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Volume 11, No. 1 |
NEWSLETTER | January 2008 |
AFFM 2007 Year in Review
As most of our readers know, AFFM has struggled during the last quarter of this past year. Thank you to all who have and who continue to assist the association as it attempts to rise above the damage created by the embezzlement of nearly half of the yearly finances by a former employee, Katherine Ratliff. It is amazing to see what can happen when people rally to make lemonade out of lemons! On a more positive note, this past year, AFFM took part in several events across the state honoring foster and adoptive parents and kinship providers. The event at Fort Knox was once again a huge success. Watch for details of the third annual Foster Day at the Fort in the March newsletter. It is always a privilege to pay respect and celebrate those who so generously open their hearts and homes to children in need of a safe and happier place to live. AFFM has been collecting email addresses of its members. The reason for the email listings is to expedite the disbursement of information as it becomes available. If you have not shared an email address and would like to be on the list serve to get information as it becomes known to AFFM please call or email it to affm.net. This is a good way to learn of proposed legislative changes, training opportunities and much more. Numerous former youth from the foster care system have been the recipients of funds to assist them in working towards independence. AFFM is pleased to collaborate with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative which provides funds for the youth. These funds are for youth who have exited the foster care system without the benefit of a forever family. Gift certificates, tickets to Sesame Street Live, state fairs, concerts, a hockey game, over night hotel accommodations, participation in the Discount Card Program, Season Passes to the State Parks, a day pass to the Maine Wildlife Park, roller skating party, training opportunities, and camperships to youth, are samples of the many benefits provided to families throughout the year. In November and December, AFFM sponsored holiday parties in Bangor and Portland for kinship families. Additionally, AFFM was delighted to collaborate with several businesses that generously provided holiday gifts to many of the children cared for by members of AFFM. Having so many people dig deep to provide for children who might otherwise have had little to celebrate during the holiday season is truly a humbling experience. Thank you to all who added to the merriment and happiness of children in foster care, adoptive and kinship placements. AFFM was also the proud recipient of a four year scholarship that will be presented to a foster youth in Southern York County who plans a post secondary education. More information concerning the scholarship will be made available soon. The Family Ties newsletter is sent to over 3300 addresses. All licensed foster parents; many adoptive families and kinship families receive Family Ties. It is also sent to all of the DHHS offices as well as many private foster care and adoptive agencies, several legislators, and other child welfare advocates. Feed back for the newsletter is welcomed. AFFM really appreciates reactions and comments from the readers. If readers have ideas on articles that they would like featured in Family Ties, please call Barb Roy at 1-800-833-9786. Past issues of the Family Ties newsletter can be viewed on the AFFM website, www.affm.net AFFM is available to assist in starting and maintaining support groups. If you are interested in having a support group in your area please call AFFM at 1-800-833-9786. Among other services, AFFM provides training opportunities that can be used as part of a support group’s agenda or as a free standing training. Of particular interest are Day to Day Living with Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Allegation Prevention and Protocol. AFFM’s, 2007 spring conference, “And Some Rise Above It….” was attended by nearly 400 individuals. Thank you to all that took part. The spring conference 2008, Safe and Sound, Practice Prevention will be held at Verillo’s in Portland, April 11 & 12, 2008. Mark your calendar, line up child care and check with your agency or DHHS District to see if there is funding to assist you in attending. The presenters will delight you, the food will astound you and the opportunity to share with old and new friends will warm you heart and soul! Please plan to join the many that have shared in the learning, fun and camaraderie of the annual AFFM conference. This year’s theme echoes the Department’s attempt to increase safety for children and families. Key note speaker, Jaiya John, who was a former youth in care, will share an inspirational and personal account of his need to maintain contact with his biological mother while moving on to another type of permanent family. Jaiya is a poet, author, psychologist, and the founder of Soul Water Rising. Be prepared to feel cared for and inspired by his wonderful heartfelt message of hope and compassion. Four lucky families were fortunate to spend a week at Tamarack Cottage in Rangeley this past summer. Reports were wonderful. Families were generous in leaving a special gift to the cottage and more importantly, families all reported sharing a fun-filled vacation in Rangeley. Thank you to Mary Higgins, executor of the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust and to Mary Henderson, Administrative Assistant, for their commitment to make Tamarack available to foster, adoptive and kinship families. AFFM welcomes other camp owners to consider a charitable contribution in the form of a week or more of use at your camp. Camping is a wonderful way for families to spend quality time together without the usual stress of work, school, television video games, etc. Watch for information in your February edition of Family Ties to learn how you can win a week’s stay at Tamarack Cottage in Rangeley. AFFM sent out many packets to individuals interested in becoming foster and/or adoptive parents. Individuals are able to call AFFM to find out about the steps to licensing, etc. Families interested in adopting or becoming foster parents for a relative’s child (kinship care) can also call AFFM for information on the process and to become members of the discount program etc. These are just a few of the highlights of the activities and supports provided by Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine during 2007. The Board of Directors, staff and director of AFFM looks forward to serving you and yours in 2008. Please call, write or email to share your ideas and concerns with AFFM.
We wish you and yours a happy New Year filled with love, peace and prosperity! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Faith is a bright child who does very well in school and requires little to no assistance with her school work. Faith says she enjoys school and her favorite subject is reading. She enjoys reading mystery books the most. The Magic Tree House series are some of her favorites. Faith currently does morning track at the school she attends. She also enjoys soccer, tennis and rollerblading. Faith has asthma and is allergic to animals. Because of the severity of her allergies she would need to be in a pet free home. Faith has two older siblings, who she sees twice a month. These visits would be important for her to be able to maintain in an adoptive home. Faith would benefit greatly from a family that can provide her with a sense of belonging, stability and consistency. With consistent and effective parenting, it is predicted that Faith would absolutely thrive. Faith is excited and anxious to have a family of her own. She would love to be in a family where there are siblings and the family does “fun stuff”. She says that she would like “a family who chooses her to make sure that they can take care of her.” Adoption subsidy is available for the most appropriate family. Please contact Michelle Freeman, Portland DHHS, 161 Marginal Way, Portland, Maine, 04101 or by calling (207) 822-2181 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
AFFM would like to extend our gratitude once again to the sponsors of our Kinship Holiday Gift Program. Over 300 children benefited this year from the generosity of the following committees and businesses: We would also like to acknowledge the wonderful people at our 7 pick up locations. The weather did it’s best to hamper our deliveries, but these sites were very accommodating in their efforts to “play Santa”, and we appreciate their time and flexibility. Those wishing to extend a thanks to any of our donors can do so by sending a note or pictures to We will make sure your note is directed to the appropriate group. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DHHS Proposes Standardization of Treatment Foster Care As part of a package of initiatives designed to streamline government services, the DHHS has put forth a plan that will standardize the rate paid to treatment foster care agencies as well as the specific services provided by these agencies. The current system of treatment foster care in Maine lacks uniformity. The daily Private Non-Medical Institution (PNMI) rate paid to the treatment foster care agencies varies significantly, with the lowest paid agency receiving a rate of $89.25 and the highest, a rate of $156.62. It is important to note that this is not the reimbursement rate paid to foster parents, rather the rate paid to the agencies to cover their costs of providing the service. Currently, four agencies employ clinicians who provide individual counseling to the foster children they serve. This primarily accounts for the higher rate they receive. The remaining six agencies do not employ clinicians to provide individual counseling and they receive a much lower rate. In reviewing the quality of services and outcomes across treatment foster care agencies the Office of Child and Family Services is satisfied with the level of services being provided by the agencies that currently do not include individual counseling within their PNMI budgets. We have listened to youth in care who have expressed a desire to have voice and choice in whether they receive counseling, which provider they work with, and how long it will continue. Allowing clients to choose from the wide range of community based providers will assure that our clients receive the right treatment for the right duration. Standardizing the service assures that all clients receive the same quality of service as determined by their level of care needs, no matter which agency serves them. It also allows for consistent measurement of agencies’ performance. As a first step in determining a standard rate, the rates of the six agencies that don’t include individual counseling within their PNMI costs were averaged, resulting in a rate of $95.27. Treatment foster care agency heads have raised issues regarding the methodology of reaching a standard rate. For example, some agencies contend that the level of in-home supports as well as transportation costs account for the higher rates they receive. OCFS staff have been meeting with members of the Maine chapter of the Foster Family Treatment Association to refine that methodology. In addition, uniform performance standards will be developed and implemented through the contracts with all treatment foster care agencies. These performance standards will be modeled after those that have been proven nationally to result in improved well-being and permanency outcomes. The Office of Child and Family Services believes that all children who need to enter treatment foster care deserve to be kept in close proximity to their home community and receive the same quality of services regardless of where he or she lives in the State. This plan is intended to make that belief a reality. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Opportunity Passport™ program will soon be part of Jobs for Maine’s Graduates What Has Been Happening? Who Are the New Staff? What Will Be the Enrollment Process During This Transition Year? How Will Youth Who are Not in School be Enrolled? What Are the Changes to the Program? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Office of Child and Family Services, and more specifically the Division of Child Welfare was asked to make very difficult decisions to identify where savings could be achieved with the least amount of impact or harm on the children and families we serve. The following are those budget items that will be enacted but, as we fully recognize, will have an impact on foster, adoptive, kinship, and permanency guardianship families. We regret this impact, but there is logical and fiscal sense to them as well. We will follow MaineCare rules in the authorization of psychological evaluations reducing authorized time to 4 hours. This initiative will result in consistency in hours of service available to all members, without regard to thie MaineCare/non-MaineCare eligibility status. There will be a review of all clinical services authorized for children and families in the child welfare system. Determinations will be made as to whether the service is being provided by someone with the correct licensure and credentials as well as skill and knowledge in the need area. Increased use of utilization review will result in more use of evidenced based treatments and accountability. Services will only be authorized in compliance with MaineCare standards which direct number of hours and duration of services. We will now need to disallow child care payment for children for all birth and resource families that are not employed, engaged in an employment program or where there is no clinical need for a specialized child care setting. The $2.00 per day recreational fund to Treatment Foster Care agencies will be re-allocated and caseworkers will be responsible for recreation funding. This will promote the use of the funds for the specific needs of the child that will promote healthy behaviors and recognize the benefits of recreational activities. The Department will no longer be able to authorize double reimbursement for room and board care of children in foster care when a child is being cared for in a respite placement. Direct reimbursement to respite providers from DHHS will end and providers who wish to utilize respite will reimburse the respite provider directly from funds they receive for board and care as the primary provider. Caseworkers will need to be notified as they continue to need to know the placement for safety and emergency purposes. Federal rule only allows payment to one provider at a time and we have been in compliance with that by only using state funds to cover respite. We can no longer afford this. There will be reductions in the funds for contracted agencies that do supervised visitation for children in state custody. This initiative is in line with our own efforts to normalize visitation and have caseworkers, family members, and foster parents more active in visitation. We will begin reviewing service use immediately, however, the effective date of the changes to child care, recreational funds, and respite will be effective February 1, 2007. Virginia Marriner _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stanley and Myra Pelletier of St. Francis proudly announce the adoption of their 11 year-old son, Thorne Stanley Pelletier November 28,2007. Thorne joins his family members, 33 year-old sister, Tonia, 31 year-old brother, Kevin, 21 year-old sister, Reggie, 20 year-old sister, Mariya, 16 year-old, Brittany, and 15 year-old sister, Shelby, Thorne is also an uncle to Brinn, 4 years old
Lou and Pamela Sullivan of LisbonFalls, are proud to announce the two additions to their family : Tom and Louise Jehnings Are thrilled to welcome
Emily Grace (2)
Dec. 18th. Emily is also welcomed by Jennifer, Timothy, Nichole, Damon, and Laya Louis and Shelly Brown are delighted to announce that on Oct. 17th, 2007, their family welcomed Hannah and Autumn were also welcomed by their sisters, Ashly-rose and Abigail If your family has celebrated an adoption that you would like to see announced, please email the information to Barbara@affm.net ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ AFFM update: Katherine Ratliff, former Administrative Assistant at AFFM, plead no contest on December 27th to the charge of theft by unauthorized taking, in the amount of $83,500. She was sentenced to 6 years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended, will be placed on 2 years, probation, and has been ordered to pay $10,000 restitution. AFFM is very appreciative of all the cards, well wishes and donations that we have received as the recovery effort continues. The AFFM Board of Directors is asking everyone on our mailing list to consider a one time donation of $10.00. The amount generated by this, combined with the proceeds from the sale of the items seized from Katherine, will be a tremendous help in our recovery effort. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Send us you receipts! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Maine Parent Federation and the G.E.A.R. Parent Network collaboratively present: “An Update on the New Special Education Regulations” Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Collins, MPF Come on board as we maneuver through the maze of recent changes in the current Special Education Regulations. Come and explore with us the ABC’s and learn the 3 R’s. Discover how to ensure your participation in meetings that address desired educational outcomes. Gain knowledge of strategies for making the most of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) meetings. We invite you to bring your insights and questions to this vital workshop. Date: Wednesday February 13, 2008 from 6:30-8:30 p.m Location: CMMC conference room at 12 High St in Lewiston To register, or to get more info, please call 1-800-264-9224 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Safe and Sound: Practice Prevention
Featuring keynote speaker:
Recent Changes Affecting Foster and Adoptive Resource Families Chapter 16 Rules Providing for the Licensing of Family Foster Homes for Children and its Addendum, Chapter 15 Rules Providing for the Licensing of Specialized Children’s Foster Homes has been amended through the rule –making process. The amended rules became effective December 3, 2007. Changes in the rules include requirement that foster parents shall participate in ongoing training of at least 18 hours for the licensees’ combined hours of training, with at least 6 of those hours completed by the secondary parent, if applicable, within the two year licensing period. For foster parents holding a specialized license, the amended rules require that foster parents participate in ongoing training of at least 36 hours for the licensees’ combined hours of training, with at minimum of at least 12 of those hours completed by the secondary foster parent if applicable, within the two year licensing period. Foster parents, regardless of which rules were in effect at the time their license was issued, will adhere to these new training hour requirements at the time of their next renewal. At the time of renewal, the licensing worker will provide the resource family with a list of required training and of approved training options. The revised rules also add a new provision requiring foster parents who transport children in their own vehicles to comply with all State of Maine laws governing motor vehicle operation, including showing evidence of current driver license, vehicle registration, inspection, insurance, and use of age–appropriate passenger restraint systems. In addition to rule changes, there are several changes being made in Child Welfare practice which will enhance services provided to children. Among these changes is the requirement for an annual update of the resource family home study. The update will involve resource family participation in the evaluation of provision of safety and well being for children placed in the home, as well as evaluation of resource family strengths and challenges, and will identify a plan to support the individual family during the coming year with addressing areas that present challenges. Resource families will be provided with information about preparations to take, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. They will be assisted in development of a Resource Family Disaster Plan, which will include instructions on following the Department’s protocol in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. Additionally, resource families will be asked to sign an agreement in which the resource parents agree to refrain from the use of corporal or other demeaning forms of punishment. This agreement will be signed as part of the application process, as well as signed as part of the renewal licensing and adoption approval process. Child Welfare staff will be discussing these changes with resource families and working with families in an effort to continuously improve the quality of support offered to resource families as they, in turn, meet the day-to-day safety and well being needs of children placed in their care. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Coats for Kids If anyone knows of a child/teen still in need of a winter coat, please call the AFFM office at 1-800-833-9786. We still have some coats available. Supply is limited, but we will do our best to meet every need.
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FAMILY TIES the Newsletter of Adoptive & Foster Families of Maine, Inc. Published with support from
: the Maine Dept. of Human Services
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Faith (DOB 6/96) is a young lady who is described as funny, delightful, creative and quite artistic. Faith enjoys doing things most pre-teen girls her age like to do, such as shopping, wearing jewelry, going to the movies and learning how to cook. She loves to read and also enjoys writing poems and stories.