“The Guide”

The Foster Parent Survival Guide (FPSG) January 2014

FOSTERPARENTSURVIVAL.COM ©2014 Keewatin Press

HIGHLIGHTS

Prince Edward Island (PEI)

Welcomes Author Landy Anderson

On October 26, 2013 during National Foster Family Week

(October 20-26, 2013), The Prince Edward Island Federation

of Foster Families hosted their annual Fall College at the

beautiful Delta Hotel overlooking an incredible view of the

Harbour. A record breaking number of foster families and

Department staff registered – 105 foster parents, 85 children

and 17 Department staff (Department of Community

Services and Seniors). Children were entertained with

activities and an outing – allowing foster parents time to

rejuvenate, network and focus on their professional

development. The Honourable Valerie E. Docherty Minister

of Community Services and Seniors, Minister Responsible for

the Status of Women and the Deputy Minister Carol Anne

Duffy attended. Congratulations to the PEI Federation of

Foster Families for a spectacular conference!

Agenda:

Landy Anderson, Author – Conflict, Chaos and Crisis

Honourable Valerie E. Docherty – Recognition and Appreciation to PEI foster families

Wendy McCourt – Update on the Department of Community Service and Senior’s foster parent portion of the website

Ray MacAdam Young – PEI Young Youth in Care Network

Cathy Ada & Alice Maund-Foster – Foster Parent Appreciation Awards

PEI Federation of Foster Families Fall College, Charlottetown PEI L to R: Author Landy Anderson, Minister of Community Services and Seniors, The Honourable Valerie E. Docherty

PEI Federation of Foster Families Executive. L to R: Donna Blue, Treasurer; Landy Anderson; Wayne MacFarlane, President; Brian MacArthur, Vice-President; Don Avery, Secretary. Background: Alec Blue, Executive Member-at-Large.

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SPOTLIGHT

Government of Yukon Orders

Books for Every Foster Parent –

Christmas Present

Kudos to the Government of Yukon for gifting every

foster parent in the Yukon Territory with a copy of

The Foster Parent Survival Guide: How to Navigate

the Child Welfare Matrix for Christmas. What a

thoughtful gesture. Only 12 other provinces and

territories in Canada to go!!

Children’s Aid Society of Simcoe

County Foster Parent

Association Orders Books for

Every Foster Parent – Retention

Initiative

A standing ovation to the Children’s Aid Society (CAS)

of Simcoe County Foster Parent Association President

Chantal Towley for the wisdom to gift every member

of the Simcoe CAS fostering community with a copy

of the Foster Parent Survival Guide: How to Navigate

the Child Welfare as a retention present. Only 46

other Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario to go!!

HONOURABLE MENTION

Nunavut Government – Amrose Ojah, Territorial Child Protection Specialist and Inter-Provincial Coordinator, Deputy Director for ordering books for the management team!

PEI Federation of Foster Families – Wayne MacFarlane, President for being such a GREAT host and tour guide & PEI Federation of Foster Families Executive for the warm reception, accommodations/meals, dinner party and organization of the conference and book selling. Thank you for the iconic “Building Bridges” T-Shirts, mug and especially the carry home box of lobsters and seafood – which was literally devoured by the family as I walked through the door – we were actually texting each other from the Toronto Airport, preparing for our “Lobster Boil” upon my returned home. PEI memories of friendly Islanders, breath-taking beaches and quaint landscapes will last forever!

Canadian Foster Family Association (CFFA) & Foster Par-ents Society of Ontario (FPSO) – Sheila Durnford, CFFA President and Cecile Brookes, FPSO President for hosting the official book launch in June 2013. CFFA Directors and Ontario Foster Parent Association Presidents and foster parents who provided video testimonials for the web site. I am eternally grateful for your support and proud to be your friend and colleague.

Richmond Hill Liberal – Reporter Jasmine Hon for the fantastic media coverage of the book launch in the local newspaper.

NationTalk – Canada’s Aboriginal newswire for picking up the media release of the book launch.

BC Federation of Foster Family Associations – Vice Presi-dent and CFFA Director, Russell Pohl for the positive comments on the training/book in the Fosterline BC Summer 2013 newsletter.

CFFA Yukon Territory Director – Donna Wilkinson (Yukon Foster Parent Association; Founder, Secretary & Treasurer) for being such a great ambassador and recom-mending the book to Government of Yukon, resulting in books for every foster parent in the Yukon Territory.

Okanagan Foster Parents Association – Judy Flintoff, Shuswap Foster Parent Coordinator for using excerpts from the Foster Parent Survival Guide: How to Navigate the Child Welfare Matrix in their newsletter.

Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning – Professor Christine Goodwin Defaria for using a chapter from the book (The Child Welfare Matrix) in the Child and Youth Care course.

York University – Kabita Chakraborty, Sessional Assistant Professor Children's Studies, Humanities Liberal Arts & Professional Studies for the beautiful hat – very handy during the ice storm!

York Region Children’s Aid Society – Gerry Marien and Karen Wright for the beautiful children’s art picture “A Sunny Day” by Jerome Age 7 – my new office art!

Children’s Aid Society of Oxford County – Denise Tew for the lovely salad bowl and fixings – lasted less than 24 hours, gobbled up by the kids!

Alexandra Crawford – For grabbing the title of "First" comment entered through the web site. My friend and colleague, I would expect nothing short of "First". Cheers!

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SPREAD THE NEWS

Foster Parent Associations/Networks are:

1. Linking the web site www.fosterparentsurvival.com

2. Using excerpts from the book in newsletters/trainings

3. Gifting senior management, board of directors or gov-ernment officials with the book. One fostering commu-nity actually highlighted portions of the book and then tabbed it for their agency before giving it to them.

Agencies are:

1. Purchasing the book as door prizes during training events

2. Gifting foster parent award recipients with the book dur-ing recognition events

3. Gifting the book at Christmas

Universities/Colleges are:

1. Ordering the book for their library

RESEARCH ROCKS!!

Somehow I wish I was born a researcher! The best I can do is

get close to those who have the same passion on issues dear

to my heart. It’s a privilege to be involved in the following

projects:

University of Western Ontario – Experiences of Foster Par-

ent Resource Workers, Jason Brown, Ph.D., C.Psych., R.S.W

and Julie Gerrits, M.Ed., C.C.C. Final report completed Janu-

ary 2014.

University of Toronto – Topic: Emotions and experiences of

the sons and daughters of foster parents, Ph.D. candidate

Sarah Serbinski. Research interviews underway. If you know

an adult son or daughter of a foster parent who may be in-

terested in participating, please contact Sarah at

sarah.serbinski@utoronto.ca

University of Toronto – Topic: Resiliency of Aboriginal adults

who were state-raised by the Ontario Government, Ph.D.

candidate Ashley Quinn. Research interviews completed.

THE WINNER IS...

Thank you for your animal picture submissions,

please keep them coming! While we love them all,

there is always one special animal that stands out.

Thank you to Banana’s daddy Keith McCrady for sub-

mitting her picture!

Banana – Daddy is Keith McCrady

COMMENT CORNER

Thank you for the comments, pictures, recipes and

recommendations sent through the web site. While all

comments and questions are valued, not all will be

published. Published questions/comments will remain

anonymous and the wording will be left intact, in its

original form – without edits. To remain honest and

truthful, the response may weigh in favour of the

foster parent or in favour of the agency. Sometimes in

the interest of proper relations, answers will remain

vague. Similar to Ann Landers, readers may be left

dissatisfied.

Q How do I get a Supervisor on board with a proposed medical treatment plan that doesn’t fall within the agency protocol?

A: You can’t. The medical professionals are responsible to recommend treatment and the agency can either accept or reject the recommen-dations – depending on the proposed plan.

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SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

2013 2014

February 13, 2013 – York University – Children’s Studies

Career Fair

February 23, 2013 – The Foster Parents Society of Ontario –

Presidents and Advocates Meeting

April 24, 2013 – Huron-Perth Children’s Aid Society – 2013

Resource Spring Conference

May 25, 2013 – Annie’s Havens – Foster Parent Training

June 3, 2013 – Children’s Aid Society of Simcoe County –

Foster Parent Association Meeting

June 15, 2013 – The Canadian Foster Family Association

Annual Conference, co-hosted by The Foster Parents Society

of Ontario

September 19, 2013 – Children in Limbo Task Force

October 3, 2013 – Humber College Institute of Technology

and Advanced Learning – Child and Youth Worker Care

Program

October 17, 2013 – York Region Children’s Aid Society –

Foster Family Recognition Event

October 23, 2013 – Children’s Aid Society of Oxford County –

Foster Family Recognition Event

October 26, 2013 – Prince Edward Island Federation of Foster

Families – Annual Foster Families Fall College (Annual General

Meeting)

January 23, 2014 – Ontario Resource Managers Network

February 15, 2014 – Annie's Havens – Foster Parent Training

March 6, 2014 – The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton –

Foster Parent Training

April 10, 2014 – Catholic Children's Aid Society of Hamilton –

Agency Training

May 8, 2014 – The Children's Aid Society of Toronto & The

Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto – Joint Training

Calendar

May 31, 2014 – The League of Ontario Foster Families –

Annual Conference

September 25, 2014 – Treatment Foster Care For the

Children's Aid Societies of: Durham, Highland Shores and

Kawartha-Haliburton – Monthly Foster Parent Meeting

October 22, 2014 – The Children's Aid Society of Brant –

Resource Parent & Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

October 23, 2014 – Native Child and Family Services of

Toronto – Foster Parent Recognition Dinner

To schedule an event, contact landyanderson@rogers.com.

BOOK ORDERS

To order copies of The Foster Parent

Survival Guide: How to Navigate the Child

Welfare Matrix, email Landy at:

landyanderson@rogers.com

or you can order through the website

www.fosterparentsurvival.com

The Foster Parent Survival Guide retails for $29.95 plus

shipping/handling. When you place a bulk order of 15 books or

more, the book will be discounted to $20.00 plus shipping/

handling.

TIMELINE

February 2013 – First print run

April 2013 – Second print run

June 2013 – Book launch

October 2013 – Web site launch

December 2013 – Over 1000

website visitors and preparing for

3rd print run