February 13, 2024 • 18 mins
Carrie Grogan and Elizabeth Moore from Marion County Children Services joined the show to talk about how their agency contines to evolve and how you can get involved to help Marion kids.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Joining me today from Marion County Children'sServices. We have Carrie Grogan and we
also have Elizabeth Moore. Ladies,thanks for coming in today. How are
you great? Good? I amwonderful and I'm excited to be here today
to talk about a lot of subjectsin and around foster care and things like
that. So, Carrie, youare now the foster care and Community Engagement
(00:22):
coordinator. Talk a little bit aboutwhat you do. So it's pretty much
in the title. So I recruitfor foster parents. We are in desperate
need of foster parents in Marion Countyand all across the state. So I
recruit for foster parents to license themmy department. Then once I kind of
(00:44):
get them in the door, thenmy department will license them. And then
I also work on just providing alittle extra support for foster parents that are
already licensed, excuse me, andjust helping build them up and providing that
extra layer that the caseworkers may nothave time to or you know, may
(01:07):
may not be available for. Andthen the community engagement part is basically that
I just go out and educate thecommunity about what the agency is doing,
some of the trends that we're seeingthose types of things. We offer mandated
reporter trainings four times a year,and then we also go to area agencies
(01:30):
or businesses to provide that training aswell, and that just gets mandated reporters
and community members familiar with what childabuse and neglect looks like and how to
report it in a way that ismost effective for us to be able to
do our jobs. Okay, that'sgreat. That was a great explanation.
(01:51):
I was gonna ask you. Youwere talking about going around to some of
the different organizations and talking to thema little bit about what you do.
What do you find right now islike the biggest question or misconception or the
biggest thing that comes up, Andyou're like, ah, I'm glad you
mentioned that. What's the biggest ahathat you see right now in the world
of foster care and what you guysdo out at children's services. I would
(02:14):
say that there is a just ageneral misconception about what constitutes abuse and neglect,
you know, kind of what risesto that level or what doesn't rise
to that level. So just againkind of giving that general information and educating
(02:35):
the community about what does constitute asabuse and neglect, what doesn't, what
to look for. I know whenI do my trainings, a lot of
people have you can see as yougive that information, a lot of people
have those Aha, Oh, Ididn't know that. And I think there
may be a bit of a misconceptionthat the government isn't as bolved as it
(03:04):
really is. You know, we'regoverned by state laws, local laws,
federal laws, all of those things. And I think that some people think
that we just kind of write ourown policy, and that is absolutely not
the case. So those are probablythe two biggest Yeah, and that's good
to know. Good stuff there.So you've got some events coming up.
Talk a little bit about some ofyour events that are on the way in
(03:27):
the next couple of months. Sure. So we have basically a foster care
recruitment event. We're doing it atthe Remnant. It's called Coffee and Care
Night. It's Thursday, February twentyninth at six pm and it's basically it's
real informal. Just come and havea coffee and some sharcootery and get any
(03:49):
questions that you have about foster careanswered. If it's something that you've been
contemplating for a while, or youknow, you're just kind of dipping your
toe in, or you just havesome burning questions that's like, how does
this work. It's it's an eventfor you because it's will have staff members
there, foster parents, volunteers thatsupport foster parents. We plan to have
(04:15):
kind of a menagerie of folks therethat can help answer whatever questions you may
have surrounding foster care and what ittakes to become licensed, and that has
changed a lot, and that's probablyan ever evolving thing. And I know
one of the things that you mentionedto me is the fact that a lot
of that can do be done virtuallyonline. Time talk a little bit about
that for a minute, and someof the things that people may not know
(04:38):
about. If you're interested in fostercare, how you get to from A
to Z. Sure, So thefirst step really is contacting the agency.
Will send packet of information, sendyou an email, all of that stuff
more info at Marrynkids dot com.Yeah, I just want to or you
(05:02):
could go to our website, sothe you could. The first step is
to do that and then we'll setyou up with the pre service. That's
that's the first real step in takingtoward getting that license. So there are
two options like you said, there'sface to face pre service, so you
are in a classroom with other folksthat are kind of in the same space
(05:23):
that you are. Or we're nowaccepting virtual pre service. So if virtual
preservice is something that is more attainablefor you, that's that's great. So
we give you the instructions on howto log in and how to register for
those classes. Those classes are nicebecause you can kind of take them at
(05:46):
your leisure and you you still havea time frame to get them done in
but you can, you know,on a Tuesday night if the kids are
in bed, you know, youcan take us class then, or whatever
the case is. And they havedifferent options that you can take, but
we do still offer in person classesonce a year. Those pre service classes
(06:08):
are coming up in June June first, second, and eighth. Those are
two Saturdays and a Sunday. Andso after the pre service is completed,
then you just let us know.We'll send you an application. Fill out
the application to become a foster parentand all of the paperwork that goes with
it, turn that in and thenwe start kind of the home visiting license,
(06:31):
your questionnaire process. We have aboutsix months to do that. It
usually takes less time, but that'swhat the government says that we can do
it in. So after that processis done you and you know, everything
checks out, you get your fostercare license. I love that. So
if somebody thinks to themselves, youknow we're not able to be, you
(06:56):
know, foster parents because we havea unique family structure. Look a little
different in our house than maybe thator this or whatever. You still tell
everybody and gives a call. Wewant to see what your household looks like,
and we want to fit somebody toyou if you want to help.
Right, absolutely, there is nosuch thing as a typical foster family,
(07:17):
sure, and there is no suchthing as a perfect foster family. So
you know, there are a fewrules that you have to be eighteen and
older and a couple of those things. But you know we we license,
you know, families of all you'rejust looking for a loving household. Yes,
absolutely, that's exactly it. Yeah, So don't think that you're disqualified
(07:38):
because maybe your household looks different thanyou think the household is supposed to look.
No, I mean, if you'reinterested and you can provide what these
children need, obviously you want toreach out and you want to get involved
and you know, let somebody elsego you know what that's like. Don't
do that. I mean, justmake sure that you're in there. So,
what are some of the events youhave going on? I know where
blues coming up? Talk a littlebit about that. Yes, So April
(08:00):
is Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness Month, and so every year there is a
designated day in April to wear blueto show kind of your support and awareness
of child abuse and neglect. Andso that is Wednesday, April tenth this
year. So and we'll be puttingthe word out there like crazy when it
(08:22):
gets a little closer. But thatis where Blue Day for this year.
Yeah, do you guys do onsome other things in April that you want
folks to know about or we're workingon some things. I get it,
I get it, I get it. Any other event you wanted to highlight
do you guys have coming up inApril? We are also doing our second
mandated reporter training of the year.So that is actually the following day,
(08:45):
Thursday, April eleventh, from nineto four at our agency. And like
I said, I if there's anybodythat has a big group that you know,
really wants us to present, butthey can't do it on those days,
we are ately more than happy togo to them as well. I
love that great stuff. What elsewere you prepared to talk about today that
(09:05):
I may not have hit on yet. Well, one thing as you were
talking, I kind of thought aboutanother misconception is I get a lot of
people asking me, like I heard, it's really hard to become a foster
parent, and I don't think thatthat's true. I don't think it's intense.
It's very very intense. It's aprocess we go through your background because
(09:31):
we're trusting those people with our kids'lives, right, and so it's intense
and it's it digs deep, butit is not hard because you just have
to be a loving family who's willingto open their home. Yeah. Absolutely,
absolutely, Yeah. And the otherthing is too, is if there
is a family that doesn't feel likeit is time for them to become a
(09:54):
foster parent, there are other waysthat they can help out. They can
become licensed to provide respite care fora child, so just temporary care for
a child while the family has togo out of town or until we can
find a more appropriate placement. Thingslike that, and then there We also
work with an organization that can thevolunteers for our foster families and provide support
(10:16):
there too, so you can alwaysvolunteer to help out in supporting the existing
foster families until you feel like thetime really is right. Yeah, no,
that's some good stuff. That reallyis Elizabeth? Anything else that you
wanted to kind of chime in.I know, I don't know to support
Carrie, and I love for inher new role, but we haven't heard
from Elizabeth. I know, andI love to come here. I love
(10:37):
to talk to you, but Imean, I guess it's good that Carrie's
just like I got this, It'sfine. I want to just kind of
echo some of the things that Carriehad talked about. Respite is just as
much of a need as our licensefamilies. You actually have to have a
full license to be a respite provideras well, but they are the ones
who will kind of give those fosterfamilies a break. It's a great way
(11:00):
to just kind of get started onthat journey. So you get the license,
you are able to do everything thata foster family can. You are
also able to get all of theperks that foster families get, so those
date nights out that our local organizationbe the village provides, they do all
of that, and so respite providersget the same thing. But you basically
(11:22):
when you're going through that home study, have that conversation with your assessor so
that they know really what you're feeling, what you think you're comfortable with,
and it's a great way to justkind of start breaking the ice. So
you provide the support to the family, but then you start to realize this
is really it is hard in thesense that, like you said, parenting
in general is hard, but itisn't as hard as people think. It
(11:46):
is the biggest thing I think thatI hear out there is I don't think
I can be a foster family becauseI don't think I would be able.
I'd get to attached. That isalways the biggest thing. We have a
foster parent, Jessicas Horenschai, wholikes to tell people, then it sounds
like you'd be perfect, So weknow that it is hard that we're asking
(12:07):
you to love a child like yourown and then to get them back home
because in the state of Ohio.So that's another thing too that I would
say is a misconception in the stateof Ohio. The number one goal when
we have a child in foster careis always reunification. We are always trying
to get kids back home, sowe ask our foster parents to be a
part of that team. So youare a team member, just like caseworkers
(12:30):
are, just like supervisors, justlike the biological family. We're trying to
get everyone to work together really forthe common good of the child. And
so we know that kids thrive whenthey're with family, and so we are
always trying to get them back home, so we ask our foster parents to
be a part of that. Andwe have some excellent foster parents who partner
(12:50):
with the families and build the relationshipswith the families so that they are also
a support to that family when thechild returns home. The great news about
that is then you don't have tosay goodbye. You're a part of that
child's life. You're part of thatfamily and then they do things together.
So it's excellent when we can seethose relationships thrive, and obviously that's what
(13:13):
we love for everyone. It's nota requirement, but it's also part of
the beauty of foster care. Sofoster care is a terrible thing. No
child should ever have to be infoster care, but when they are,
how do we do it well?And so that's really what we are trying
to do at the agency is howcan we do foster care well? And
so yeah, we're always trying torecruit families. But part of that too,
(13:37):
and why we partner with some ofthese other organizations, is we want
to keep our good foster families.It's just like in a business, it's
easier to or more financially responsible,I should say, to retain an employee.
It's the same when it comes tofoster families. So we always want
to keep our really good foster families. But we also know that part of
keeping good foster families is recruiting newgood foster families. So I guess that's
(14:01):
kind of some of the information.And I see Carrie has some of our
stats written down, so I don'tknow if she wants to talk about it.
Yeah, definitely you can hit onsome of the stats and some of
the things that are happening around thearea. Go ahead, sure, So
we right now we have twenty fourlicensed foster families in Marion County. But
just to kind of give you anidea of the placement crisis that we're in
(14:26):
is we have forty eight children inagency custody that need foster care. So
obviously those numbers don't really work,so we have to send a lot of
those kids out of the county,which you know, as we know,
then they're separated from their community,their family, It makes visitation harder,
(14:48):
they have to change schools, awayfrom their friends. So we really want
to try to prevent that as muchas we can, and you know,
kind of the one of the answersto that is to have some more foster
home in the area. We dohave nineteen kids that are waiting for forever
family, so they're available for adoption. A lot of those kiddos are older
(15:11):
kids, but like we always say, it's never too late to find your
forever family. And a couple otherthings I know Elizabeth was touching on about,
you know, the the being ableto keep a hold of our good
foster families. So a couple ofthings that we're doing to help support those,
(15:33):
aside from you know, the thedate nights and the parties and the
different things like that, is acouple of our foster parents, Devin and
Crystal Durine have started a foster caresupport group, a foster parent support group
for licensed foster families. It doesn'thave any real affiliation with the agency,
so they can kind of go andfeel free to just say I need help,
(15:56):
or this is going right in myworld and this is you know,
I'm having some challenges here and youknow, just openly discuss they're woes at
that point. So that they meetonce a month and it sounds like there's
some pretty good attendance with that.They're starting kind of a curriculum right now
(16:19):
on so it's a learning opportunity aswell. And then we're also piloting a
mentor program uh for our foster families. So we have our really good,
more seasoned that have been here awhile seeing some things. Those families are
invited to apply to become a mentorfamily for our newly licensed families. So
(16:45):
for the first two years, thatmentoring family will kind of follow that new
family and just help them through youknow, resources in the area navigating child
trauma and how that kind of manifestsitself and all of those different things.
So we are piloting that program andso we're hoping to get that off the
ground here in the next month ortwo. Wonderful, really good stuff.
(17:07):
I'm glad you guys came in today. I'm learning a lot of cool stuff.
So this is this is neat goodstuff and anything else that you guys
wanted to add about what's happening atthe Marion County Children's Services because that's a
lot of information, good stuff.I would say, if anybody has any
questions or you know, anything thatthey want more information on, they can
always shoot us an email or aninquiry again at that more info at Marrynkids
(17:30):
dot com, or they can giveme a call or call the agency and
ask for Carrie and I can kindof walk them through the process. We
can come out and do trainings,I can talk about preservice anything you want,
get your questions answered. I loveit, guys. Thank you so
much. Carrie Grogan with us andElizabeth Moore today from Marion County Children Services
(17:51):
talking about what's happening with foster careand things that you need to know.
So good stuff. I appreciate youguys coming in. Thank you so much,
Thank you, thanks for having us
Joining me today from Marion County Children'sServices. We have Carrie Grogan and we
also have Elizabeth Moore. Ladies,thanks for coming in today. How are
you great? Good? I amwonderful and I'm excited to be here today
to talk about a lot of subjectsin and around foster care and things like
that. So, Carrie, youare now the foster care and Community Engagement
(00:22):
coordinator. Talk a little bit aboutwhat you do. So it's pretty much
in the title. So I recruitfor foster parents. We are in desperate
need of foster parents in Marion Countyand all across the state. So I
recruit for foster parents to license themmy department. Then once I kind of
(00:44):
get them in the door, thenmy department will license them. And then
I also work on just providing alittle extra support for foster parents that are
already licensed, excuse me, andjust helping build them up and providing that
extra layer that the caseworkers may nothave time to or you know, may
(01:07):
may not be available for. Andthen the community engagement part is basically that
I just go out and educate thecommunity about what the agency is doing,
some of the trends that we're seeingthose types of things. We offer mandated
reporter trainings four times a year,and then we also go to area agencies
(01:30):
or businesses to provide that training aswell, and that just gets mandated reporters
and community members familiar with what childabuse and neglect looks like and how to
report it in a way that ismost effective for us to be able to
do our jobs. Okay, that'sgreat. That was a great explanation.
(01:51):
I was gonna ask you. Youwere talking about going around to some of
the different organizations and talking to thema little bit about what you do.
What do you find right now islike the biggest question or misconception or the
biggest thing that comes up, Andyou're like, ah, I'm glad you
mentioned that. What's the biggest ahathat you see right now in the world
of foster care and what you guysdo out at children's services. I would
(02:14):
say that there is a just ageneral misconception about what constitutes abuse and neglect,
you know, kind of what risesto that level or what doesn't rise
to that level. So just againkind of giving that general information and educating
(02:35):
the community about what does constitute asabuse and neglect, what doesn't, what
to look for. I know whenI do my trainings, a lot of
people have you can see as yougive that information, a lot of people
have those Aha, Oh, Ididn't know that. And I think there
may be a bit of a misconceptionthat the government isn't as bolved as it
(03:04):
really is. You know, we'regoverned by state laws, local laws,
federal laws, all of those things. And I think that some people think
that we just kind of write ourown policy, and that is absolutely not
the case. So those are probablythe two biggest Yeah, and that's good
to know. Good stuff there.So you've got some events coming up.
Talk a little bit about some ofyour events that are on the way in
(03:27):
the next couple of months. Sure. So we have basically a foster care
recruitment event. We're doing it atthe Remnant. It's called Coffee and Care
Night. It's Thursday, February twentyninth at six pm and it's basically it's
real informal. Just come and havea coffee and some sharcootery and get any
(03:49):
questions that you have about foster careanswered. If it's something that you've been
contemplating for a while, or youknow, you're just kind of dipping your
toe in, or you just havesome burning questions that's like, how does
this work. It's it's an eventfor you because it's will have staff members
there, foster parents, volunteers thatsupport foster parents. We plan to have
(04:15):
kind of a menagerie of folks therethat can help answer whatever questions you may
have surrounding foster care and what ittakes to become licensed, and that has
changed a lot, and that's probablyan ever evolving thing. And I know
one of the things that you mentionedto me is the fact that a lot
of that can do be done virtuallyonline. Time talk a little bit about
that for a minute, and someof the things that people may not know
(04:38):
about. If you're interested in fostercare, how you get to from A
to Z. Sure, So thefirst step really is contacting the agency.
Will send packet of information, sendyou an email, all of that stuff
more info at Marrynkids dot com.Yeah, I just want to or you
(05:02):
could go to our website, sothe you could. The first step is
to do that and then we'll setyou up with the pre service. That's
that's the first real step in takingtoward getting that license. So there are
two options like you said, there'sface to face pre service, so you
are in a classroom with other folksthat are kind of in the same space
(05:23):
that you are. Or we're nowaccepting virtual pre service. So if virtual
preservice is something that is more attainablefor you, that's that's great. So
we give you the instructions on howto log in and how to register for
those classes. Those classes are nicebecause you can kind of take them at
(05:46):
your leisure and you you still havea time frame to get them done in
but you can, you know,on a Tuesday night if the kids are
in bed, you know, youcan take us class then, or whatever
the case is. And they havedifferent options that you can take, but
we do still offer in person classesonce a year. Those pre service classes
(06:08):
are coming up in June June first, second, and eighth. Those are
two Saturdays and a Sunday. Andso after the pre service is completed,
then you just let us know.We'll send you an application. Fill out
the application to become a foster parentand all of the paperwork that goes with
it, turn that in and thenwe start kind of the home visiting license,
(06:31):
your questionnaire process. We have aboutsix months to do that. It
usually takes less time, but that'swhat the government says that we can do
it in. So after that processis done you and you know, everything
checks out, you get your fostercare license. I love that. So
if somebody thinks to themselves, youknow we're not able to be, you
(06:56):
know, foster parents because we havea unique family structure. Look a little
different in our house than maybe thator this or whatever. You still tell
everybody and gives a call. Wewant to see what your household looks like,
and we want to fit somebody toyou if you want to help.
Right, absolutely, there is nosuch thing as a typical foster family,
(07:17):
sure, and there is no suchthing as a perfect foster family. So
you know, there are a fewrules that you have to be eighteen and
older and a couple of those things. But you know we we license,
you know, families of all you'rejust looking for a loving household. Yes,
absolutely, that's exactly it. Yeah, So don't think that you're disqualified
(07:38):
because maybe your household looks different thanyou think the household is supposed to look.
No, I mean, if you'reinterested and you can provide what these
children need, obviously you want toreach out and you want to get involved
and you know, let somebody elsego you know what that's like. Don't
do that. I mean, justmake sure that you're in there. So,
what are some of the events youhave going on? I know where
blues coming up? Talk a littlebit about that. Yes, So April
(08:00):
is Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness Month, and so every year there is a
designated day in April to wear blueto show kind of your support and awareness
of child abuse and neglect. Andso that is Wednesday, April tenth this
year. So and we'll be puttingthe word out there like crazy when it
(08:22):
gets a little closer. But thatis where Blue Day for this year.
Yeah, do you guys do onsome other things in April that you want
folks to know about or we're workingon some things. I get it,
I get it, I get it. Any other event you wanted to highlight
do you guys have coming up inApril? We are also doing our second
mandated reporter training of the year.So that is actually the following day,
(08:45):
Thursday, April eleventh, from nineto four at our agency. And like
I said, I if there's anybodythat has a big group that you know,
really wants us to present, butthey can't do it on those days,
we are ately more than happy togo to them as well. I
love that great stuff. What elsewere you prepared to talk about today that
(09:05):
I may not have hit on yet. Well, one thing as you were
talking, I kind of thought aboutanother misconception is I get a lot of
people asking me, like I heard, it's really hard to become a foster
parent, and I don't think thatthat's true. I don't think it's intense.
It's very very intense. It's aprocess we go through your background because
(09:31):
we're trusting those people with our kids'lives, right, and so it's intense
and it's it digs deep, butit is not hard because you just have
to be a loving family who's willingto open their home. Yeah. Absolutely,
absolutely, Yeah. And the otherthing is too, is if there
is a family that doesn't feel likeit is time for them to become a
(09:54):
foster parent, there are other waysthat they can help out. They can
become licensed to provide respite care fora child, so just temporary care for
a child while the family has togo out of town or until we can
find a more appropriate placement. Thingslike that, and then there We also
work with an organization that can thevolunteers for our foster families and provide support
(10:16):
there too, so you can alwaysvolunteer to help out in supporting the existing
foster families until you feel like thetime really is right. Yeah, no,
that's some good stuff. That reallyis Elizabeth? Anything else that you
wanted to kind of chime in.I know, I don't know to support
Carrie, and I love for inher new role, but we haven't heard
from Elizabeth. I know, andI love to come here. I love
(10:37):
to talk to you, but Imean, I guess it's good that Carrie's
just like I got this, It'sfine. I want to just kind of
echo some of the things that Carriehad talked about. Respite is just as
much of a need as our licensefamilies. You actually have to have a
full license to be a respite provideras well, but they are the ones
who will kind of give those fosterfamilies a break. It's a great way
(11:00):
to just kind of get started onthat journey. So you get the license,
you are able to do everything thata foster family can. You are
also able to get all of theperks that foster families get, so those
date nights out that our local organizationbe the village provides, they do all
of that, and so respite providersget the same thing. But you basically
(11:22):
when you're going through that home study, have that conversation with your assessor so
that they know really what you're feeling, what you think you're comfortable with,
and it's a great way to justkind of start breaking the ice. So
you provide the support to the family, but then you start to realize this
is really it is hard in thesense that, like you said, parenting
in general is hard, but itisn't as hard as people think. It
(11:46):
is the biggest thing I think thatI hear out there is I don't think
I can be a foster family becauseI don't think I would be able.
I'd get to attached. That isalways the biggest thing. We have a
foster parent, Jessicas Horenschai, wholikes to tell people, then it sounds
like you'd be perfect, So weknow that it is hard that we're asking
(12:07):
you to love a child like yourown and then to get them back home
because in the state of Ohio.So that's another thing too that I would
say is a misconception in the stateof Ohio. The number one goal when
we have a child in foster careis always reunification. We are always trying
to get kids back home, sowe ask our foster parents to be a
part of that team. So youare a team member, just like caseworkers
(12:30):
are, just like supervisors, justlike the biological family. We're trying to
get everyone to work together really forthe common good of the child. And
so we know that kids thrive whenthey're with family, and so we are
always trying to get them back home, so we ask our foster parents to
be a part of that. Andwe have some excellent foster parents who partner
(12:50):
with the families and build the relationshipswith the families so that they are also
a support to that family when thechild returns home. The great news about
that is then you don't have tosay goodbye. You're a part of that
child's life. You're part of thatfamily and then they do things together.
So it's excellent when we can seethose relationships thrive, and obviously that's what
(13:13):
we love for everyone. It's nota requirement, but it's also part of
the beauty of foster care. Sofoster care is a terrible thing. No
child should ever have to be infoster care, but when they are,
how do we do it well?And so that's really what we are trying
to do at the agency is howcan we do foster care well? And
so yeah, we're always trying torecruit families. But part of that too,
(13:37):
and why we partner with some ofthese other organizations, is we want
to keep our good foster families.It's just like in a business, it's
easier to or more financially responsible,I should say, to retain an employee.
It's the same when it comes tofoster families. So we always want
to keep our really good foster families. But we also know that part of
keeping good foster families is recruiting newgood foster families. So I guess that's
(14:01):
kind of some of the information.And I see Carrie has some of our
stats written down, so I don'tknow if she wants to talk about it.
Yeah, definitely you can hit onsome of the stats and some of
the things that are happening around thearea. Go ahead, sure, So
we right now we have twenty fourlicensed foster families in Marion County. But
just to kind of give you anidea of the placement crisis that we're in
(14:26):
is we have forty eight children inagency custody that need foster care. So
obviously those numbers don't really work,so we have to send a lot of
those kids out of the county,which you know, as we know,
then they're separated from their community,their family, It makes visitation harder,
(14:48):
they have to change schools, awayfrom their friends. So we really want
to try to prevent that as muchas we can, and you know,
kind of the one of the answersto that is to have some more foster
home in the area. We dohave nineteen kids that are waiting for forever
family, so they're available for adoption. A lot of those kiddos are older
(15:11):
kids, but like we always say, it's never too late to find your
forever family. And a couple otherthings I know Elizabeth was touching on about,
you know, the the being ableto keep a hold of our good
foster families. So a couple ofthings that we're doing to help support those,
(15:33):
aside from you know, the thedate nights and the parties and the
different things like that, is acouple of our foster parents, Devin and
Crystal Durine have started a foster caresupport group, a foster parent support group
for licensed foster families. It doesn'thave any real affiliation with the agency,
so they can kind of go andfeel free to just say I need help,
(15:56):
or this is going right in myworld and this is you know,
I'm having some challenges here and youknow, just openly discuss they're woes at
that point. So that they meetonce a month and it sounds like there's
some pretty good attendance with that.They're starting kind of a curriculum right now
(16:19):
on so it's a learning opportunity aswell. And then we're also piloting a
mentor program uh for our foster families. So we have our really good,
more seasoned that have been here awhile seeing some things. Those families are
invited to apply to become a mentorfamily for our newly licensed families. So
(16:45):
for the first two years, thatmentoring family will kind of follow that new
family and just help them through youknow, resources in the area navigating child
trauma and how that kind of manifestsitself and all of those different things.
So we are piloting that program andso we're hoping to get that off the
ground here in the next month ortwo. Wonderful, really good stuff.
(17:07):
I'm glad you guys came in today. I'm learning a lot of cool stuff.
So this is this is neat goodstuff and anything else that you guys
wanted to add about what's happening atthe Marion County Children's Services because that's a
lot of information, good stuff.I would say, if anybody has any
questions or you know, anything thatthey want more information on, they can
always shoot us an email or aninquiry again at that more info at Marrynkids
(17:30):
dot com, or they can giveme a call or call the agency and
ask for Carrie and I can kindof walk them through the process. We
can come out and do trainings,I can talk about preservice anything you want,
get your questions answered. I loveit, guys. Thank you so
much. Carrie Grogan with us andElizabeth Moore today from Marion County Children Services
(17:51):
talking about what's happening with foster careand things that you need to know.
So good stuff. I appreciate youguys coming in. Thank you so much,
Thank you, thanks for having us
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