October 29, 2025 • 19 mins
A home for every child sounds simple until you see the real barriers: empty pantries, unstable housing, and trauma that follows kids into every new placement. We sit down with Karlene Masse, Partner Engagement Officer from 4Kids Southwest Florida to unpack how prevention, foster care, and therapy fit together to keep children safe and help families heal.
We start with the ground game of prevention. Through the CarePortal, caseworkers flag urgent needs so community partners and churches can deliver beds, food, clothing, and utilities support before a child is removed. When removal is necessary, 4Kids handles licensing and training for Christian foster families and works hand‑in‑hand with DCF and the Children’s Network to align placements with reunification plans. Karlene clarifies the crucial difference between fostering and adoption, the timelines birth parents navigate, and how decisions shift when families can’t safely reunify.
Then we dig into healing. Children in foster care face elevated PTSD risk, so 4Kids offers EPIC trauma therapy that addresses emotional, physical, intellectual, and character needs—often at no cost. Therapists coach foster parents and biological children on co‑regulation, routines, triggers, and trust‑building so homes are calmer and progress sticks. With 28 active foster families, 15 in the licensing pipeline, and new PRIDE cohorts underway, the team is scaling capacity while keeping stability high through the Family Advocacy Ministry—volunteers who run meal trains, babysit for respite, and handle practical needs that prevent burnout.
If fostering isn’t your path, there are still meaningful ways to move the needle. Become a Defender at a dollar a day. Sponsor events as a business. Host a donor night to rally your network. Every action keeps therapy hours open, expands training seats, and fills the gap left by limited state funding. Ready to help a child sleep safer tonight and a family stand stronger tomorrow? Follow the show, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review so more people find it.
4KIDS of SWFL
Karlene Masse
Partner Engagement Officer
KarleneM@4KIDS.us
239-483-8533
4kids.us
Ft Myers Beach-Good Neighbor
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro/Close (00:00):
Welcome to the State Insurance U.S.
State Cares Podcast, where wecelebrate the heart of our
community.
Each episode we highlight localcharities and nonprofits who
are bringing hope, health, andhealing to those who need it
most.
Get ready to be inspired by theamazing stories of people
making a difference.
Because together, we'll becareful.
Gail Langner (00:20):
Well, hi, it's me, Gail Langner, back again for
State Insurance Care.
And we are so excited todayto have Karlene masse with
4KIDS Southwest Florida as ourguest today.
So, Karlene, thanks for takingsome time to join us today.
Appreciate that.
Karlene Masse (00:36):
Absolutely.
My pleasure.
Gail Langner (00:38):
Well, for those of the people that don't know,
what is 4K Southwest Florida?
It's the actually the number 4Kids Southwest Florida, right?
Right.
Everybody thinks.
Exactly.
What do you do?
We're honored to donate to youand help you in any way we can,
but I know a lot of people don'tnecessarily know what we know.
Karlene Masse (00:56):
Absolutely.
So, 4 Kids of SouthwestFlorida is a nonprofit
organization that serves allfive of our counties within
Southwest Florida.
So Lee County, Collier,Charlotte, Hendry, and Glade.
And really our goal is to havea home for every child.
Every day kids are beingremoved from their homes through
(01:18):
no fault of their own.
And we're really placing themin the and they're placing the
foster care system.
So what 4Kids does is what webelieve in is a child for every
home, where we can offer hopes,homes, and healing for them
while they're in that process.
Our mission is simple.
We want to go through threedifferent paradigms.
So hope being our preventativecare.
(01:40):
So we use our implementingpartner care portal where we
connect with community leadersand churches to engage in any
type of preventative care.
So if there is a family thatgets DCF called on them and they
have a welfare check, but it'snot necessarily grounds for that
child to be removed, what wewould do is essentially DCF will
(02:02):
place a ticket through our careportal system that will alert
all of our community members andchurches that are on that
system to help with the carethat they need, whether it's new
beds, food, um, if they needclothes, things of that nature.
So the kind of the red flagsthat DCF will do during a
welfare check.
Our homes initiative is simple.
(02:23):
We want a home for every child.
So we provide the licensing aswell as the training for uh
couples and single people tobecome foster parents.
Um the prerequisite is thatthey are Christian.
That is the only thing that weask for, um, and that they're
heterosexual.
But other than that, um we gothrough that entire care system
(02:46):
with them.
And then our healing portion isreally what differentiates us.
It's really the um we offer intrauma therapy for all of the
children, the families, and thebiological children of the
parents um throughout theirprocess while they have that
child in the foster care home.
So within 24 hours, we havethem set up with one of our uh
(03:06):
trauma care therapies therapistsin the market, and we have them
on their way to healing.
So that's in a nutshell what wedo, um, which is really
exciting.
Gail Langner (03:18):
What do you Karlene, is probably the biggest
challenges that face childrenand families in our area right
now?
Karlene Masse (03:28):
That's a great question, Gail.
Um, truly, it's gonna be foodand housing.
Um, you know, if you reallythink about it, it is a vicious
pattern that occurs in in our inour area.
Um without housing or withoutfood, you know, you have these
parents, these adults that getinto very precarious situations.
And when you're desperate orunder pressure, that then leads
(03:52):
to the neglect and the hunger ofchildren, which is then in
turns them getting them placedinto a foster into the foster
care system.
So if there is a way for us tohelp on that preventative side
or even help with finding homeplacements while the families
get together, you know, get backon track, that's really the
goal in it.
Gail Langner (04:10):
But hunger and housing is definitely getting
how do how can you be proactiveon that?
I mean, I know DCF you saidhelps when the children, when
there's a red flag raised, butum, is there any way to I mean,
how do you go about that?
Karlene Masse (04:26):
So, really what it is is that we are one of the
four.
So DCF is really kind of theprivatized, you know, segment
throughout the state of Florida.
Then each set each region hastheir kind of like middleman, as
I like to call it.
Here we work alongside withchildren's network.
And so children's network, whenthey have a child in DCF that
(04:46):
is placed um in the in thefoster care system of some sort,
um, whether it's through agroup home or um, you know, any
other home, they'll actually goahead and get caseworkers that
are gonna call, you know, thefour or five organizations that
they have.
We are okay.
We are one of thoseorganizations that we do that.
Um, but again, our preventativeside is that hope process um
(05:10):
and really just finding thefoster care system on there.
So it's just looking at it fromthat approach.
Obviously, hunger, housing,those are other different
approaches.
We where we have wonderfulorganizations that will help
with that.
But our real heart is to helpthose children that once they
are placed in those situationsthat we can help them.
Gail Langner (05:28):
Okay.
When um what was I was gonnaask you?
I thought, oh, I was thatprobably see while you were
talking, I was thinking ofsomething else to ask.
That was what I the problem Ihad when I was on TV as well.
So um I'm thinking about thenext question.
Um so for you, uh I know we'veknown each other for a long time
(05:51):
when you were with Way FM.
What brought you to be in helpwith this mission instead?
Karlene Masse (05:58):
With 4Kids?
Oh.
So I've heard about thisorganization years ago.
I lived in Broward County, theeast coast of Florida, for many
a decade, and I've known about4Kids since then.
Uh, that's where actually theorganization was founded through
Cavalry Child Hole in FortLauderdale.
And I've known about what theydo, um the wonderful work that
(06:22):
they're doing on that coast, um,because it goes beyond the
foster care homes, obviouslywhen they're children, but they
have different implementationsof transitional living.
Um, once a child ages out offoster care, they actually have
homes for them where they canhelp them and educate them on
all the things that thegovernment can offer them
because they've been in thefoster care system.
(06:43):
They also have homes forparents for mothers that are
pregnant that are on thestreets, they go in and they
kind of have a um recorpora ofum a readmission into or
retransition into society oncethey have the kids.
So seeing that living on thatcoast, I was always enamored
with this organization.
And so when I moved here toSouthwest Florida four years
(07:06):
ago, Rick Jacobs, which is ourexecutive director, he actually
was moving back into this areaand he was starting up their
first satellite office inSouthwest Florida.
So me and him have been friendsfor a really long time.
And um, when I found out he washere, I actually engaged with
them while I was um on theBenita Springs Estero uh
(07:27):
Leadership Academy when I wasstill in that in that side of
town in that lake.
Um and I just always have keptin touch with them.
I just love what they're doing.
I love how we're trying our,you know, to get to a place
where we are mirroring whatthey're doing on the East Coast
and really have those uminitiatives and and those um,
(07:48):
you know, other areas of supporthere in Southwest Florida.
Gail Langner (07:52):
I know he's a really great guy.
I think when Blake was younger,our owner, when he was younger,
I think um Rick might have beenone of his parents.
Oh yeah.
Uh-huh.
Karlene Masse (08:01):
I think Rick should be a Chapman brother by a
surprise.
Gail Langner (08:05):
You're probably right.
So, Karlene, once the kids gointo foster care, is the is the
goal to get them back to theirparents, but sometimes you don't
want to put them back in thatsituation, right?
I mean, that's that's kind ofan interesting call.
Um, what happens there?
Karlene Masse (08:25):
Yeah, so um that's a great question.
A lot of times um there's a bigkind of misconception of the
difference between adoption andfostering.
So the purpose of foster careis that you have the child for a
certain amount of time becausethe intention is to reunify them
with their families.
So there is a time frame thatis given from the caseworkers to
(08:47):
the parents, um, and and thebiological parents, depending on
their circumstance, they'llhave a certain amount of time to
get their lives back in order,whether it's rehabilitation,
whether it's finding a job,whatever the case may be for
their their story, um, they aregoing to have a that certain
amount of time.
Um it could be anywhere from ayear, it could be anywhere from
(09:09):
18 months, sometimes it's courtorder, so every circumstance is
different.
If by the time that the systemor the government has allotted
for that parent to, you know,get back on track, if they're
not at that point, then umthat's when the case will turn
into an adoption situation, um,in which case that foster family
(09:31):
can determine whether they wantto go into the adoption world,
or at that point, then DCF willwork alongside 4Kids to find a
family that is looking foradoption.
Gail Langner (09:42):
During World War II, my mother uh took care of
wards of the court kids thatwere taken away from um their
families for one reason oranother.
And she got my sister, my dadwas over in Germany.
Um she got my sister when shewas two weeks old.
Um, she had pneumonia and shegot her straight from the
(10:03):
hospital.
And uh by the time she was two,my dad uh was my dad was got in
the middle of the vault, and hewas in hospitals um in England
and all over.
And um they adopted, they endedup adopting her.
So yeah, my sister that's sevenyears older than me was
actually in that situationherself.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
This is a ball of new information every knowledge.
I love it.
Gail Langner (10:33):
Oh God.
Um, so I know that you you sayhealing instability, you know,
and they're it's super powerfulwords.
What does a healing really looklike for a child that's been
through that kind of trauma?
I did you did you mention thatyou do have help, um
psychological help, right?
Karlene Masse (10:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So it's really crazy because ifyou could even kind of think
about it, a child that's placedin the foster care system is two
times more likely to have PTSD,the uh PTSD than a military
veteran who was in college.
No kidding.
Yeah.
Um Karlene.
So healing is truly whatdifferentiates our organization
(11:13):
from others.
Um, we have what we offer isepic um uh therapy, which Epic
stands for emotional, physical,intellectual, and
character-based needs.
And it is trauma, it's atrauma-informed approach that
all of our therapists have.
Um and really what we do, it'sat no cost, typically at no cost
(11:34):
to the parents or to thefamilies.
Um, and we offer these servicesfor the entire family.
So whether you're a biologicalchild, whether you are the
foster child or the parents,because you need to know parents
need to have the right toolsand resources to understand,
okay, this is a type of traumathat they're going through,
whether it's abandonment,whether it's sexual abuse,
(11:55):
whatever the case may be, um,you know, they have to have the
right tools necessary tonavigate that child.
And really the ultimate healingthat we work with is, you know,
through the love of Jesus.
So that's why we we reallypreface on having a Christian
home because we know that allthe healing that we need is
really comes from God.
But our therapists are trainedin that.
Um, epic training is our ourtherapies are also um open to
(12:19):
the public.
Uh, so if we have if thetherapists have capacities and
you're maybe your child didn'tgo through the foster care
system, but they have um shownsigns of some type of trauma or
behavioral, uh, we can go aheadand help the the parents as well
from from our community.
So it really just depends onyou know the capacity for the
(12:41):
therapist.
We're actually in the processof hiring our third therapist
for the office, which isfantastic because that means
that we have more families tohelp uh to help you know get
them back together.
Gail Langner (12:53):
About how many foster families do you have
right now um in your in ourarea?
Karlene Masse (13:00):
So within 4Kids, um, we have currently 28
families.
We have yeah, we have in fouryears, which is amazing.
We have 15 more that are in theprocess of getting licensed.
And we have, I believe it'sfive or six families that are
currently in their enrollcurrently in our uh training
(13:21):
that we have right now, pridetraining is what we call it.
Okay.
So they have they started backin the beginning of October and
they're gonna graduate inDecember.
So that's really cool.
It's a six-four.
That's great.
Gail Langner (13:31):
That's great.
Well, Karlene, I know um noteverybody can be a foster
parent, but what are some otherways to support?
Karlene Masse (13:38):
There's so many ways.
I mean, let me count the ways.
And this is one of the reasonswhy I love this organization
because there are just reallycreative ways to just plug in
with us.
Um, obviously, the first andforemost is if you have the
heart or you ever thought aboutfostering or becoming a foster
parent, that's always going tobe our first one is trying to
find more homes for thesechildren.
(13:59):
Um, but really for individualswho desire to want to plug in
and it's not through thebecoming a foster parent, um, we
do offer have donors,individual donors that we have.
70% of our organization isfunded privately.
So we actually only get about30% of grants coming through the
(14:20):
state for what we do.
Uh so we rely heavily onindividual donors for
businesses.
If you're looking to justbecome a sponsor, we have three
fundraising events throughoutthe year and three foster care
events throughout the year.
So all of that goes back to umto really helping these parents
(14:40):
and these children to kind ofget on board.
Um, if you're not in thatposition to do that as well, you
know, we have a volunteer staffthat we have here, which we
call FAM, which is our familyadvocacy ministry.
And really what they are, andit's the reason why our um
stability rate within a fostercare home, a 4Kids foster care
(15:03):
home is so great and thegovernment loves it, is because
we have this ministry wherethey're just volunteers that
say, Hey, let's give you a nightoff, family.
Go and enjoy date night, go andum, you know, just remember who
you were before you took onthis mission and we're gonna
come in and babysit the child.
Or, you know, hey, you needsome uh meal train going on, you
(15:26):
know.
I know that this is busy, thistransition, you have three kids,
or you have one of your ownkids, however, you know, it's
let me give you some meals.
So, you know, it's a wraparoundsystem that truly helps.
And then and our families feelthat support coming from our
volunteers.
So, you know, talents,treasures, those are always the
things that we look at.
Um, and then obviously ifyou're if you're looking to just
(15:48):
become a donor individually, wehave a wonderful depend uh
defenders program.
So at a dollar a day, you couldbecome a defender and you'll be
part of our our bigger donationof fundraising campaigns that
we have, and you'll get to hearall the fun stuff that that your
dollar a day is going towards.
Gail Langner (16:05):
That would be really neat.
And of course, obviously, smallsmall businesses too.
Karlene Masse (16:08):
You brought up you brought up companies as well
that can sponsor and they couldbe individual donors as well or
donors as well through our ownstate program.
We just had a um a business outin Label that just uh this past
week became a monthly donor,and um it's five thousand
dollars a month that he'sdonated.
Karlene Oh, yeah, that'swonderful.
(16:32):
It was a huge win, and I'm sohappy for it.
Doesn't mean that everybody hasto do that.
We really just require a dollara day.
Gail Langner (16:39):
That's that's a lot, that's a lot.
Yes.
If you're counting on me forthat, Karlene, you can just not
count on that.
Karlene Masse (16:48):
No, you give so much already.
It's not a state for uh stateinsurance.
Hey, you guys give so much withyour time, um, being one of our
champions.
You know that Blake is one ofour champions, which is like our
little mini board here forSouthwest Florida.
And yeah, we just recentlyjoined our uh events committees
team with Galantines andeverything.
So I'm excited about that.
But I know businesses can plugin through uh through
(17:11):
sponsorships, you know.
Um, there's completelydifferent ways.
I mean, another way to also uhplug in is hosting a donor
event.
So you have a sphere ofinfluence and you know you have
people that are, you know, thiscause could be near and dear to
them.
Let's get them together in aroom and talk more about how
they could plug in.
Awesome.
Gail Langner (17:32):
Well, I am so glad you took the time, Karlene, to
be here today.
Just before we close, tell themhow would they reach you if if
one of our listeners went, Oh, II really would like to be
involved in that some way.
How would they get in touchwith you?
Karlene Masse (17:47):
Absolutely.
So 4Kids.us, uh, and then youput our location for Southwest
Florida is going to be your mainway.
You'll get to know moreinformation, but you could also
reach me um directly at239-483-8533.
Or you could just email meKarleneM@ 4Kids.us.
(18:08):
And that's M as a Masse, not asa nasty.
Gail Langner (18:12):
And and Karlene with a K.
Karlene Masse (18:14):
Yes, Karlene with a K.
That's right.
Gail Langner (18:16):
Right.
Well, thanks for for takingsome time, my friend.
You know how much I appreciateyou and how much uh we all
appreciate 4kids and everythingthat you do.
Um, it is um it's a wonderfulministry besides just being a
job.
It's a wonderful ministry.
And so um we're thrilled tohelp in any way we can and um
(18:37):
obviously look forward to seeingyou at our Hats Off to You
event coming up.
And yeah, so anyway, thanks fortaking the time and uh and
again, thanks for all you do.
Karlene Masse (18:48):
Thank you for everything that you guys are
doing.
We're so proud to be partnerswith you, and we're excited to
see what state insurance isgoing to do in 2026.
I know you guys are just gonnacontinue to be blessed things
and blessed because ofeverything that you do for our
community.
So thank you so much for that.
Oh, thank you.
Gail Langner (19:04):
Well, have a great day.
You too.
Intro/Close (19:06):
Thank you for joining us on State Insurance
USA Care.
We hope today's story upliftedand inspired you.
If you'd like to support orlearn more about the incredible
work happening in yourcommunity, visit
StateInsuranceUSA.com or call239 567 9992.
You can also visitCaboWabojim.com.
Until next time, be sure to letyour son shine and keep
(19:28):
carrying good and positive vibeswherever the winds take you.
Welcome to the State Insurance U.S.
State Cares Podcast, where wecelebrate the heart of our
community.
Each episode we highlight localcharities and nonprofits who
are bringing hope, health, andhealing to those who need it
most.
Get ready to be inspired by theamazing stories of people
making a difference.
Because together, we'll becareful.
Gail Langner (00:20):
Well, hi, it's me, Gail Langner, back again for
State Insurance Care.
And we are so excited todayto have Karlene masse with
4KIDS Southwest Florida as ourguest today.
So, Karlene, thanks for takingsome time to join us today.
Appreciate that.
Karlene Masse (00:36):
Absolutely.
My pleasure.
Gail Langner (00:38):
Well, for those of the people that don't know,
what is 4K Southwest Florida?
It's the actually the number 4Kids Southwest Florida, right?
Right.
Everybody thinks.
Exactly.
What do you do?
We're honored to donate to youand help you in any way we can,
but I know a lot of people don'tnecessarily know what we know.
Karlene Masse (00:56):
Absolutely.
So, 4 Kids of SouthwestFlorida is a nonprofit
organization that serves allfive of our counties within
Southwest Florida.
So Lee County, Collier,Charlotte, Hendry, and Glade.
And really our goal is to havea home for every child.
Every day kids are beingremoved from their homes through
(01:18):
no fault of their own.
And we're really placing themin the and they're placing the
foster care system.
So what 4Kids does is what webelieve in is a child for every
home, where we can offer hopes,homes, and healing for them
while they're in that process.
Our mission is simple.
We want to go through threedifferent paradigms.
So hope being our preventativecare.
(01:40):
So we use our implementingpartner care portal where we
connect with community leadersand churches to engage in any
type of preventative care.
So if there is a family thatgets DCF called on them and they
have a welfare check, but it'snot necessarily grounds for that
child to be removed, what wewould do is essentially DCF will
(02:02):
place a ticket through our careportal system that will alert
all of our community members andchurches that are on that
system to help with the carethat they need, whether it's new
beds, food, um, if they needclothes, things of that nature.
So the kind of the red flagsthat DCF will do during a
welfare check.
Our homes initiative is simple.
(02:23):
We want a home for every child.
So we provide the licensing aswell as the training for uh
couples and single people tobecome foster parents.
Um the prerequisite is thatthey are Christian.
That is the only thing that weask for, um, and that they're
heterosexual.
But other than that, um we gothrough that entire care system
(02:46):
with them.
And then our healing portion isreally what differentiates us.
It's really the um we offer intrauma therapy for all of the
children, the families, and thebiological children of the
parents um throughout theirprocess while they have that
child in the foster care home.
So within 24 hours, we havethem set up with one of our uh
(03:06):
trauma care therapies therapistsin the market, and we have them
on their way to healing.
So that's in a nutshell what wedo, um, which is really
exciting.
Gail Langner (03:18):
What do you Karlene, is probably the biggest
challenges that face childrenand families in our area right
now?
Karlene Masse (03:28):
That's a great question, Gail.
Um, truly, it's gonna be foodand housing.
Um, you know, if you reallythink about it, it is a vicious
pattern that occurs in in our inour area.
Um without housing or withoutfood, you know, you have these
parents, these adults that getinto very precarious situations.
And when you're desperate orunder pressure, that then leads
(03:52):
to the neglect and the hunger ofchildren, which is then in
turns them getting them placedinto a foster into the foster
care system.
So if there is a way for us tohelp on that preventative side
or even help with finding homeplacements while the families
get together, you know, get backon track, that's really the
goal in it.
Gail Langner (04:10):
But hunger and housing is definitely getting
how do how can you be proactiveon that?
I mean, I know DCF you saidhelps when the children, when
there's a red flag raised, butum, is there any way to I mean,
how do you go about that?
Karlene Masse (04:26):
So, really what it is is that we are one of the
four.
So DCF is really kind of theprivatized, you know, segment
throughout the state of Florida.
Then each set each region hastheir kind of like middleman, as
I like to call it.
Here we work alongside withchildren's network.
And so children's network, whenthey have a child in DCF that
(04:46):
is placed um in the in thefoster care system of some sort,
um, whether it's through agroup home or um, you know, any
other home, they'll actually goahead and get caseworkers that
are gonna call, you know, thefour or five organizations that
they have.
We are okay.
We are one of thoseorganizations that we do that.
Um, but again, our preventativeside is that hope process um
(05:10):
and really just finding thefoster care system on there.
So it's just looking at it fromthat approach.
Obviously, hunger, housing,those are other different
approaches.
We where we have wonderfulorganizations that will help
with that.
But our real heart is to helpthose children that once they
are placed in those situationsthat we can help them.
Gail Langner (05:28):
Okay.
When um what was I was gonnaask you?
I thought, oh, I was thatprobably see while you were
talking, I was thinking ofsomething else to ask.
That was what I the problem Ihad when I was on TV as well.
So um I'm thinking about thenext question.
Um so for you, uh I know we'veknown each other for a long time
(05:51):
when you were with Way FM.
What brought you to be in helpwith this mission instead?
Karlene Masse (05:58):
With 4Kids?
Oh.
So I've heard about thisorganization years ago.
I lived in Broward County, theeast coast of Florida, for many
a decade, and I've known about4Kids since then.
Uh, that's where actually theorganization was founded through
Cavalry Child Hole in FortLauderdale.
And I've known about what theydo, um the wonderful work that
(06:22):
they're doing on that coast, um,because it goes beyond the
foster care homes, obviouslywhen they're children, but they
have different implementationsof transitional living.
Um, once a child ages out offoster care, they actually have
homes for them where they canhelp them and educate them on
all the things that thegovernment can offer them
because they've been in thefoster care system.
(06:43):
They also have homes forparents for mothers that are
pregnant that are on thestreets, they go in and they
kind of have a um recorpora ofum a readmission into or
retransition into society oncethey have the kids.
So seeing that living on thatcoast, I was always enamored
with this organization.
And so when I moved here toSouthwest Florida four years
(07:06):
ago, Rick Jacobs, which is ourexecutive director, he actually
was moving back into this areaand he was starting up their
first satellite office inSouthwest Florida.
So me and him have been friendsfor a really long time.
And um, when I found out he washere, I actually engaged with
them while I was um on theBenita Springs Estero uh
(07:27):
Leadership Academy when I wasstill in that in that side of
town in that lake.
Um and I just always have keptin touch with them.
I just love what they're doing.
I love how we're trying our,you know, to get to a place
where we are mirroring whatthey're doing on the East Coast
and really have those uminitiatives and and those um,
(07:48):
you know, other areas of supporthere in Southwest Florida.
Gail Langner (07:52):
I know he's a really great guy.
I think when Blake was younger,our owner, when he was younger,
I think um Rick might have beenone of his parents.
Oh yeah.
Uh-huh.
Karlene Masse (08:01):
I think Rick should be a Chapman brother by a
surprise.
Gail Langner (08:05):
You're probably right.
So, Karlene, once the kids gointo foster care, is the is the
goal to get them back to theirparents, but sometimes you don't
want to put them back in thatsituation, right?
I mean, that's that's kind ofan interesting call.
Um, what happens there?
Karlene Masse (08:25):
Yeah, so um that's a great question.
A lot of times um there's a bigkind of misconception of the
difference between adoption andfostering.
So the purpose of foster careis that you have the child for a
certain amount of time becausethe intention is to reunify them
with their families.
So there is a time frame thatis given from the caseworkers to
(08:47):
the parents, um, and and thebiological parents, depending on
their circumstance, they'llhave a certain amount of time to
get their lives back in order,whether it's rehabilitation,
whether it's finding a job,whatever the case may be for
their their story, um, they aregoing to have a that certain
amount of time.
Um it could be anywhere from ayear, it could be anywhere from
(09:09):
18 months, sometimes it's courtorder, so every circumstance is
different.
If by the time that the systemor the government has allotted
for that parent to, you know,get back on track, if they're
not at that point, then umthat's when the case will turn
into an adoption situation, um,in which case that foster family
(09:31):
can determine whether they wantto go into the adoption world,
or at that point, then DCF willwork alongside 4Kids to find a
family that is looking foradoption.
Gail Langner (09:42):
During World War II, my mother uh took care of
wards of the court kids thatwere taken away from um their
families for one reason oranother.
And she got my sister, my dadwas over in Germany.
Um she got my sister when shewas two weeks old.
Um, she had pneumonia and shegot her straight from the
(10:03):
hospital.
And uh by the time she was two,my dad uh was my dad was got in
the middle of the vault, and hewas in hospitals um in England
and all over.
And um they adopted, they endedup adopting her.
So yeah, my sister that's sevenyears older than me was
actually in that situationherself.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
This is a ball of new information every knowledge.
I love it.
Gail Langner (10:33):
Oh God.
Um, so I know that you you sayhealing instability, you know,
and they're it's super powerfulwords.
What does a healing really looklike for a child that's been
through that kind of trauma?
I did you did you mention thatyou do have help, um
psychological help, right?
Karlene Masse (10:50):
Yeah, yeah.
So it's really crazy because ifyou could even kind of think
about it, a child that's placedin the foster care system is two
times more likely to have PTSD,the uh PTSD than a military
veteran who was in college.
No kidding.
Yeah.
Um Karlene.
So healing is truly whatdifferentiates our organization
(11:13):
from others.
Um, we have what we offer isepic um uh therapy, which Epic
stands for emotional, physical,intellectual, and
character-based needs.
And it is trauma, it's atrauma-informed approach that
all of our therapists have.
Um and really what we do, it'sat no cost, typically at no cost
(11:34):
to the parents or to thefamilies.
Um, and we offer these servicesfor the entire family.
So whether you're a biologicalchild, whether you are the
foster child or the parents,because you need to know parents
need to have the right toolsand resources to understand,
okay, this is a type of traumathat they're going through,
whether it's abandonment,whether it's sexual abuse,
(11:55):
whatever the case may be, um,you know, they have to have the
right tools necessary tonavigate that child.
And really the ultimate healingthat we work with is, you know,
through the love of Jesus.
So that's why we we reallypreface on having a Christian
home because we know that allthe healing that we need is
really comes from God.
But our therapists are trainedin that.
Um, epic training is our ourtherapies are also um open to
(12:19):
the public.
Uh, so if we have if thetherapists have capacities and
you're maybe your child didn'tgo through the foster care
system, but they have um shownsigns of some type of trauma or
behavioral, uh, we can go aheadand help the the parents as well
from from our community.
So it really just depends onyou know the capacity for the
(12:41):
therapist.
We're actually in the processof hiring our third therapist
for the office, which isfantastic because that means
that we have more families tohelp uh to help you know get
them back together.
Gail Langner (12:53):
About how many foster families do you have
right now um in your in ourarea?
Karlene Masse (13:00):
So within 4Kids, um, we have currently 28
families.
We have yeah, we have in fouryears, which is amazing.
We have 15 more that are in theprocess of getting licensed.
And we have, I believe it'sfive or six families that are
currently in their enrollcurrently in our uh training
(13:21):
that we have right now, pridetraining is what we call it.
Okay.
So they have they started backin the beginning of October and
they're gonna graduate inDecember.
So that's really cool.
It's a six-four.
That's great.
Gail Langner (13:31):
That's great.
Well, Karlene, I know um noteverybody can be a foster
parent, but what are some otherways to support?
Karlene Masse (13:38):
There's so many ways.
I mean, let me count the ways.
And this is one of the reasonswhy I love this organization
because there are just reallycreative ways to just plug in
with us.
Um, obviously, the first andforemost is if you have the
heart or you ever thought aboutfostering or becoming a foster
parent, that's always going tobe our first one is trying to
find more homes for thesechildren.
(13:59):
Um, but really for individualswho desire to want to plug in
and it's not through thebecoming a foster parent, um, we
do offer have donors,individual donors that we have.
70% of our organization isfunded privately.
So we actually only get about30% of grants coming through the
(14:20):
state for what we do.
Uh so we rely heavily onindividual donors for
businesses.
If you're looking to justbecome a sponsor, we have three
fundraising events throughoutthe year and three foster care
events throughout the year.
So all of that goes back to umto really helping these parents
(14:40):
and these children to kind ofget on board.
Um, if you're not in thatposition to do that as well, you
know, we have a volunteer staffthat we have here, which we
call FAM, which is our familyadvocacy ministry.
And really what they are, andit's the reason why our um
stability rate within a fostercare home, a 4Kids foster care
(15:03):
home is so great and thegovernment loves it, is because
we have this ministry wherethey're just volunteers that
say, Hey, let's give you a nightoff, family.
Go and enjoy date night, go andum, you know, just remember who
you were before you took onthis mission and we're gonna
come in and babysit the child.
Or, you know, hey, you needsome uh meal train going on, you
(15:26):
know.
I know that this is busy, thistransition, you have three kids,
or you have one of your ownkids, however, you know, it's
let me give you some meals.
So, you know, it's a wraparoundsystem that truly helps.
And then and our families feelthat support coming from our
volunteers.
So, you know, talents,treasures, those are always the
things that we look at.
Um, and then obviously ifyou're if you're looking to just
(15:48):
become a donor individually, wehave a wonderful depend uh
defenders program.
So at a dollar a day, you couldbecome a defender and you'll be
part of our our bigger donationof fundraising campaigns that
we have, and you'll get to hearall the fun stuff that that your
dollar a day is going towards.
Gail Langner (16:05):
That would be really neat.
And of course, obviously, smallsmall businesses too.
Karlene Masse (16:08):
You brought up you brought up companies as well
that can sponsor and they couldbe individual donors as well or
donors as well through our ownstate program.
We just had a um a business outin Label that just uh this past
week became a monthly donor,and um it's five thousand
dollars a month that he'sdonated.
Karlene Oh, yeah, that'swonderful.
(16:32):
It was a huge win, and I'm sohappy for it.
Doesn't mean that everybody hasto do that.
We really just require a dollara day.
Gail Langner (16:39):
That's that's a lot, that's a lot.
Yes.
If you're counting on me forthat, Karlene, you can just not
count on that.
Karlene Masse (16:48):
No, you give so much already.
It's not a state for uh stateinsurance.
Hey, you guys give so much withyour time, um, being one of our
champions.
You know that Blake is one ofour champions, which is like our
little mini board here forSouthwest Florida.
And yeah, we just recentlyjoined our uh events committees
team with Galantines andeverything.
So I'm excited about that.
But I know businesses can plugin through uh through
(17:11):
sponsorships, you know.
Um, there's completelydifferent ways.
I mean, another way to also uhplug in is hosting a donor
event.
So you have a sphere ofinfluence and you know you have
people that are, you know, thiscause could be near and dear to
them.
Let's get them together in aroom and talk more about how
they could plug in.
Awesome.
Gail Langner (17:32):
Well, I am so glad you took the time, Karlene, to
be here today.
Just before we close, tell themhow would they reach you if if
one of our listeners went, Oh, II really would like to be
involved in that some way.
How would they get in touchwith you?
Karlene Masse (17:47):
Absolutely.
So 4Kids.us, uh, and then youput our location for Southwest
Florida is going to be your mainway.
You'll get to know moreinformation, but you could also
reach me um directly at239-483-8533.
Or you could just email meKarleneM@ 4Kids.us.
(18:08):
And that's M as a Masse, not asa nasty.
Gail Langner (18:12):
And and Karlene with a K.
Karlene Masse (18:14):
Yes, Karlene with a K.
That's right.
Gail Langner (18:16):
Right.
Well, thanks for for takingsome time, my friend.
You know how much I appreciateyou and how much uh we all
appreciate 4kids and everythingthat you do.
Um, it is um it's a wonderfulministry besides just being a
job.
It's a wonderful ministry.
And so um we're thrilled tohelp in any way we can and um
(18:37):
obviously look forward to seeingyou at our Hats Off to You
event coming up.
And yeah, so anyway, thanks fortaking the time and uh and
again, thanks for all you do.
Karlene Masse (18:48):
Thank you for everything that you guys are
doing.
We're so proud to be partnerswith you, and we're excited to
see what state insurance isgoing to do in 2026.
I know you guys are just gonnacontinue to be blessed things
and blessed because ofeverything that you do for our
community.
So thank you so much for that.
Oh, thank you.
Gail Langner (19:04):
Well, have a great day.
You too.
Intro/Close (19:06):
Thank you for joining us on State Insurance
USA Care.
We hope today's story upliftedand inspired you.
If you'd like to support orlearn more about the incredible
work happening in yourcommunity, visit
StateInsuranceUSA.com or call239 567 9992.
You can also visitCaboWabojim.com.
Until next time, be sure to letyour son shine and keep
(19:28):
carrying good and positive vibeswherever the winds take you.
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