from the hit series HOME IMPROVEMENT and Kirsten Dunst’s mother in the Universal blockbuster BRING IT ON, Sherry has an extensive list of credits from stage to screen. Spreading her wings and following the call of her spirit, Sherry wrote, produced and starred in the uplifting musical pilot LILLY’S LIGHT, which aired on PBS and was the winner of the KIDS FIRST BEST AWARD! Following this, she founded Lilly’s Fostering Hearts (lillysfosteringhearts.org), a non-profit org advocating for displaced and foster youth. This led her to producing PSAs and interstitials for public TV. Sherry is now the co-owner of Turning On the Light Entertainment (TOtLEntertainment.com), for which her and her husband Rick Cowling’s hearts and talents are being fully expressed by producing inspiring and uplifting, positive music and media.

30 Foster Focus Volume 10 Issue 11/12 www.FosterFocusMag.com

Suppoorting Healthhy Familiees.

This Aprp il is Naational Child Abuse Prevention Month. We waant to drive awareness for child abuse annd help educate others about it this month. That’s why we oﬀer free and comprehensivve training to everyone — our members and all foster care stakeeholders — regardless of whetherw Centene Foster Care currently operrates in your state.

For more inforrmation on these proograms, visit CenteneFFosterCare.com.