May 13, 2025 • 44 mins
Karen Phillips didn’t plan to become a child welfare changemaker—she simply said yes to becoming a foster parent. That yes set her on a path to help families in crisis long before the foster care system gets involved.
In this episode of The Forgotten Adoption Option Podcast, Karen shares how her lived experience fueled the creation of the 100 Families Initiative at Restore Hope Arkansas. Together with her team, she’s building tech-powered, community-based solutions that bring together nonprofits, agencies, and families to prevent foster care entry.
🎧 You’ll hear:
How Karen’s journey into foster care turned into statewide impact
What the 100 Families model looks like in action
The surprising ways technology is bridging gaps across systems
Why prevention is both possible and powerful
This is more than a story—it’s a blueprint for hope.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
We really should have waiting parents, not waiting children.
Over 100,000 children are available for adoption through
the US foster care system, and 27% don't have anyone like a
relative or foster parent in theprocess of adopting them. 60%
are between the ages of five and17, and 2/3 are part of sibling
groups of two to eight children.Hey listener, my name is Marcy
(00:27):
Bursack. My husband and I chose Adoption
is our Plan A. After blogging about our journey
adopting A sibling pair, I beganmentoring families right in my
own living room. That passion grew into the
Forgotten Adoption Option, a nonprofit and now lead as a
volunteer while working full time in the tech industry.
From my blog, Three Books app, and Classroom Lesson, to now a
45 minute course called Foster Care Adoption Simplified, which
(00:50):
you can find at forgottenadoptionoption.com,
I've created practical, heartfelt resources to help
families navigate the foster care adoption process.
As you listen to this episode, Iencourage you to ask yourself,
who in my circle needs to hear this?
It's often people in what we call helper professions.
People like therapists, nurses, doctors, police officers,
(01:11):
firefighters, social workers, and teachers like my husband.
These are the people who tend tostep forward to adopt children
from foster care. But this work isn't only about
becoming an adoptive family. It's also about becoming an
advocate and ally. Every waiting child deserves not
just a forever family, but a community of people who champion
their future. Whatever LED you to this
(01:33):
podcast, I am thrilled that you were here.
My mission is simple, to help every waiting child be with
their forever family. And that's exactly why I host
this podcast. Welcome to the forgotten
adoption option podcast. In this episode, we will discuss
(01:54):
using technology to leverage cross sector communication.
A few months back, my alma mater, Belmont University told
me about a results driven approach that's backed with
technology and they connect me with Restore Hope AR.
So hi, Karen. Hi.
I heard the word Arkansas. I'm so glad to see you again.
This is like so much fun for those that have been really
(02:15):
listening to any of these, like how did you meet these people?
Often times it's like we're having this incredible
conversation. I'm like you, please come back.
Please. Let's let's let everyone meet
you. And Karen's one of those people.
She fell into child welfare whenshe became a foster parent.
That simple. Yes, a really hard yes, a really
like, you know, hefty yes LED her to helping struggling
(02:36):
families by specifically focusing on those experiencing
or at risk of experiencing childwelfare involvement.
So more on this. The work she and her team have
been doing on the 100 Families initiative has helped Arkansas
reduce. It's so important.
It's helped them reduce the number of children in the foster
care system. So this is like preventative,
(02:57):
amazing, incredible things that Karen's up to.
So Karen, let's start kind of this yes, this, yes, that you
had. What exactly LED you or pulled
you in to sign up to become a foster parent?
Yeah, So thinking back about this now, it's been several
years and I and my husband, we often invited lots of, you know,
(03:21):
kids into our home as young parents.
We would like, we helped raise my sister.
She was, she came and lived us with us when she was a teenager
and we raised her into adulthoodand we did that with lots of
teenagers, like nieces and nephews and things like that.
They just found our home to be awelcoming place and, and that
(03:43):
time kind of of our life had hadbeen passing and we, we still
have two young kids at home, buttwo had had become adults and so
we'd had them 10 years apart. So anyway, but anyway, we, we
were just noticing the impact basically of the number of
(04:05):
children in foster care in the county that I'm from.
So our county had one of the highest in the nation for kids
in care. And everywhere you went, you
would meet a family that that was affected by foster care.
The classrooms, you know, like my Sunday school class, I had
(04:25):
several kids that were in fostercare in my Sunday school class
there was a there's an organization called Project
Zero. I don't know if you've heard of
it, Marcie in Arkansas, but theythey.
Have their shirts. The number of children should be
in foster care. Zero.
Yes. Yes.
I haven't had them on yet though.
Great recommendation. Yes.
Anyway, they're awesome. You should definitely have on
(04:47):
Christy. She's so great.
But before I knew them or anything, I started seeing those
the post and they would have little video clips and pictures
of kids that were waiting to be adopted.
And once you, you know, see that, like, I mean, you can't
not do something. And that's, that's where we were
(05:09):
at. We, I, I had seen the videos and
seen the pictures and thought and, and knew that there was
such a great need and, and felt very, very called to, to Foster
and do whatever. I mean, I really didn't know
think it was adoption. I, I, I felt like we were being
called to Foster and we would and, and our yes, was on the
(05:30):
table no matter, you know, what it was that ended up coming
after that. But it did take us a while to,
to kind of get started and, and and get the process going.
But but it was it was that that that really pulled us.
Online stuff, some of our listeners might be thinking,
Marcy, didn't you have that guy on for the Heart Gallery?
We did with Matthew Strabon, whois over the Heart Gallery.
(05:52):
And I'm not sure if Project 0 islike a more local title for
that. They're very similar in that
way. Yeah.
Which is super cool. So yes, if you've already gone
there and you're like, hey, I'vebeen browsing a lot of those
two. That's exactly what Karen's
talking about. But Karen, you're, you're in a
relationship. So was that easy for your spouse
to like, how did that go? What did that conversation sound
like? Yeah, I am so thankful because
(06:14):
he was all in from the get go toand I know that is really hard
because like right now even I'm I would be open to it, but he's
not right now. So, so evidently it's not the
right time. Like we we've been there, done
that. It was really, really, really
hard. And he's like, I think that I'm
grandparent age now. For the season he was a yes and
(06:37):
now he's a not now. OK, OK.
That gives all of us. Hope of like the answer could
change that's. Right, that's right.
It's it's, it's yeah, it's not always.
No, it's not not now or, you know, anyway, but yeah, he was,
he was all for it and it was really exciting because he is
very, very nurturing father. He is very present and.
(07:01):
And I mean, sometimes I think like he's, he's the better
parent than me, like the more present parent, just that kind
of thing. So I, I can tell you like out of
the two of us who did the most work for the foster children, it
would, it would definitely be him.
So he so that's probably why right now he's feeling a little
(07:22):
tired. That's so.
Sweet, I I am married to an educator.
I I have a similar sentiment of just like that empower like very
powerful parenting side of things.
So what was your foster parenting experience like?
How many kids have you cared for?
Did you ask for a certain age range?
What? What did you go into this asking
for? Yeah, no, I didn't.
We didn't really have an age range.
(07:43):
Like I said our our yes was on the table but we immediately I
mean like the day we opened we got a call the day they they
officially said you are open andnot.
Just similar from how this process works folks.
Yes, the day. We, we got a call about a 2 year
(08:03):
old and a four year old, the 2 little boys and we ended up
having them two years and four months.
So we ended up having them a very long time.
And that's basically our story is that we didn't have a whole
lot of kids, but we had a whole,a lot of nights of kids because
we're talking about about 869 nights for those, those two.
(08:25):
And then every other child we'vehad, we've had at least a year
and, and up to that two years and that 2 1/2 years, but they
were, you know, 1234 actually, after we got that two year and
four year old, we got a call within a week for another child.
And, and, and, and we took that child in and then we got a call
(08:46):
within another week for another child.
So we had a one year old, a 2 year old, a three-year old and a
four year old all within two weeks that we got.
And we had them all for over a year, like a year and a half for
the other two. And, and, and so it was, yes, it
was, it was hard because I've never, I hadn't had those stair
tips, you know, stair stepchildren, you know, and I
(09:09):
did not know that what parents went through that did that, but.
How you know, and it's interesting how you pointed
that. I like that Karen, because I did
not personally foster in a traditional sense.
And so it's interesting that it seems like you and your husband
were very much the really reliable kind of foster parent
that, you know, sometimes the case is that the children's
stories can be shorter, but theyjust need like a short term
(09:32):
home. But for you all, you were like,
like, as you said, or yes, was on the table.
You were like, OK, for however long, which I've got to just say
thank you for that. Cause often times there can be a
variety of things that change inour lives or complications that
all the things right behaviors. And you all were very steady.
And I think there's do you have any advice?
I'm going to jump right into that one.
(09:52):
Like, do you have anything to say about like how how you
endured for that long? We had all that I can tell you
like I so many doubts, so many hard times like tears and you
know, all of the emotions, the roller coaster of emotions that
you go through with with just, you know, dealing with foster
(10:12):
care. But we did have behavioral
issues too, like some major ones.
And then we had some developmental delays as well.
Of course, you know, they didn'teven know when they dropped them
off that that's that, that that they were, we were going to have
to deal with all of that. And it was things that we've
never dealt with before with ourown children.
And but I also remember like we just, we loved those children so
(10:34):
much and we just, I remember like actually giving them a bath
one night and, and I was so tired And so just emotionally,
you know, drained that I kept thinking like, I need to call
the the caseworker and tell him I can't do this.
I just can't do it. And I just started crying and I
said just the the very thought of, you know, doing that to
(10:59):
these children that we love. I'm like, I can't, I can't, you
know, like I have to, I have to stick it out because where would
they go next? You know, like, and and and and
who's going to be able to, you know, keep them very long, you
know, like they've built a relationship with us.
And, and so, you know, I just, Ijust had to the endurance had
(11:19):
had to endure like those hardships because they're going
to happen. And I, and I know that not
everybody can endure all things.Sometimes they have to, you
know, make other choices. But in our case, I am so
thankful that we were able to just pull through that time And,
(11:41):
and just really, I mean, just really rely upon the Lord to, to
get us through because I mean, I, I did feel like, I, I mean, I
just felt at the end of my rope sometimes.
And that's honest. I do wonder.
And you, you focused on like theprayer aspect in your faith,
which is amazing. Is there anything like, let's
say a listener's in the heat of that right now?
(12:02):
They're just like, Karen, you were totally speaking to me.
Like that's where I am. I just want to throw in the
towel. This is too much.
I mean, you had four kids that like, you know, pretty much
overnight. Do you have any encouragement of
like how to refresh yourself or how to kind of take a deep
breath to continue that hardship?
Yeah, of course, you know, relying upon your community and
(12:24):
your support systems I think is very important.
And, and it was hard for us because like, we didn't get
invited anywhere anymore. Like, like nobody wanted a
dinner. Isolated on top.
Of all some children to come to dinner at their house, like, you
know. So that was that was, you know,
difficult too. But we did, you know, like I
(12:46):
would just like put it out therelike I need help.
And, you know, I like, we reallyneed to, you know, get away for
a little bit. And you know, I'll take two of
them if somebody else will take the other two, you know, and it
wouldn't matter which two to us,you know, like we just anyway,
(13:07):
we just need a little half breakor something.
It was really just asking for help.
It sounds super simple, right? Like the humility of saying
please help, please step in. We, we did, we did ask for help
and thankfully I had a good support system.
My sister would step in a lot and then I and then people I
didn't even like know super well.
(13:27):
I would have neighbors that would, you know, step in and
say, you know, whenever I just put my my SOS out there, you
know, like, like this is hard folks and and people stepped up
and that was that was really, really good.
I'm so glad that you had that sort of support.
And so I think it's interesting for all of us as we're learning
(13:47):
from you, Karen, it's one thing and some of us just, we have the
heart to help these kids and that's wonderful, right?
And then some of us are in it because we're doing it as a
career. Some of us are living it in
their home, some are both and you're you're doing that.
And so I think that's just a unique perspective to kind of
put before we kind of shift gears a little bit and talk
through. So you're part of the team that
created the 100 Families initiative, and many of us have
(14:11):
no idea what this is. So I'm curious if you can kind
of start with like, what is thisand what was the problem you
were trying to solve by putting this team together?
Yeah, so. So during the midst of, of
fostering these children, you know, I just kept feeling very,
very called to meet their parents.
And I didn't know like going into this that that's what I was
(14:34):
going to do. I was, you know, typical, like
these kids need us and I'm goingto, you know, step in and help
and, and, but then, I mean, I just felt this, this really
intense calling to, to get to know the parents and in my case
and, and, and once I did, I mean, and I just really, really
grew to love them. And, and the parents that I was
(14:57):
working with just had such, so many barriers in their lives and
it was just really hard to navigate all the things that
they needed to do. They weren't, you know, they,
they hadn't, you know, done the traditional like, like child
abuse. That was not what they were
guilty of. You know, they were guilty of
neglect and, and, and having, you know, some of their own
(15:21):
issues and some of which were drugs and those kinds of things.
So, I mean, some were very hard to overcome.
But I knew that they, they lovedtheir kids like that was
evident, like they loved their children and they, they wanted
to do whatever they could to getthem back.
And I realized that they needed help with that.
And at the same time, there was this organization called Restore
(15:42):
Hope that the governor, GovernorHutchinson at the time, had put
together the faith community andthe business community and said,
hey, it's time to solve this foster care crisis because
Arkansas was just so impacted. And he said that we want to
start in this county where, you know, one out of every 34 kids
were in foster care. It was huge.
(16:04):
And so, so I ended up changing employment and going over to
Restore hope. And we were just working on what
do we do? It was like, what do we do about
this situation that's happening?And everyone, you know, is kind
of mad at each other. Everybody's pointing fingers,
you know, child welfare's mad atlaw enforcement and law
enforcement's mad at the courts and the, and the courts are mad
(16:26):
at the parents and the parents are mad at, you know, anyway,
everybody's mad at each other. And they, we, we got in this
boardroom and we just started talking about, you know, what,
what can we do together? Like cross sector, all of you,
like, you know, even though we're mad at each other, what
can we do to solve this? And we said, can we just like on
(16:46):
behalf of 100 families, we'll just on behalf of 100 families,
can we stick together and work differently to, to help
families? And then after we've served 100
families, if it doesn't work, let's just part ways.
You know, I say we tried, you know, and we failed and we'll go
on. And so we all like, wait, there
(17:08):
was this declaration that we came up with and everything
around the fact that we would dothis, that we would put aside
our personal agendas, We would stop working in silos, that we
would walk, work cross sector and we would really concentrate
and be family centric and put the family in the center and us,
(17:30):
you know, just wrap around them.And, and I was so excited
because that that's what that's how it all kind of began.
And, and hundred families, that's what it is.
It's an initiative to help struggling families move out of
crisis and into stability and then on to a career.
And we do that all through this cross collaboration through
(17:52):
through the different sectors. We, we, we recruit everyone in
the community to kind of respondto families in crisis in the
same way. We use a system, which we'll
talk about here in a minute to, to increase communication and
outcome measurements and all of that.
And, and we also build all thesealliances.
(18:12):
So these alliances that all worktogether to do those things in
each community where we work. And we're actually in 18
communities in Arkansas, 18 counties in Arkansas now and and
then also in Alberta, Canada andLansing, MI.
And so we're growing, but we're excited about it.
That's. OK, so I have a several
questions on this. SO why 100 families?
(18:35):
Why not 50? Why not 3000?
Like how'd you all land on 100? Yeah, it's.
Just a round Number OK, maybe doable or something Yeah, yeah,
doable. It was our attempt at SMART
goals. If anybody we're like OK, well
we can't just say we're going tohelp families.
We got to put out some SMART goals.
So stick, you know, measurable, attainable, all those they
(19:01):
timely and we, you know, put a timely one on it.
Not love that. And of course, we ended up
serving way more than that and in just a very short time.
But even in that community, we've we've thousands of
families now. So, so, but yes, it was, it was
just to to make a realistic goalthat people could work towards
(19:23):
and they could see that that whether or not we were moving
forward on that. And we use data like every
single month. We were transparent, like, okay,
guys, y'all are now together doing this differently together
serving my families, you know, like, right, you know, and, and,
and every month it would be, youknow, more and so, and, but now
(19:47):
we're also able to show what arethe outcomes for those families.
And one of the cool things was that, you know, I would give
this data every single month andbe super transparent about, OK,
what were the improvements in housing of for families
stability, What was mental health and recovery, stability
and transportation and childcareand all employees.
(20:09):
All of those things and, and I would give that data.
And then one time the police chief was in the, was in the
audience in one of those alliance meetings and he just
gasped when he said it. And he said it's working.
And we were like, OK, we you're right.
We have the, the fuel to move forward And, and that's hope, by
(20:33):
the way, hope, that's one of ourtag lines, is that hope is the
fuel for action. And I think that's the way it is
for us as individuals that if wedon't have hope, then you know,
why get out of bed in the morning?
But but also for communities to work together, they, they need
(20:54):
to have that hope and, and so that communication really,
really builds that. That's gotta be so validating to
hear that. And I, it's interesting to me
cuz it sounds like you all kind of piloted this.
You were like, well, let's just try a small thing and let's see.
And it, and I think that's helpful for all of us that are
listening to you, Karen, thinking well, in my space and
(21:15):
in my community or in my area ofinfluence, I, I have this big
goal and I have, it feels so complicated, right?
But it's like, but what if you just make a small goal and see
if it works and then tweak it. And if it doesn't, you didn't
fail, you just learned. And so I think that's so
incredible and I'm awesome, so curious too, what were you
doing? You said that you you changed
roles. So what was your job before
this? Yeah, I had worked for 17 years
(21:38):
in community development. I was mainly housing.
So I was, I work was working really hard to develop
affordable housing, help with home ownership, all those kinds
of things. So I, it's not like I hadn't
been in fields where I was helping low income or, you know,
(21:59):
that kind of thing. But I had never, until I became
a foster parent, I had never dealt with the level of poverty
and desperation that were in theparents of the, the children
that were in my care. Even after 17 years of working
to help, you know, in low incomeprograms.
I just, that was such an eye opening experience for me and it
(22:26):
it, you know, definitely changedmy career and it changed my life
for sure. Yeah.
Really opened your eyes. So help us then my final
question before we switch. I want to hear what your
technology too. But so let's let's say that we
don't see the hope right? Like why not just dismiss and
say this, this is impossible to fix, right?
Like when you have addiction andyou have other things mixed in,
(22:47):
like why don't we just let it beand take the kids because, you
know, somehow some of us, you know, can do something better.
I'm just curious, 'cause I, I think some of us might feel a
little more cynical, right, If presented with such hardship.
I'm curious, like where the hopecame from and if you can kind of
help us see a glimmer of that, if we're even feeling so daunted
by what was in the news, you know, 'cause sometimes we see
(23:07):
these headlines and we're like, seriously.
But there's a lot of empathy in there.
And I'm curious if you could kind of give us a lens into
where you see things, Karen. Yeah, gosh, I just have story
after story after story of, of families that have, you know,
like completely turned their lives around.
And I and, and I also have storyafter story of, of families that
(23:30):
didn't. So, so there is both sides for
sure. There's there's, there's the but
I just believe within me that the only thing that should be
keeping a parent, you know, frombeing able to overcome the
obstacles and the barriers and and and and get their children
(23:50):
back would be their own personalchoices.
It shouldn't be a pile of red tape and, and bear, you know,
all these things that, that keepthem from, from succeeding.
But you know, if they have the desire to, to really change
their lives like that, people should be there to rally them on
(24:12):
and to courage them and to help them and to support them.
And even after they, they mess up, because I can tell you
family after family that, that, that fall backwards and then
move forward and then fall backwards a little bit bit and
then move forward. And, and, but, but once you see
the big picture, you're like, Ohmy gosh, they've come so far.
(24:34):
You know, it's those little minor setbacks, you know,
they're, they're minor in the grand scheme.
And the grand scheme is that, you know, eight years later, you
know, like these parents are still with their kids and there
is not a better champion on the planet, you know, than their
mother that, that, that, that really loved them and fought for
(24:56):
them and, and tried her very, very best.
So I mean, I, I now can, you know, see that, but you're
right, like, like when you're inthe thick of it.
I, I came home from court a lot of times just, you know, in
tears, you know, sometimes I wasupset.
I, I had a family once relapse and I loved them so much and I
(25:18):
was just so distraught about it.I'm like, I didn't even know
what to say to them other than like, why?
You know, like I was just Why? That's what we were saying
earlier, like the the hope of it, because I'm completely with
you. I just kind of wanted to talk
through something that maybe we don't always want to talk about,
right, which is like, well, why are we even trying?
(25:40):
And it's like, well, and I know for my own beliefs too, that I'm
like, if it was me and the, and the tables return and for
whatever reason, I lived my lifea different way and, and I, and
I could be someone different, but didn't maybe have a tools
to, or just was predisposed to things that, you know, give you
kind of a disadvantage, right? And like, I would hope that
(26:00):
someone like Carrot or someone else would help champion me and,
and love me and cheer me on, right.
And so I, I think that that's a very important angle to share.
And I really appreciate you sharing that you have seen both,
right, because it doesn't, doesn't always end like
Pollyanna at the end or Disney movie, right?
But it's, it's so worth trying, right?
Because it's just, it makes all the difference for kids.
(26:22):
Yeah. And I and just to finish that
story because the one that I said why to because they'd
relapsed or I mean now they are,you know, they are thriving like
it's, you know, they are well, Idon't know, three years clean or
something like that now. And I mean, they have made such
(26:42):
an impact in their community forothers, like they are constantly
mentoring, supporting other parents that have have gone
through the things that they've gone through.
And I'm just, I mean, it's a husband and wife team.
So that's why I'm saying they but and, and I mean, and now
they're pregnant with twins. I mean, they're just like some
of my very best friends, but I'mjust saying like, you've got to
(27:05):
get through that. And as long as they're willing,
you're willing, you know, to, tosupport and love them and give
them another chance. I just, I, I really believe in
those second, third chances and 50.
Fifth Chance 1002. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
parenting in general, right? And so I love that Karen.
(27:26):
I love your heart and that. So, OK, so you have unique
technology and my day jobs in tech.
So this is like super nerdy coolfor me.
You're using a piece of technology to collaborate and
communicate across sectors. And so I think maybe before you
describe it, tell us like what happens without your tool?
Like why, why aren't sectors talking?
And then tell us everything I know because there's there's all
(27:47):
these weird things where it's like, that makes so much sense,
but why wasn't that happening? Yeah, well, collaboration, it is
hard in general, you know, like if you asked any community why
their outcomes aren't better, most of them would say that it's
because their lack of communication, right.
I mean, that would be on the topof the list is, is that they
(28:08):
don't communicate well and everybody's doing their own
thing and they have a full time job and they just, they don't
have time to really talk to eachother.
And especially on a case by caselevel, there's just not.
And since there's so many piecesand people to collaborate with,
(28:29):
if it was just like two people, then yeah, it's easy, you know,
But it's not it's it's multiple organizations are dealing with
the same family. A family, one organization can
never do all the things a familyneeds.
And so, you know, we see that you know, you're out the
outcomes whenever you're not working succinctly are just not
(28:50):
as good as whenever you do work,you know, together kind of in
this very. Coordinated maybe way like we're
actually partnering. Wow, wow.
Yeah, it's very. So much sense, but it's like,
what were we doing? I know it's so funny because I,
I talk about, you know, like my,my history and how I came to
(29:13):
where I am. And I, I was praying at my old
job for unity because I thought that's what we need.
We need unity. And then and then I met our
executive director over Restore Hope and ended up taking a job
from him and he was talking all about collective impact.
And I was like, these are the same things.
Like collective impact is working together in coordination
(29:36):
together towards this common goal.
You know, like this is like simple and yet, gosh, if you
could make it happen, it's profound, has profound results.
Little did you know, your prayerwould require so much work,
right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Say yes, so your. Technology, will you introduce
us to it and can any of us have it?
(29:57):
They're they're like, tell, tellus what's?
Going on, yeah, it's called HopeHub is what we call it now.
It's been, it's had a few different names, but we we call
it Hope Net Hub. And it is a collaborative case
management system. And what happens is a family
provides their consent to allow multiple organizations to work
(30:18):
together to help them. And so they can decide, right,
If there's a specific organization, they don't want to
work with them, like they've made them mad in the past or
whatever, they can make that decision if they want.
Typically they don't, by the way, they typically are like,
yeah, if somebody wants to help me, but I'm on, you know, I need
(30:39):
all the help I can get. And, and so they, we set up
those care teams within the system and on average, there are
12 different providers on every family's case.
And we're talking about over 5000 cases now in the in the
system. And, and so on average, that's,
(31:00):
that's how many different, you know, organizations and, and
providers that are working together to help this family and
that are needed. Like we, we all just had people
for fun, you know, it's because,you know, not only do they have
a transportation issue, but theyhave a childcare issue and they
need a job and they need, you know, and so those are all
different organizations and people that provide those
(31:21):
supports. It's not just one.
And so whenever we set up this care team, then the whole care
team can, you know, message things and update like, OK, they
didn't show up to their appointment today.
Well, they told me it's because their car broke down and, you
know, and oh, it's also because,you know, it's summer and they
lost their childcare, you know, or whatever.
(31:43):
And we can all, you know, start helping towards those issues and
just add people, tag them like you would on a Facebook post and
say, Hey, it's you, you're, you're it, you know, you're up.
We need, we need your help in this particular circumstances.
And you don't have to call 12 different people.
You can, all 12 people are knowledgeable and capable of
(32:07):
seeing what's going on and reacting to it based off of
their own gifts and talents and resources.
And that's, and that's what's really special about that.
Which sounds very efficient on so many levels.
I spent some time, I was not a social worker on the
philanthropy side, but I'm just thinking about you never have to
call the other place. And then as the address changes
(32:27):
and phone numbers do, as they doright in the space, like you're
whoever's got the latest, you just go into the system.
And I, I really enjoy that you can tailor it that if there's an
agency I made upset because, youknow, whatever I did, like, I, I
could opt out. Like that's very respectful.
Is this an app like on a phone? Do your caseworkers use it in
the field or is it tell us more kind of about what this looks
(32:49):
like? Yes, it can be on your you can
use it from your phone or from, you know, laptop.
Now we do have these family advocates that do full blown
assessments and that takes time.And so there are certain people
that that do that. And then there are other care
team members that that's not their job, you know, is to do a
full blown assessment that shows, you know, all these
(33:12):
different areas and where they are.
Are they in crisis? Are they stable?
You know, all those different things, but that's very, very
important because it's holistic.It's looking at a family, you
know, the whole, the whole person, the whole family and,
and instead of just one single area.
And, and that's important too, because then you know, kind of
how to help them design a plan on how to get out, you know, how
(33:35):
to, how to get the support that they need and, and what's needed
first and what's needed next in order to, you know, really bring
about change in their lives thatthat is sustainable.
So that that's very, very important.
And so we, you know, get all of these assessments done, but it
also because of these assessments that are done and we
(33:57):
update them every single every 30 days, it allows us to have
measurement over time that then can show those outcomes.
And, and, and also areas where maybe maybe there's a specific
county that we noticed, Oh, mental health is just not, you
know, increasing. In fact, we've seen some, some
(34:19):
reductions, you know, like, you know, people have not been doing
well in mental health and there's not, you know, and we
find out, oh, it's because of lack of resources.
And, and then we all start, hey,because we're an alliance, we're
going to get together and we're going to find a way to, to bring
that resource to them, whether it's telehealth or whatever
we've got to do. We know that this is a problem
(34:41):
here in this community, and it'sour job as community members to
solve it. And so it really empowers the
community to make change and that's important.
Well. When you're doing, I think what
is kind of coined is data for good, right?
Like you're really leveraging data to drive your decision
making and then you're able to isolate by region.
So Karen, some of our, I mean, we're all spread across the
(35:02):
country, right? So many of us might not live in
Arkansas and be part of these circles.
So is there anything that we cando?
Maybe we're a therapist, maybe we're a social worker, maybe
we're a teacher, maybe we're a foster parent, right?
We're many different roles in our communities.
Maybe we're an adoptive parent. Is there anything we can do to
bring your work to our communities?
(35:23):
Yeah, definitely. So if you wanted to reach out to
me, I know that you'll provide that that information.
We do offer affiliations for hundred families in any
community that wants to bring itthere.
I mean, that's, that's part of my job now is, is expansion and
helping other communities do this great work.
(35:43):
And so that's really, really fun.
But so yes, I'm happy to help with that.
And then, of course, along with that comes Hope Hub.
So Hope Hub, we, we have decidedlike that Hope Hub, we're, we're
not interested in selling software.
That's just not what we're into.It's not our thing.
(36:04):
We want, you know, this model tospread that helps coordinate
efforts to, you know, reduce theneed for foster care and also
to, you know, help struggling families.
And so whenever we do provide Hope Hub, it's along with the
(36:25):
model. So it's along with, hey, you
also need an alliance because the alliance in the community is
important. And without it, we don't believe
that it'll work the same. So, so yeah, all of that kind of
goes together, but you know, even without just let, just to
let you know, like, you know, working together in your
(36:46):
community can, even if it's hardwork, it is.
It is it is good time well spentis what I would try to say is
that, especially if you can get cross across sectors and that
was and that that requires a lotof trust.
It requires relationship building because nonprofits, I
(37:07):
mean, I came from a nonprofit for 17 years before I came over
to this one. And, and, and we, you know,
typically don't always trust each other and, and, and, you
know, there's only a limited amount of resources and all
those things. But in the end, and I mean, what
your, what your mission is and your goal is, is to help people.
And then that, that's such an important piece.
(37:30):
And yeah, so it can be a therapist, it can be a they just
all got to come to the table. I mean, I think that's so
important is making the the timeto to talk with other
organizations, providers, churches that are outside of
your field, because then you canhave more, you know, you can
(37:58):
actually have that true change that comes from that cross
sector collaboration. And I can't overstate it.
Like I say, cross sector all thetime because we just all work in
silos and we we like, you know, if we're therapist, we like to
talk to therapist about, but at that cross.
Section It's so cool to me, Karen.
I'm just like, this is so neat that like you got to be on the
(38:19):
ground of like creating and you tried something and you solved.
It's just to me, this is so incredible that we're at a point
where and, and I loved your words that like we're trying to
prevent the need for foster care.
And I'm like, yes, yes, because if we can just help the.
Yeah, it's just, it's, it's suchincredible work that you're
doing. And so as we close, one thing
that you told me when we were prepared this episode is that
(38:42):
you use a community and family model.
So it's not just community, but it's community and family.
Can you tell us all what that means?
Yeah. So in addition to, you know,
building these big community alliances and all of those
things, like it all boils down to the family and finding out
from the family really what where they what their greatest
(39:07):
needs are and really digging in.Because a lot of times whenever
their family shows up, you know,to a social service office or
whatever, they're like, I need my utility bill paid or they
show up to a church. I need a night stay at the hotel
down the road. Nobody understands or knows
what's really going on with thatfamily.
And, and they desire to, they don't have the tools to know and
(39:31):
they don't have the reason to ask hard questions like it, it
can seem intrusive. And so whenever, but whenever
you have a system and you know, you're like, OK, I'm going to do
this assessment with you and youcan really dig deep with with
them. I mean, I found it to be such a
powerful tool and really gettingto know a family.
(39:53):
And we do it, you know, in a very much in a more of a
motivational interviewing kind of way, which means, you know,
we're asking a lot of open-endedquestions and from that we can
get the answers on the assessment.
But. But it bottom line is that that
family is, is the center of all of the work that's being done.
(40:15):
And the family's success is what, you know, we're all like
tracking as a, as a community. It's what we're tracking to find
out, you know, like what is working and what isn't in every
single community. And then how can we really help
each and every family to have the tools that they need and be
(40:38):
successful as a community? Because it's not the governments
job to raise children, not, you know, it's, it's all of our
jobs. And if we live in a community,
it's our job to to help support parents and, and, and a lot of
them you don't have been in foster care themselves.
I mean, when you really look back into it, you know, you can
(40:59):
really see like the why of wherethey are.
And you know, it could, it could, it could be you.
And you just start thinking of it that way and thinking of the
grace that's been given to you. And, and, and so, yeah, the
family model and the community model, I always say it's like 2
trains of a track, A2 tracks of the train.
(41:22):
Sorry, 2 tracks. And you like, you have to build
both of them at the same time because if you don't, then the
track, the train's not going anywhere.
We've got to have both models working together because the
community has to be built to where it can communicate well
(41:44):
while you're working with families that the community can
support. So you can't like just leave one
behind and not. And a lot of times that would
that's what kind of happens in collective impact.
I don't know if you studied at collective impact much, but it's
very much thought of as community, you know, in that
community aspect of it is reallypushed and everything like that.
(42:07):
But who are we helping and how are we helping them?
And what kind of outcomes are wereally having on that individual
family level? And you know, don't forget the
direct support, the mentorship, the relationship, the all those
things that that have to happen for for you to see that that
(42:27):
true change that that happens with families.
Yeah, because collective really impact is about doing it
together, right? It's not, well, my organization
has many people, but it's reallyabout different kind of ways of
thinking and doing things together.
And to your point earlier, Karen, about, you know, often
times families that have kids infoster care, they themselves
grew up in foster care. So it's like this repeated cycle
(42:48):
and it, and it brings up this really important point that's
like, if we want to see that change, we have to help give
skills and support in ways we haven't done before, right?
Otherwise it's just going to keep repeating itself.
So I'm so grateful for the work that you're doing.
And I think it's so fascinating.When we started our
conversation, you talked about your own journey in this space
as a foster parent, and I pointed out how really tenacious
(43:10):
you were and enduring so much. And I see so much of that
gleaming over to this space where you're like, yeah, this is
about a long game. Like this is this is not every
night. Putting a child to bed is going
to be easy and raising children's be easy.
It's it's really about believingand that hope.
And so I'm so grateful that you've shared your personal
journey and you're doing the work that you're doing.
(43:30):
And so thank you so much. And I'm so excited that we know
you at this moment, but I know that you're going to be doing so
much more across the whole country in the near future
because what you're doing works and it's effective.
So just want to say thank you for inspiring us and letting us
hear your journey. Thank you so much Marcy for
having me. It's been such a joy to talk
(43:51):
with you today. Thank you so much for spending
time with us. It truly matters that you listen
today because by tuning in, you're opening your heart to the
stories of children in foster care, sparking empathy, and
starting to see how your unique role, whether as a friend,
advocate, or even as a future adoptive parent, can bring hope
(44:13):
and belonging to a child or sibling group that is waiting.
I also want to personally inviteyou to reach out to me to ask
anything that's on your heart. I promise no judgement.
You can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and I
mean it when I say you can ask anything.
I know it can feel awkward to ask questions publicly and
that's why I carve out time during my lunch hour and
(44:34):
evenings while my kids and husband are at martial arts to
mentor others one-on-one. Your questions matter, your
curiosity matters, and most importantly, the role you are
playing in helping children in foster care matters.
Together we can bring hope and belonging.
Until next time, take care and keep the conversation going.
We really should have waiting parents, not waiting children.
Over 100,000 children are available for adoption through
the US foster care system, and 27% don't have anyone like a
relative or foster parent in theprocess of adopting them. 60%
are between the ages of five and17, and 2/3 are part of sibling
groups of two to eight children.Hey listener, my name is Marcy
(00:27):
Bursack. My husband and I chose Adoption
is our Plan A. After blogging about our journey
adopting A sibling pair, I beganmentoring families right in my
own living room. That passion grew into the
Forgotten Adoption Option, a nonprofit and now lead as a
volunteer while working full time in the tech industry.
From my blog, Three Books app, and Classroom Lesson, to now a
45 minute course called Foster Care Adoption Simplified, which
(00:50):
you can find at forgottenadoptionoption.com,
I've created practical, heartfelt resources to help
families navigate the foster care adoption process.
As you listen to this episode, Iencourage you to ask yourself,
who in my circle needs to hear this?
It's often people in what we call helper professions.
People like therapists, nurses, doctors, police officers,
(01:11):
firefighters, social workers, and teachers like my husband.
These are the people who tend tostep forward to adopt children
from foster care. But this work isn't only about
becoming an adoptive family. It's also about becoming an
advocate and ally. Every waiting child deserves not
just a forever family, but a community of people who champion
their future. Whatever LED you to this
(01:33):
podcast, I am thrilled that you were here.
My mission is simple, to help every waiting child be with
their forever family. And that's exactly why I host
this podcast. Welcome to the forgotten
adoption option podcast. In this episode, we will discuss
(01:54):
using technology to leverage cross sector communication.
A few months back, my alma mater, Belmont University told
me about a results driven approach that's backed with
technology and they connect me with Restore Hope AR.
So hi, Karen. Hi.
I heard the word Arkansas. I'm so glad to see you again.
This is like so much fun for those that have been really
(02:15):
listening to any of these, like how did you meet these people?
Often times it's like we're having this incredible
conversation. I'm like you, please come back.
Please. Let's let's let everyone meet
you. And Karen's one of those people.
She fell into child welfare whenshe became a foster parent.
That simple. Yes, a really hard yes, a really
like, you know, hefty yes LED her to helping struggling
(02:36):
families by specifically focusing on those experiencing
or at risk of experiencing childwelfare involvement.
So more on this. The work she and her team have
been doing on the 100 Families initiative has helped Arkansas
reduce. It's so important.
It's helped them reduce the number of children in the foster
care system. So this is like preventative,
(02:57):
amazing, incredible things that Karen's up to.
So Karen, let's start kind of this yes, this, yes, that you
had. What exactly LED you or pulled
you in to sign up to become a foster parent?
Yeah, So thinking back about this now, it's been several
years and I and my husband, we often invited lots of, you know,
(03:21):
kids into our home as young parents.
We would like, we helped raise my sister.
She was, she came and lived us with us when she was a teenager
and we raised her into adulthoodand we did that with lots of
teenagers, like nieces and nephews and things like that.
They just found our home to be awelcoming place and, and that
(03:43):
time kind of of our life had hadbeen passing and we, we still
have two young kids at home, buttwo had had become adults and so
we'd had them 10 years apart. So anyway, but anyway, we, we
were just noticing the impact basically of the number of
(04:05):
children in foster care in the county that I'm from.
So our county had one of the highest in the nation for kids
in care. And everywhere you went, you
would meet a family that that was affected by foster care.
The classrooms, you know, like my Sunday school class, I had
(04:25):
several kids that were in fostercare in my Sunday school class
there was a there's an organization called Project
Zero. I don't know if you've heard of
it, Marcie in Arkansas, but theythey.
Have their shirts. The number of children should be
in foster care. Zero.
Yes. Yes.
I haven't had them on yet though.
Great recommendation. Yes.
Anyway, they're awesome. You should definitely have on
(04:47):
Christy. She's so great.
But before I knew them or anything, I started seeing those
the post and they would have little video clips and pictures
of kids that were waiting to be adopted.
And once you, you know, see that, like, I mean, you can't
not do something. And that's, that's where we were
(05:09):
at. We, I, I had seen the videos and
seen the pictures and thought and, and knew that there was
such a great need and, and felt very, very called to, to Foster
and do whatever. I mean, I really didn't know
think it was adoption. I, I, I felt like we were being
called to Foster and we would and, and our yes, was on the
(05:30):
table no matter, you know, what it was that ended up coming
after that. But it did take us a while to,
to kind of get started and, and and get the process going.
But but it was it was that that that really pulled us.
Online stuff, some of our listeners might be thinking,
Marcy, didn't you have that guy on for the Heart Gallery?
We did with Matthew Strabon, whois over the Heart Gallery.
(05:52):
And I'm not sure if Project 0 islike a more local title for
that. They're very similar in that
way. Yeah.
Which is super cool. So yes, if you've already gone
there and you're like, hey, I'vebeen browsing a lot of those
two. That's exactly what Karen's
talking about. But Karen, you're, you're in a
relationship. So was that easy for your spouse
to like, how did that go? What did that conversation sound
like? Yeah, I am so thankful because
(06:14):
he was all in from the get go toand I know that is really hard
because like right now even I'm I would be open to it, but he's
not right now. So, so evidently it's not the
right time. Like we we've been there, done
that. It was really, really, really
hard. And he's like, I think that I'm
grandparent age now. For the season he was a yes and
(06:37):
now he's a not now. OK, OK.
That gives all of us. Hope of like the answer could
change that's. Right, that's right.
It's it's, it's yeah, it's not always.
No, it's not not now or, you know, anyway, but yeah, he was,
he was all for it and it was really exciting because he is
very, very nurturing father. He is very present and.
(07:01):
And I mean, sometimes I think like he's, he's the better
parent than me, like the more present parent, just that kind
of thing. So I, I can tell you like out of
the two of us who did the most work for the foster children, it
would, it would definitely be him.
So he so that's probably why right now he's feeling a little
(07:22):
tired. That's so.
Sweet, I I am married to an educator.
I I have a similar sentiment of just like that empower like very
powerful parenting side of things.
So what was your foster parenting experience like?
How many kids have you cared for?
Did you ask for a certain age range?
What? What did you go into this asking
for? Yeah, no, I didn't.
We didn't really have an age range.
(07:43):
Like I said our our yes was on the table but we immediately I
mean like the day we opened we got a call the day they they
officially said you are open andnot.
Just similar from how this process works folks.
Yes, the day. We, we got a call about a 2 year
(08:03):
old and a four year old, the 2 little boys and we ended up
having them two years and four months.
So we ended up having them a very long time.
And that's basically our story is that we didn't have a whole
lot of kids, but we had a whole,a lot of nights of kids because
we're talking about about 869 nights for those, those two.
(08:25):
And then every other child we'vehad, we've had at least a year
and, and up to that two years and that 2 1/2 years, but they
were, you know, 1234 actually, after we got that two year and
four year old, we got a call within a week for another child.
And, and, and, and we took that child in and then we got a call
(08:46):
within another week for another child.
So we had a one year old, a 2 year old, a three-year old and a
four year old all within two weeks that we got.
And we had them all for over a year, like a year and a half for
the other two. And, and, and so it was, yes, it
was, it was hard because I've never, I hadn't had those stair
tips, you know, stair stepchildren, you know, and I
(09:09):
did not know that what parents went through that did that, but.
How you know, and it's interesting how you pointed
that. I like that Karen, because I did
not personally foster in a traditional sense.
And so it's interesting that it seems like you and your husband
were very much the really reliable kind of foster parent
that, you know, sometimes the case is that the children's
stories can be shorter, but theyjust need like a short term
(09:32):
home. But for you all, you were like,
like, as you said, or yes, was on the table.
You were like, OK, for however long, which I've got to just say
thank you for that. Cause often times there can be a
variety of things that change inour lives or complications that
all the things right behaviors. And you all were very steady.
And I think there's do you have any advice?
I'm going to jump right into that one.
(09:52):
Like, do you have anything to say about like how how you
endured for that long? We had all that I can tell you
like I so many doubts, so many hard times like tears and you
know, all of the emotions, the roller coaster of emotions that
you go through with with just, you know, dealing with foster
(10:12):
care. But we did have behavioral
issues too, like some major ones.
And then we had some developmental delays as well.
Of course, you know, they didn'teven know when they dropped them
off that that's that, that that they were, we were going to have
to deal with all of that. And it was things that we've
never dealt with before with ourown children.
And but I also remember like we just, we loved those children so
(10:34):
much and we just, I remember like actually giving them a bath
one night and, and I was so tired And so just emotionally,
you know, drained that I kept thinking like, I need to call
the the caseworker and tell him I can't do this.
I just can't do it. And I just started crying and I
said just the the very thought of, you know, doing that to
(10:59):
these children that we love. I'm like, I can't, I can't, you
know, like I have to, I have to stick it out because where would
they go next? You know, like, and and and and
who's going to be able to, you know, keep them very long, you
know, like they've built a relationship with us.
And, and so, you know, I just, Ijust had to the endurance had
(11:19):
had to endure like those hardships because they're going
to happen. And I, and I know that not
everybody can endure all things.Sometimes they have to, you
know, make other choices. But in our case, I am so
thankful that we were able to just pull through that time And,
(11:41):
and just really, I mean, just really rely upon the Lord to, to
get us through because I mean, I, I did feel like, I, I mean, I
just felt at the end of my rope sometimes.
And that's honest. I do wonder.
And you, you focused on like theprayer aspect in your faith,
which is amazing. Is there anything like, let's
say a listener's in the heat of that right now?
(12:02):
They're just like, Karen, you were totally speaking to me.
Like that's where I am. I just want to throw in the
towel. This is too much.
I mean, you had four kids that like, you know, pretty much
overnight. Do you have any encouragement of
like how to refresh yourself or how to kind of take a deep
breath to continue that hardship?
Yeah, of course, you know, relying upon your community and
(12:24):
your support systems I think is very important.
And, and it was hard for us because like, we didn't get
invited anywhere anymore. Like, like nobody wanted a
dinner. Isolated on top.
Of all some children to come to dinner at their house, like, you
know. So that was that was, you know,
difficult too. But we did, you know, like I
(12:46):
would just like put it out therelike I need help.
And, you know, I like, we reallyneed to, you know, get away for
a little bit. And you know, I'll take two of
them if somebody else will take the other two, you know, and it
wouldn't matter which two to us,you know, like we just anyway,
(13:07):
we just need a little half breakor something.
It was really just asking for help.
It sounds super simple, right? Like the humility of saying
please help, please step in. We, we did, we did ask for help
and thankfully I had a good support system.
My sister would step in a lot and then I and then people I
didn't even like know super well.
(13:27):
I would have neighbors that would, you know, step in and
say, you know, whenever I just put my my SOS out there, you
know, like, like this is hard folks and and people stepped up
and that was that was really, really good.
I'm so glad that you had that sort of support.
And so I think it's interesting for all of us as we're learning
(13:47):
from you, Karen, it's one thing and some of us just, we have the
heart to help these kids and that's wonderful, right?
And then some of us are in it because we're doing it as a
career. Some of us are living it in
their home, some are both and you're you're doing that.
And so I think that's just a unique perspective to kind of
put before we kind of shift gears a little bit and talk
through. So you're part of the team that
created the 100 Families initiative, and many of us have
(14:11):
no idea what this is. So I'm curious if you can kind
of start with like, what is thisand what was the problem you
were trying to solve by putting this team together?
Yeah, so. So during the midst of, of
fostering these children, you know, I just kept feeling very,
very called to meet their parents.
And I didn't know like going into this that that's what I was
(14:34):
going to do. I was, you know, typical, like
these kids need us and I'm goingto, you know, step in and help
and, and, but then, I mean, I just felt this, this really
intense calling to, to get to know the parents and in my case
and, and, and once I did, I mean, and I just really, really
grew to love them. And, and the parents that I was
(14:57):
working with just had such, so many barriers in their lives and
it was just really hard to navigate all the things that
they needed to do. They weren't, you know, they,
they hadn't, you know, done the traditional like, like child
abuse. That was not what they were
guilty of. You know, they were guilty of
neglect and, and, and having, you know, some of their own
(15:21):
issues and some of which were drugs and those kinds of things.
So, I mean, some were very hard to overcome.
But I knew that they, they lovedtheir kids like that was
evident, like they loved their children and they, they wanted
to do whatever they could to getthem back.
And I realized that they needed help with that.
And at the same time, there was this organization called Restore
(15:42):
Hope that the governor, GovernorHutchinson at the time, had put
together the faith community andthe business community and said,
hey, it's time to solve this foster care crisis because
Arkansas was just so impacted. And he said that we want to
start in this county where, you know, one out of every 34 kids
were in foster care. It was huge.
(16:04):
And so, so I ended up changing employment and going over to
Restore hope. And we were just working on what
do we do? It was like, what do we do about
this situation that's happening?And everyone, you know, is kind
of mad at each other. Everybody's pointing fingers,
you know, child welfare's mad atlaw enforcement and law
enforcement's mad at the courts and the, and the courts are mad
(16:26):
at the parents and the parents are mad at, you know, anyway,
everybody's mad at each other. And they, we, we got in this
boardroom and we just started talking about, you know, what,
what can we do together? Like cross sector, all of you,
like, you know, even though we're mad at each other, what
can we do to solve this? And we said, can we just like on
(16:46):
behalf of 100 families, we'll just on behalf of 100 families,
can we stick together and work differently to, to help
families? And then after we've served 100
families, if it doesn't work, let's just part ways.
You know, I say we tried, you know, and we failed and we'll go
on. And so we all like, wait, there
(17:08):
was this declaration that we came up with and everything
around the fact that we would dothis, that we would put aside
our personal agendas, We would stop working in silos, that we
would walk, work cross sector and we would really concentrate
and be family centric and put the family in the center and us,
(17:30):
you know, just wrap around them.And, and I was so excited
because that that's what that's how it all kind of began.
And, and hundred families, that's what it is.
It's an initiative to help struggling families move out of
crisis and into stability and then on to a career.
And we do that all through this cross collaboration through
(17:52):
through the different sectors. We, we, we recruit everyone in
the community to kind of respondto families in crisis in the
same way. We use a system, which we'll
talk about here in a minute to, to increase communication and
outcome measurements and all of that.
And, and we also build all thesealliances.
(18:12):
So these alliances that all worktogether to do those things in
each community where we work. And we're actually in 18
communities in Arkansas, 18 counties in Arkansas now and and
then also in Alberta, Canada andLansing, MI.
And so we're growing, but we're excited about it.
That's. OK, so I have a several
questions on this. SO why 100 families?
(18:35):
Why not 50? Why not 3000?
Like how'd you all land on 100? Yeah, it's.
Just a round Number OK, maybe doable or something Yeah, yeah,
doable. It was our attempt at SMART
goals. If anybody we're like OK, well
we can't just say we're going tohelp families.
We got to put out some SMART goals.
So stick, you know, measurable, attainable, all those they
(19:01):
timely and we, you know, put a timely one on it.
Not love that. And of course, we ended up
serving way more than that and in just a very short time.
But even in that community, we've we've thousands of
families now. So, so, but yes, it was, it was
just to to make a realistic goalthat people could work towards
(19:23):
and they could see that that whether or not we were moving
forward on that. And we use data like every
single month. We were transparent, like, okay,
guys, y'all are now together doing this differently together
serving my families, you know, like, right, you know, and, and,
and every month it would be, youknow, more and so, and, but now
(19:47):
we're also able to show what arethe outcomes for those families.
And one of the cool things was that, you know, I would give
this data every single month andbe super transparent about, OK,
what were the improvements in housing of for families
stability, What was mental health and recovery, stability
and transportation and childcareand all employees.
(20:09):
All of those things and, and I would give that data.
And then one time the police chief was in the, was in the
audience in one of those alliance meetings and he just
gasped when he said it. And he said it's working.
And we were like, OK, we you're right.
We have the, the fuel to move forward And, and that's hope, by
(20:33):
the way, hope, that's one of ourtag lines, is that hope is the
fuel for action. And I think that's the way it is
for us as individuals that if wedon't have hope, then you know,
why get out of bed in the morning?
But but also for communities to work together, they, they need
(20:54):
to have that hope and, and so that communication really,
really builds that. That's gotta be so validating to
hear that. And I, it's interesting to me
cuz it sounds like you all kind of piloted this.
You were like, well, let's just try a small thing and let's see.
And it, and I think that's helpful for all of us that are
listening to you, Karen, thinking well, in my space and
(21:15):
in my community or in my area ofinfluence, I, I have this big
goal and I have, it feels so complicated, right?
But it's like, but what if you just make a small goal and see
if it works and then tweak it. And if it doesn't, you didn't
fail, you just learned. And so I think that's so
incredible and I'm awesome, so curious too, what were you
doing? You said that you you changed
roles. So what was your job before
this? Yeah, I had worked for 17 years
(21:38):
in community development. I was mainly housing.
So I was, I work was working really hard to develop
affordable housing, help with home ownership, all those kinds
of things. So I, it's not like I hadn't
been in fields where I was helping low income or, you know,
(21:59):
that kind of thing. But I had never, until I became
a foster parent, I had never dealt with the level of poverty
and desperation that were in theparents of the, the children
that were in my care. Even after 17 years of working
to help, you know, in low incomeprograms.
I just, that was such an eye opening experience for me and it
(22:26):
it, you know, definitely changedmy career and it changed my life
for sure. Yeah.
Really opened your eyes. So help us then my final
question before we switch. I want to hear what your
technology too. But so let's let's say that we
don't see the hope right? Like why not just dismiss and
say this, this is impossible to fix, right?
Like when you have addiction andyou have other things mixed in,
(22:47):
like why don't we just let it beand take the kids because, you
know, somehow some of us, you know, can do something better.
I'm just curious, 'cause I, I think some of us might feel a
little more cynical, right, If presented with such hardship.
I'm curious, like where the hopecame from and if you can kind of
help us see a glimmer of that, if we're even feeling so daunted
by what was in the news, you know, 'cause sometimes we see
(23:07):
these headlines and we're like, seriously.
But there's a lot of empathy in there.
And I'm curious if you could kind of give us a lens into
where you see things, Karen. Yeah, gosh, I just have story
after story after story of, of families that have, you know,
like completely turned their lives around.
And I and, and I also have storyafter story of, of families that
(23:30):
didn't. So, so there is both sides for
sure. There's there's, there's the but
I just believe within me that the only thing that should be
keeping a parent, you know, frombeing able to overcome the
obstacles and the barriers and and and and get their children
(23:50):
back would be their own personalchoices.
It shouldn't be a pile of red tape and, and bear, you know,
all these things that, that keepthem from, from succeeding.
But you know, if they have the desire to, to really change
their lives like that, people should be there to rally them on
(24:12):
and to courage them and to help them and to support them.
And even after they, they mess up, because I can tell you
family after family that, that, that fall backwards and then
move forward and then fall backwards a little bit bit and
then move forward. And, and, but, but once you see
the big picture, you're like, Ohmy gosh, they've come so far.
(24:34):
You know, it's those little minor setbacks, you know,
they're, they're minor in the grand scheme.
And the grand scheme is that, you know, eight years later, you
know, like these parents are still with their kids and there
is not a better champion on the planet, you know, than their
mother that, that, that, that really loved them and fought for
(24:56):
them and, and tried her very, very best.
So I mean, I, I now can, you know, see that, but you're
right, like, like when you're inthe thick of it.
I, I came home from court a lot of times just, you know, in
tears, you know, sometimes I wasupset.
I, I had a family once relapse and I loved them so much and I
(25:18):
was just so distraught about it.I'm like, I didn't even know
what to say to them other than like, why?
You know, like I was just Why? That's what we were saying
earlier, like the the hope of it, because I'm completely with
you. I just kind of wanted to talk
through something that maybe we don't always want to talk about,
right, which is like, well, why are we even trying?
(25:40):
And it's like, well, and I know for my own beliefs too, that I'm
like, if it was me and the, and the tables return and for
whatever reason, I lived my lifea different way and, and I, and
I could be someone different, but didn't maybe have a tools
to, or just was predisposed to things that, you know, give you
kind of a disadvantage, right? And like, I would hope that
(26:00):
someone like Carrot or someone else would help champion me and,
and love me and cheer me on, right.
And so I, I think that that's a very important angle to share.
And I really appreciate you sharing that you have seen both,
right, because it doesn't, doesn't always end like
Pollyanna at the end or Disney movie, right?
But it's, it's so worth trying, right?
Because it's just, it makes all the difference for kids.
(26:22):
Yeah. And I and just to finish that
story because the one that I said why to because they'd
relapsed or I mean now they are,you know, they are thriving like
it's, you know, they are well, Idon't know, three years clean or
something like that now. And I mean, they have made such
(26:42):
an impact in their community forothers, like they are constantly
mentoring, supporting other parents that have have gone
through the things that they've gone through.
And I'm just, I mean, it's a husband and wife team.
So that's why I'm saying they but and, and I mean, and now
they're pregnant with twins. I mean, they're just like some
of my very best friends, but I'mjust saying like, you've got to
(27:05):
get through that. And as long as they're willing,
you're willing, you know, to, tosupport and love them and give
them another chance. I just, I, I really believe in
those second, third chances and 50.
Fifth Chance 1002. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
parenting in general, right? And so I love that Karen.
(27:26):
I love your heart and that. So, OK, so you have unique
technology and my day jobs in tech.
So this is like super nerdy coolfor me.
You're using a piece of technology to collaborate and
communicate across sectors. And so I think maybe before you
describe it, tell us like what happens without your tool?
Like why, why aren't sectors talking?
And then tell us everything I know because there's there's all
(27:47):
these weird things where it's like, that makes so much sense,
but why wasn't that happening? Yeah, well, collaboration, it is
hard in general, you know, like if you asked any community why
their outcomes aren't better, most of them would say that it's
because their lack of communication, right.
I mean, that would be on the topof the list is, is that they
(28:08):
don't communicate well and everybody's doing their own
thing and they have a full time job and they just, they don't
have time to really talk to eachother.
And especially on a case by caselevel, there's just not.
And since there's so many piecesand people to collaborate with,
(28:29):
if it was just like two people, then yeah, it's easy, you know,
But it's not it's it's multiple organizations are dealing with
the same family. A family, one organization can
never do all the things a familyneeds.
And so, you know, we see that you know, you're out the
outcomes whenever you're not working succinctly are just not
(28:50):
as good as whenever you do work,you know, together kind of in
this very. Coordinated maybe way like we're
actually partnering. Wow, wow.
Yeah, it's very. So much sense, but it's like,
what were we doing? I know it's so funny because I,
I talk about, you know, like my,my history and how I came to
(29:13):
where I am. And I, I was praying at my old
job for unity because I thought that's what we need.
We need unity. And then and then I met our
executive director over Restore Hope and ended up taking a job
from him and he was talking all about collective impact.
And I was like, these are the same things.
Like collective impact is working together in coordination
(29:36):
together towards this common goal.
You know, like this is like simple and yet, gosh, if you
could make it happen, it's profound, has profound results.
Little did you know, your prayerwould require so much work,
right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Say yes, so your. Technology, will you introduce
us to it and can any of us have it?
(29:57):
They're they're like, tell, tellus what's?
Going on, yeah, it's called HopeHub is what we call it now.
It's been, it's had a few different names, but we we call
it Hope Net Hub. And it is a collaborative case
management system. And what happens is a family
provides their consent to allow multiple organizations to work
(30:18):
together to help them. And so they can decide, right,
If there's a specific organization, they don't want to
work with them, like they've made them mad in the past or
whatever, they can make that decision if they want.
Typically they don't, by the way, they typically are like,
yeah, if somebody wants to help me, but I'm on, you know, I need
(30:39):
all the help I can get. And, and so they, we set up
those care teams within the system and on average, there are
12 different providers on every family's case.
And we're talking about over 5000 cases now in the in the
system. And, and so on average, that's,
(31:00):
that's how many different, you know, organizations and, and
providers that are working together to help this family and
that are needed. Like we, we all just had people
for fun, you know, it's because,you know, not only do they have
a transportation issue, but theyhave a childcare issue and they
need a job and they need, you know, and so those are all
different organizations and people that provide those
(31:21):
supports. It's not just one.
And so whenever we set up this care team, then the whole care
team can, you know, message things and update like, OK, they
didn't show up to their appointment today.
Well, they told me it's because their car broke down and, you
know, and oh, it's also because,you know, it's summer and they
lost their childcare, you know, or whatever.
(31:43):
And we can all, you know, start helping towards those issues and
just add people, tag them like you would on a Facebook post and
say, Hey, it's you, you're, you're it, you know, you're up.
We need, we need your help in this particular circumstances.
And you don't have to call 12 different people.
You can, all 12 people are knowledgeable and capable of
(32:07):
seeing what's going on and reacting to it based off of
their own gifts and talents and resources.
And that's, and that's what's really special about that.
Which sounds very efficient on so many levels.
I spent some time, I was not a social worker on the
philanthropy side, but I'm just thinking about you never have to
call the other place. And then as the address changes
(32:27):
and phone numbers do, as they doright in the space, like you're
whoever's got the latest, you just go into the system.
And I, I really enjoy that you can tailor it that if there's an
agency I made upset because, youknow, whatever I did, like, I, I
could opt out. Like that's very respectful.
Is this an app like on a phone? Do your caseworkers use it in
the field or is it tell us more kind of about what this looks
(32:49):
like? Yes, it can be on your you can
use it from your phone or from, you know, laptop.
Now we do have these family advocates that do full blown
assessments and that takes time.And so there are certain people
that that do that. And then there are other care
team members that that's not their job, you know, is to do a
full blown assessment that shows, you know, all these
(33:12):
different areas and where they are.
Are they in crisis? Are they stable?
You know, all those different things, but that's very, very
important because it's holistic.It's looking at a family, you
know, the whole, the whole person, the whole family and,
and instead of just one single area.
And, and that's important too, because then you know, kind of
how to help them design a plan on how to get out, you know, how
(33:35):
to, how to get the support that they need and, and what's needed
first and what's needed next in order to, you know, really bring
about change in their lives thatthat is sustainable.
So that that's very, very important.
And so we, you know, get all of these assessments done, but it
also because of these assessments that are done and we
(33:57):
update them every single every 30 days, it allows us to have
measurement over time that then can show those outcomes.
And, and, and also areas where maybe maybe there's a specific
county that we noticed, Oh, mental health is just not, you
know, increasing. In fact, we've seen some, some
(34:19):
reductions, you know, like, you know, people have not been doing
well in mental health and there's not, you know, and we
find out, oh, it's because of lack of resources.
And, and then we all start, hey,because we're an alliance, we're
going to get together and we're going to find a way to, to bring
that resource to them, whether it's telehealth or whatever
we've got to do. We know that this is a problem
(34:41):
here in this community, and it'sour job as community members to
solve it. And so it really empowers the
community to make change and that's important.
Well. When you're doing, I think what
is kind of coined is data for good, right?
Like you're really leveraging data to drive your decision
making and then you're able to isolate by region.
So Karen, some of our, I mean, we're all spread across the
(35:02):
country, right? So many of us might not live in
Arkansas and be part of these circles.
So is there anything that we cando?
Maybe we're a therapist, maybe we're a social worker, maybe
we're a teacher, maybe we're a foster parent, right?
We're many different roles in our communities.
Maybe we're an adoptive parent. Is there anything we can do to
bring your work to our communities?
(35:23):
Yeah, definitely. So if you wanted to reach out to
me, I know that you'll provide that that information.
We do offer affiliations for hundred families in any
community that wants to bring itthere.
I mean, that's, that's part of my job now is, is expansion and
helping other communities do this great work.
(35:43):
And so that's really, really fun.
But so yes, I'm happy to help with that.
And then, of course, along with that comes Hope Hub.
So Hope Hub, we, we have decidedlike that Hope Hub, we're, we're
not interested in selling software.
That's just not what we're into.It's not our thing.
(36:04):
We want, you know, this model tospread that helps coordinate
efforts to, you know, reduce theneed for foster care and also
to, you know, help struggling families.
And so whenever we do provide Hope Hub, it's along with the
(36:25):
model. So it's along with, hey, you
also need an alliance because the alliance in the community is
important. And without it, we don't believe
that it'll work the same. So, so yeah, all of that kind of
goes together, but you know, even without just let, just to
let you know, like, you know, working together in your
(36:46):
community can, even if it's hardwork, it is.
It is it is good time well spentis what I would try to say is
that, especially if you can get cross across sectors and that
was and that that requires a lotof trust.
It requires relationship building because nonprofits, I
(37:07):
mean, I came from a nonprofit for 17 years before I came over
to this one. And, and, and we, you know,
typically don't always trust each other and, and, and, you
know, there's only a limited amount of resources and all
those things. But in the end, and I mean, what
your, what your mission is and your goal is, is to help people.
And then that, that's such an important piece.
(37:30):
And yeah, so it can be a therapist, it can be a they just
all got to come to the table. I mean, I think that's so
important is making the the timeto to talk with other
organizations, providers, churches that are outside of
your field, because then you canhave more, you know, you can
(37:58):
actually have that true change that comes from that cross
sector collaboration. And I can't overstate it.
Like I say, cross sector all thetime because we just all work in
silos and we we like, you know, if we're therapist, we like to
talk to therapist about, but at that cross.
Section It's so cool to me, Karen.
I'm just like, this is so neat that like you got to be on the
(38:19):
ground of like creating and you tried something and you solved.
It's just to me, this is so incredible that we're at a point
where and, and I loved your words that like we're trying to
prevent the need for foster care.
And I'm like, yes, yes, because if we can just help the.
Yeah, it's just, it's, it's suchincredible work that you're
doing. And so as we close, one thing
that you told me when we were prepared this episode is that
(38:42):
you use a community and family model.
So it's not just community, but it's community and family.
Can you tell us all what that means?
Yeah. So in addition to, you know,
building these big community alliances and all of those
things, like it all boils down to the family and finding out
from the family really what where they what their greatest
(39:07):
needs are and really digging in.Because a lot of times whenever
their family shows up, you know,to a social service office or
whatever, they're like, I need my utility bill paid or they
show up to a church. I need a night stay at the hotel
down the road. Nobody understands or knows
what's really going on with thatfamily.
And, and they desire to, they don't have the tools to know and
(39:31):
they don't have the reason to ask hard questions like it, it
can seem intrusive. And so whenever, but whenever
you have a system and you know, you're like, OK, I'm going to do
this assessment with you and youcan really dig deep with with
them. I mean, I found it to be such a
powerful tool and really gettingto know a family.
(39:53):
And we do it, you know, in a very much in a more of a
motivational interviewing kind of way, which means, you know,
we're asking a lot of open-endedquestions and from that we can
get the answers on the assessment.
But. But it bottom line is that that
family is, is the center of all of the work that's being done.
(40:15):
And the family's success is what, you know, we're all like
tracking as a, as a community. It's what we're tracking to find
out, you know, like what is working and what isn't in every
single community. And then how can we really help
each and every family to have the tools that they need and be
(40:38):
successful as a community? Because it's not the governments
job to raise children, not, you know, it's, it's all of our
jobs. And if we live in a community,
it's our job to to help support parents and, and, and a lot of
them you don't have been in foster care themselves.
I mean, when you really look back into it, you know, you can
(40:59):
really see like the why of wherethey are.
And you know, it could, it could, it could be you.
And you just start thinking of it that way and thinking of the
grace that's been given to you. And, and, and so, yeah, the
family model and the community model, I always say it's like 2
trains of a track, A2 tracks of the train.
(41:22):
Sorry, 2 tracks. And you like, you have to build
both of them at the same time because if you don't, then the
track, the train's not going anywhere.
We've got to have both models working together because the
community has to be built to where it can communicate well
(41:44):
while you're working with families that the community can
support. So you can't like just leave one
behind and not. And a lot of times that would
that's what kind of happens in collective impact.
I don't know if you studied at collective impact much, but it's
very much thought of as community, you know, in that
community aspect of it is reallypushed and everything like that.
(42:07):
But who are we helping and how are we helping them?
And what kind of outcomes are wereally having on that individual
family level? And you know, don't forget the
direct support, the mentorship, the relationship, the all those
things that that have to happen for for you to see that that
(42:27):
true change that that happens with families.
Yeah, because collective really impact is about doing it
together, right? It's not, well, my organization
has many people, but it's reallyabout different kind of ways of
thinking and doing things together.
And to your point earlier, Karen, about, you know, often
times families that have kids infoster care, they themselves
grew up in foster care. So it's like this repeated cycle
(42:48):
and it, and it brings up this really important point that's
like, if we want to see that change, we have to help give
skills and support in ways we haven't done before, right?
Otherwise it's just going to keep repeating itself.
So I'm so grateful for the work that you're doing.
And I think it's so fascinating.When we started our
conversation, you talked about your own journey in this space
as a foster parent, and I pointed out how really tenacious
(43:10):
you were and enduring so much. And I see so much of that
gleaming over to this space where you're like, yeah, this is
about a long game. Like this is this is not every
night. Putting a child to bed is going
to be easy and raising children's be easy.
It's it's really about believingand that hope.
And so I'm so grateful that you've shared your personal
journey and you're doing the work that you're doing.
(43:30):
And so thank you so much. And I'm so excited that we know
you at this moment, but I know that you're going to be doing so
much more across the whole country in the near future
because what you're doing works and it's effective.
So just want to say thank you for inspiring us and letting us
hear your journey. Thank you so much Marcy for
having me. It's been such a joy to talk
(43:51):
with you today. Thank you so much for spending
time with us. It truly matters that you listen
today because by tuning in, you're opening your heart to the
stories of children in foster care, sparking empathy, and
starting to see how your unique role, whether as a friend,
advocate, or even as a future adoptive parent, can bring hope
(44:13):
and belonging to a child or sibling group that is waiting.
I also want to personally inviteyou to reach out to me to ask
anything that's on your heart. I promise no judgement.
You can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and I
mean it when I say you can ask anything.
I know it can feel awkward to ask questions publicly and
that's why I carve out time during my lunch hour and
(44:34):
evenings while my kids and husband are at martial arts to
mentor others one-on-one. Your questions matter, your
curiosity matters, and most importantly, the role you are
playing in helping children in foster care matters.
Together we can bring hope and belonging.
Until next time, take care and keep the conversation going.
Host
Marcy Bursac
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