Welcome
Welcome to New Foundations’ second 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 170 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 successfully completed our annual SCOH and DPW
inspections. We are pleased to report that both inspections went
extremely well, and New Foundations staff was highly commended for
providing quality service to our children and families. New Foundations
maintains full licensure for our foster care, kinship care, adoptions,
and SCOH programs though DPW and the Philadelphia Department of
Human Services.
New Foundations held a staff picnic on July 29, 2005. All staff
that were able to attend reported having a good time, on a gorgeous
weather day. Foster parent appreciation events for both offices
are being scheduled in September, and the upcoming months.
Center City Office
Promoted to supervisors earlier this year, Deatrice Fields and Charles
Mensah continue to do an outstanding job supervising both units
in the Center City office. New Foundations welcomes Tenisha Williams
to the Center City office as part of the case management staff.
The Center City office is fully staffed with case managers, secretaries,
and transporters, who are dedicated workers that genuinely care
for the children by ensuring their safety while in New Foundations
care. Since June 1, 2005 the Center City office has worked hard
to achieve permanencies for 10 kinship care children and 17 foster
children, who were either reunited with bio-family, adopted, or
achieved permanent legal custodianship. The Center City office currently
has over 120 children in care with the greatly appreciated help
of the foster parents who make it all possible, as they care for
the children on a daily basis.
Chester Office
Promoted to supervisor earlier this year, Sherron Samuels continues
to do an excellent job in supervising the Chester office. Sherron
is continuing to work toward a Master’s Degree in Community
Counseling at Wilmington College, and received an “A”
in her Group Counseling Course. Well done! We would also like to
recognize the dedication and hard work of the Chester staff during
this time of transition. Your long time service and commitment to
our children and families is beyond comparison, and greatly appreciated.
The New Foundations Chester office would like to welcome Stephanie
Edwards and Shayvonne Jackson, who were both added to our case management
staff in July, 2005. We would also like to congratulate Aaron Cooper
on his acceptance into graduate school and Michelle Celestino on
her upcoming wedding and move to her new home. We will miss you
both.
Since June 1, 2005 the Chester office has worked hard to achieve
permanencies for kinship care and foster care children, who were
either reunited with bio-family, adopted, or achieved permanent
legal custodianship. The Chester office continues to work closely
with Delaware County Children and Youth services (CYS) and currently
has a whopping 21 CYS children in care to date. The Chester office
has facilitated several successful discharges with CYS, so keep
up the good work!
Recognition
Staff
* Hats off to Robert Akens, case manager at New
Foundations, who received employee of the month for July 2005.
* Case Managers Jo’Von Pressley and Nikki Davis celebrated
their one year anniversaries with New Foundations, Inc. during August,
2005. Nikki Davis will celebrate her one year anniversary with New
Foundations in September, 2005. Special recognition goes to Lois
Loftin, who celebrated her five year anniversary with New Foundations
on April 19, 2005. We take this opportunity to congratulate all
of them for their commitment, service and performance.
* Congratulations to Amy Morris, adoptions coordinator, who has
been accepted into graduate school at West Chester University. She
will be working on her master’s degree in Education for Elementary
School Counseling. She will begin her classes in January of 2006.
Child and Family:
The Center City office would like to congratulate
all of the school age children who have been successfully promoted
to the next grade, as well as those who received academic honors.
We would also like to recognize special academic achievements by
our children in care in the Center City office over the last quarter.
Shaqueena left for college at Lincoln University on August 14, 2005
to begin her freshman year. Debra will be returning to Penn State
at the end of August 2005 as a sophomore. Tanya will also be returning
to Bloomsburg University as a sophomore. Kurtis is on a college
tour with his foster parent to help him select the college he wants
to attend. We wish our college students luck and success in their
academic endeavors.
Foster Parent:
Raymond and Maureen Krok, who received foster
parent of the month for July 2005
Upcoming trainings available in the Center City
office:
September 2005 " Managed Care"
October 2005 " Fire Safety and Plans"
Recruitment
The recruitment staff has been busy over
the summer, meeting and approving new foster and kinship resource
families. There are now 182 approved families working with New Foundations,
including 12 families approved over the summer.
New Foundations welcomed Recruiter Shep Garner
to our team early this summer. Although new to the field, Shep has
become an integral part of the recruitment unit. Recruitment Supervisor,
Sandie Caulder, reports that Shep possesses an intense interest
in learning all that he can about the foster care system and is
an eager and willing team member. Shep has worked extensively with
children and youth over the years as a volunteer mentor and athletic
coach. With the addition to our team, we are now able to offer additional
classes to prospective foster parents in our Center City office.
Recruiter Kirsten Hontz also continues to conduct monthly trainings
in the Center City office as well as updating and continuing to
develop our website.
Congratulations to Recruiter Taren Daniels on the birth of her
new son, who weighed in at well over seven pounds. Hard to believe,
but Kirsten Hontz and Sandie Caulder were able to surprise Taren
with a baby shower in the Chester office in June. The date coincided
with our monthly foster parent training, so Taren had best wishes
from all. Mother and baby are both doing well and we look forward
to Taren's return in October. Sandie Caulder will continue the trainings
in the Chester office until Taren's return.
New Foundations took part in the Community Health Fair on July
23 at 23rd & Market Streets at the PECO building.
Services to Children in Their Own Homes (SCOH)
The New Foundations SCOH program is currently servicing 37 families
in the Philadelphia area. For the month of July, we accepted seven
new families and discharged three families successfully. Two of
our families moved into new homes with the help of SCOH and Philadelphia
DHS. Our children are involved at the neighborhood community centers
for the summer and they are having a blast.
The New Foundations SCOH program has successfully completed their
annual inspection with Philadelphia DHS. Congratulations and appreciation
is extended to the SCOH supervisory and case management staff for
their dedication and hard work on behalf of children and families.
Adoption
New Foundations is pleased to share that the adoption staff has
successfully finalized six adoptions over the last three months.
We appreciate the dedication and commitment of our adoption coordinator.
All staff would like to extend our congratulations and appreciation
to the families who finalized their adoptions to date.
New Foundations Adoption Coordinator, Amy Morris, attended the
Statewide Adoption Network (SWAN) Summer Statewide meeting in Harrisburg,
PA on June 16, 2005. The theme for the event was “New Initiatives
and Resources through SWAN”. She also attended the SWAN Spring
Fling in Philadelphia, PA on May 10, 2005. The theme for the event
was “Child Preparation”.
New Foundations, Inc. continues to complete Performance Based
Contracting (PBC) adoptions through Philadelphia county and SWAN
adoptions through Delaware and the surrounding counties. A proposal
has been submitted to SWAN for New Foundations to become an approved
provider of the Child Preparation Unit of Service, which will allow
New Foundations to prepare children for adoption by using an approved
child preparation curriculum. 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 employs two new Aftercare workers, Lisa Naklicki
and Kemi Odeniyi. Please help us in welcoming them into our organization.
New Foundations Aftercare program services 34 families. Services
provided include: case management support, financial management
and budgeting,
resource connection, life skills education and parenting education.
The Aftercare supervisory and case management staff 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 or (610) 876-4474 or visit our website at www.nfi4kids.org.
October is National Fire Safety Month
New Home Safety Council research disclosed that nearly 90 percent
of all fire-related deaths occur in the home. To help combat this
preventable tragedy during October, which is National Fire Safety
Month, New Foundations would like to provide you with information
from the Home Safety Council about ways to prepare your homes and
families before a fire occurs.
Installing and
Testing Smoke Alarms
· Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home, including
the basement. For additional protection, the Home Safety Council
recommends installing additional smoke alarms inside each bedroom
or sleeping area.
· Smoke rises, so smoke alarms should be mounted high on
walls or ceilings. Ceiling mounted alarms should be installed at
least four inches away from the nearest wall; wall-mounted alarms
should be installed four to 12 inches away from the ceiling.
· Choose an installation location that is well away from
the path of steam from bathrooms and cooking vapors from the kitchen,
which can result in false, or “nuisance” alarms.
· Don’t install smoke alarms near windows, doors,
or ducts where drafts might interfere with their operation.
· Test your smoke alarms at least once a month, following
the manufacturer’s instructions, which typically involves
pushing the “test” button on the face of the alarm cover.
Install fresh batteries at least once a year.
· Smoke alarms should be replaced at least once every 10
years.
· If you are building a new home or remodeling your existing
home, also consider installing an automatic home fire sprinkler
system. Smoke alarms give you early warning of the fire while sprinklers
immediately suppress and even extinguish the fire, often before
the fire department arrives.
Develop a Family
Fire Escape Plan
· Sketch out a floor plan of your home, including all rooms,
windows, doors, stairways, and smoke alarms. Make sure that every
family member is familiar with the layout.
· Select two escape routes from each room and mark them
clearly on the plan.
· Find and fix anything in your home that could interfere
with a quick escape, such as windows that are stuck or heavy furniture
blocking an exit.
· If you have a multi-story home, consider if you need
to purchase fire escape ladders for upstairs bedrooms. If so, they
should be part of your fire drill, deployed safely from a ground-floor
window for practice.
· Push the “test button” on a smoke alarm to
ensure everyone will recognize the sound of the alarm if it goes
off.
· Parents and caregivers should be aware that children
often sleep through the loud sound of a smoke alarm even when the
alarm is installed in or near their bedrooms. When planning a family
fire drill, make assignments for those who will be responsible for
assisting children and others who need help to awaken and respond
properly.
· Ensure that family members with special needs, such as
someone who is ill or frail, or small children, have a buddy to
help them get out safely. If anyone in the household has a hearing
impairment, purchase special smoke alarms that use strobes and/or
vibrations to signal a fire.
· Designate a place to meet outside so that everyone can
be accounted for and someone can be assigned to go to a neighbor’s
to call 911, or the local emergency number.
· Make copies of the escape plan sketches and post them
in each room until everyone becomes familiar with them.
· Practice makes perfect. Every second counts during a
real fire. Hold family fire drills frequently and at various times
until the escape plans become second nature.
For other useful safety links, visit SBE’s online Safety
Corner at http://www.sbxchange.com. |
