Welcome
Welcome to New Foundations’ quarterly newsletter. Our objective
is to keep our staff, foster parents, children and other social
service professionals informed as to what is happening in each of
our offices. Since our newsletter will be available to view on our
website, we will use first names only in conjunction with the children
placed in our care. We are developing web pages to display our children’s
drawings and paintings, so please submit any artwork you would like
to have posted to your case manager, supervisor or recruiter. We
would also like to hear from our foster families and our teenagers
about your experiences with New Foundations and the foster care
system, so we also encourage you to submit your accounts or stories
to your case manager, supervisor or recruiter as well. By sharing
your accounts on our website, we would like to provide a better
understanding of the rewards and challenges of foster parenting
to prospective foster parents and other interested parties.
About New Foundations
New Foundations is a private, non-profit child
welfare agency that is licensed by the Department of Public Welfare
to provide service to children and families in Philadelphia and
the surrounding counties. We currently serve 210 children and their
foster and biological families in the following ways:
- Foster Care Services
- Kinship Care Services
- Aftercare Services
- Adoption Services
- SCOH Services
Program Office News
New Foundations has opened a small office in Berks County this past
quarter and is moving our office in Chester to larger accommodations
this month. The Berks County office is located at 697 Reading Ave.
Reading, PA 19611. The Reading office phone number is 610-372-5741.
The new address for the Chester office is: 1601 Park Lane Road,
1st Floor, Swarthmore, PA 19081. The phone and fax numbers will
remain the same. Although we are moving to a different town, the
new office in Swarthmore is just a few miles from our old office
and is accessible by both bus and train.
As the holidays rapidly approach, New Foundations’ staff
is looking forward to their annual holiday party, which will include
dinner and dancing, on Friday evening December 8 at the Chateau
in Philadelphia. Parties for our children will be held in both the
Center City and Chester(Swarthmore) offices later in December with
a visit from Santa as well as gifts, food and games for all.
Center City Office
The Center City office is doing a wonderful job as they
continue to manage over 150 children in foster and kinship care.
Hats off to the Center City office, that is fully staffed
with case managers, secretaries, and transporters, all working
together as an effective team, along with supervisors Deatrice Fields
and Sherron Samuels . Sherron has returned to the Center City office
from the Chester office this quarter. New Foundations also welcomes
Jennifer Shoffner, a newly hired case manager, with open arms as
she starts her journey of working with children and their families.
In addition, we are sad to see Kevin Story leave and start a new
position with another agency. Good Luck Kevin & Jennifer.
The Center City team works to achieve permanency by reuniting
children with their biological families as well as through adoption
and permanent guardianship. Center City gives special thanks to
all of our foster parents who provide nurture and love to our children
in need and are a wonderful asset to our team.
Congratulations to casemanager Nichette Robinson who has announced
that she is expecting. Welcome back to casemanager Danielle Stocklin
who recently enjoyed a vacation in Cancun. Best wishes for success
to secretary Lois Loftin, who is preparing the Christmas production
with the drama ministery at Jones Memorial Baptist Church. Best
wishes to Brittany as she continues her classes in tap at the School
of Dance Art. We are all looking forward to a winning season for
Montae who plays football for the Martin Luther King High School
JV team. Best wishes to Devine in her cheerleader competition on
Dec. 12.
Congratulations to the foster parents Ms Doris Gibson, Lynn &
Milton Shelton- Albergotti, & Sharonda & Michael Israel
for winning foster parent of the month for August; Ms. Trina Harrison
for the month of September; and Tanya Smith for the month of October.
Each foster parent was awarded a certificate of appreciation and
was also acknowledged by the foster parents when they received
their monthly reimbursement. The Center City team also awarded the
foster parents with gift cards to Wal-Mart in addition to their
certificates.
For the month of November, Center City decided to award two foster
parents with Thanksgiving Day baskets to help towards their holiday
dinner for foster parent of the month. Congratulations to Karima
Abdul Haadi & Nora & Joseph Cross for winning foster parents
of the month for November.
The Center City office hosted foster parent training in November
on “talking to your teens about sex.”
Yvone Jones continues to further her education at the
University of Phoenix: Yvone is, majoring in Criminal Justice and
Business Management. In January of 2007 Nafeesah will be attending
the graduate program at Temple University majoring in Early Childhood
Education. Nafeesah has recently celebrated her one year anniversary
with New Foundations. Casemanager Nichette Robinson is attending
Lincoln University in pursuit of her Master’s in Human Services.
Keep up the good work, team!
The Center City office will be hosting a Christmas Party for the
children at New Foundations. Each child will receive a gift from
their case manager, and have the opportunity to take a picture with
Santa. The children will be able to enjoy face painting, games,
a dance contest, food and more fun. The date will be announced,
and families will receive invitations in the mail.
Chester Office
Corrine Upshur has rejoined New Foundations as the Chester office
supervisor. Corrine previously held the same position in the Chester
office and has past supervisory experience in the Center City office
as well. Corrine returns after a year and a half hiatus. Welcome
back Corrine. Sherron Samuels has joined the supervisory staff in
the Center City office. The Chester office also welcomes new casemanager,
Marsha Komara. Marsha graduated from Stonybrook University in New
York with a B.S. in Public Health. Marsha worked as a Certified
Nursing Assistant while going to school. Welcome to the area, Marsha.
Shayvonne Jackson has recently returned to work after her maternity
leave. Shayvonne welcomed her new daughter, Siboney, into this world
in September. Resource parent Lavinya Walker also welcomed her new
baby boy around the same time.It won’t be long before these
little ones will be taking their first steps like Janaya and Miracle
have done recently.
The Chester office will be holding our annual holiday party for
the children at the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant on Baltimore Pike
from 6PM to 8PM on December 21.
Upcoming Foster Parent Trainings
Please check with your office regarding dates and topics
Recruitment
The recruitment unit welcomes Allison Davis to our team.
Allison joined us in September and has been recruiting families
in the Berks County area. New Foundations was able to open an office
in Reading during the last quarter and Allison is now calling Reading
home. Supervisor, Sandie Caulder reports that Allison is a graduate
of Bloomsburg University with her BS in Early Childhood and Elementary
Education. Allison has worked as a teacher and prior to joining
New Foundations was a Residency Coordinator and Senior Data Manager
at Geisinger Medical Center.
Recruiter Tenesha Williams attended the Pennsylvania State Foster
Parent Association’s 30th Annual Conference in Grantville,
PA from October 19 – 21. Tenisha was impressed with the training
provided and enjoyed meeting resource families from throughout the
state. Recruiter Taren Daniels attended the Training on Act 160
and the Resource Family Registry on October 30 at the Radisson Valley
Forge in King of Prussia. Recruiter Shep Garner was profiled in
the Delaware County Daily Times as a member of the Chester Rotary
Club and for the outstanding work that they do. In addition to the
above, the recruitment team was able to approve eight resource families
this past quarter. Welcome to our new families.
Services to Children in Their Own Homes (SCOH)
The SCOH staff has successfully discharged ten families during the
last quarter. The school year started with our staff assisting some
families with obtaining school supplies. All children are back to
school and excited about the current school year. Congratulations
to two of our casemanagers; Nia, who was married on 9/8/06 and Christiana,
who married on 9/30/06. Christiana has accepted a Music teacher
position at a Charter School, which was her dream job. Congratulations
and best wishes to both from New Foundations. Carla Starling has
joined the SCOH team to replace Christiana. We would like to welcome
Carla and we know that she will be a great help to all of her clients.
SCOH provided our annual Thanksgiving Baskets to our families on
11/21/06. The baskets included: a turkey, brown & serve rolls,
broccoli florets, apple pie, 5 apples, 5 oranges, frozen sweet potato
patties, stuffing, 4lb.white potatoes, onions, celery, 2 cans of
corn and 2 cans of green beans. We hope that our families enjoyed
the food and had a wonderful holiday together.
Adoption
We are pleased to share that New Foundations’ adoption staff
has successfully finalized two adoptions between September 1, 2006
and December 1, 2006. We would like to extend our congratulations
and ongoing support to the families who finalized their adoptions
to date.
We are currently working on 20 Performance Based Contracting (PBC)
adoptions through the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.
Through our SWAN contract, we are currently working on seventeen
units of service with Delaware County CYS and two units of service
with Somerset County CYS. We also have one waiting family in study.
In addition, we are currently working on our proposal to provide
Post-Permanency Adoption Services. Tanya Jarrett is the South East
Regional Technical Assistant for New Foundations, Inc. A site visit
was held on December 11, 2006 at the New Foundations Center City
office.
Our Adoption Coordinators, Amy Morris and Sabrina Bell, attended
the SWAN Fall Regional Meeting on September 13, 2006, which focused
on post-permanency services. They also attended the SWAN Fall Quarterly
on October 31, 2006, which focused on engaging youth and positive
youth development.
Amy continues to attend the monthly DHS Supervisor’s forums,
which have been focusing on developing the child and family profiles
and child preparation services. Sabrina has been attending the Delaware
Valley Adoption Council (DVAC) monthly meetings. Topics included
empowering families, achieving child-friendly transitions, and adoption
ceremonies.
We are pleased to annouce that Amy Morris has been promoted from
Adoption Coordinator to Adoption Supervisor. Her date of transition
was December 1, 2006. If you, or anyone you are connected with is
interested in applying for the vacated position of Adoption Coordinator,
please visit our website to view the basic qualifications for the
position.
Amy continues to attend graduate school at West Chester University.
Congratulations to Sabrina Bell for completing the MBA program through
The University of Phoenix. If you, or anyone you are connected with
is interested in learning more about adopting a child, please contact
our adoption coordinator at (215) 203-8733.
Aftercare
Aftercare Services are provided to children and families
who have achieved permanency through Reunification and Permanent
Legal Custodianship (PLC). Services are provided by New Foundations
Aftercare case managers for 12 months post permanency.
New Foundations Aftercare program services 18 families. New Foundations
welcomes Tia Leary to the Aftercare Unit. Both Aftercare case managers
combined has successfully discharged 8 families from the Aftercare
Unit in the last quarter.
Elena received outstanding grades on her report card this semester.
She is preparing for college next year. Damaris recently graduated
from OVR (Office Of Vocational Rehabilitation).
The Aftercare supervisor and case managers have demonstrated a
genuine commitment to empowering our children and families and have
provided excellent service during the last quarter.
DON’T FORGET…
Don’t forget that we are always looking for new foster parents
so we are better able to match the children coming into our care
with qualified and caring foster families. If you, or anyone you
are connected with is interested in learning more about foster parenting,
please contact our recruitment or case management staff at (215)
203-8733, (610) 876-4474,
1-877-NFI-4KID (1-877-634-4543) or visit our website at www.nfi4kids.org.
Play It Safe
With the holidays just around the corner, you and your children
will probably be doing a lot of fun, festive holiday traveling.
Whether it is just across town to Grandma’s house or to that
favorite Aunt’s house miles away, remembering to keep children
safe is important. One area of safety is making sure that the car
is safe, as you and your children spend countless hours on the go.
Car accidents are the leading cause of injury and death in children
after the first month of life. Here are some helpful tips to remember
when traveling.
Always use a car seat that is age and size appropriate for the
child. Almost all children badly injured or killed in car accidents
were either not properly restrained or sitting in car seats that
were not properly installed. Always follow the instructions of the
manufacturer or contact your local police department to install
it for you. Also, never let the child ride anywhere but in the car
seat. i.e. cab of pickup truck, storage area of station wagons,
etc.
- Always drive with children in the back seat. Air bags may cause
damage to young children.
- Never leave a child alone in the car!
- Do not smoke in the car.
- Make sure automatic doors and windows are locked and are set
for each ride.
- Lead by example and buckle up every time you are in the car.
Be sure to stay alert and drive safely.
By practicing these helpful reminders, you will ensure that the
precious cargo you are transporting will arrive safely at their
destinations without any injuries and ready to enjoy the holiday
season. |
