Foster Care Month, the month of May is a great time to celebrate the love and devotion of all that dedicate themselves to children in foster care.

Governor John E. Baldacci has joined with AFFM and others across the nation in proclaiming the Month of May as Foster Care Month. Please join AFFM in congratulating all those who open their hearts and homes to care for children who are unable to live with their birth families due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. Foster care is a labor of love and commitment that requires 24/7 dedication. AFFM extends a sincere thank you to all foster families and other foster care providers. Your rewards are seldom seen in this generation, but will be in the next, when the children you are currently parenting become parents themselves.

There are many ways to extend appreciation to foster parents and caseworkers. Here are a few ideas:

Sean and Barbara Bennett were kind enough to relate their stories to Family Ties in celebration of Foster Care Month.

Sean's story: When I was five years old, I lived for over a year with a really bad man who almost killed me. I was badly abused and also starved. Finally he inflicted a head injury-and I ended up in two hospitals and my first and only foster home. From the moment DHS arrived, everything went perfectly. My DHS caseworker was great and stayed with me through foster care and adoption. My foster Mom adopted me as quickly as she could. In nine years I've had one foster home, one therapist, one case manager, one rehab worker, one psychiatrist, and one DHS caseworker! All the strangers I met when I was so scared-child protective workers, police, doctors-were kind to me. In addition, my Mom and I lived in a very supportive community. I really did have a "whole village" to help raise me. I will always remember how everyone at DHS first saved my life, and then gave me a much better one.

Mom's story: Sean was my first foster child, and he came straight from the hospital on my birthday. When two caseworkers brought him, he looked shocking: painfully thin, silent, frightened, and too weak to walk. I fell in love with him on the spot. Today he is 15, has a great sense of humor, many friends, and is a gentle and compassionate
person. I'm proud of him for sharing his story. Sean and I especially thank Nick Pappas and Joy Pottle, DHS; Carole Pascal, therapist; Mary Kellett, guardian ad litem; Paul Goodman, MD, Susan Astbury, and Susan Silver, CHCS. We thank Maine families and communities like ours who support and welcome foster/adoptive children. There has been much criticism of DHS, but let's also remember the great good they do. They rescued Sean from almost certain death, treated him with compassion and respect, and gave him a new chance at life. We both ask you to remember that we have a good system in Maine, it can work, and most of the time the system does work!

Sean and Barbara Bennett

If you would be willing to share your story with AFFM and/or your local newspaper, please contact Christopher Olsen at 800-833-9786 or E-mail: chris@affm.net

Fantastic Antone Succeeds: Experiences in Educating Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

by Judith Kleinfeld and
Siobhan Wescott

Many times people think Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is linked to a life of hardships, doom and gloom. However, this book concentrates on stories of the successes won by children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It gives strategies to parents for handling situations associated with the syndrome. It provides tips for teachers, children, and social workers as well. As an added bonus it contains a list of important resources, organizations to contact, and descriptions of effective classroom practices for teachers. If you are interested in signing out this book you may call Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine at 800-833-9786 or view this and other books in our library

Community Health and Counseling Services is offering training specifically geared for foster parents.

AFFM wants to extend thanks to all those who participated in this year's Spring Conference to make the event a great success!

BCFS Bureau Director, Karen Westburg, has announced her retirement, effective May 1, 2004. Karen has worked in child welfare for 30 years. She has worked in both the Portland and Bangor offices before coming to Central Office in Augusta. She began as a caseworker and has been a supervisor for Child Protective, Children's Services and Families Together (a family preservation unit). Karen was also the Program Administrator in Bangor as well as the Deputy Bureau Director before taking over as Bureau Director in the fall of 2000. Under Karen's leadership the Bureau has made many positive gains and has become more inclusive of foster/adoptive parents as well as birth parents. These gains include the implementation of Family Team Meetings, increasing relative placements by 24%, the formation of the Foster/Adoptive Parent Advisory Committee, lowering the number of children in foster care, continued development of the Independent Living Program as a national leader, and bringing attention to the need to place siblings together in foster care. Karen also gained the respect of youth in care by meeting with them on a regular basis and encouraging their input into Bureau policy and practice. Part of the input from youth resulted in written policy for child welfare staff regarding driver's licenses for youth in care and for sibling placements and visitation.

Karen's decision has greatly saddened staff at BCFS, community members and AFFM. Karen is a strong advocate for children and families. She will be seriously missed. Thank-you Karen for all you have done.

Peter Walsh also announced his plan to retire effective, April 30. He is the Deputy Commissioner of Program Operations for DHS, assisting the Commissioner in all aspects of the operations and management of departmental programs. During his time as Deputy Commissioner, he also served as Acting Commissioner of the Maine Department of Human Services from February 2003, to February 2004.

Peter has held the position of Director of Family Independence from 1992 to 1995 and Director of Child and Family Services from 1977 to 1992.

In addition to being a member of the Interagency Task Force on Homeless, he is a Senior Staff member of the Governor's Children's Cabinet, a Co-Chair of the Integrated Case Management Committee, a member of the Children's Mental Health Oversight Committee, and a member of the Departmental Diversity Awareness.

Adoptive and foster parents will remember Peter as the force behind the development of the liaison office. Many thanks to Peter for the years of commitment and dedication to families and children in Maine.

Sabra Burdick, the Acting Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral and Development Services announced her plan to retire, effective April 30.

In addition to her current position with BDS, she has also served as the Deputy Commissioner of BDS. Other positions in which Sabra has served include the Director of Internal Operations with the Maine Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services and several positions with DHS. She began her career in 1968 as a Human Services Caseworker for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Assistance.

Thank you Sabra, for your years of dedication to children and families and your support of AFFM.