CRM Solutions for Nonprofits

Bulletin #12719

Madison and Cody are a wonderful sibling group who will bring much joy to any adoptive family. They are fun to be around, are adorable and have very fun personalities.

Cody is a good looking young boy with a great smile. Cody is sweet, active at times and can also be aggressive. He is shy at first when he does not know people but does warm up once he feels more comfortable. Cody likes to be more of the ''grunge'' and ''skater'' in his dress and disposition. He enjoys skateboarding and rock music and has started to find an interest in doing things with his hands. Cody has learned how to play the guitar and he says that is something that he always enjoys doing. His current foster mom has started to expose him to thing such as crochet' and building birdhouses. He really likes to ride his bike and be outside doing things. Cody is the type of kid who usually likes to be first. He is outgoing around his family and tends to think he is older than his years. Cody has some behaviors that can be difficult at times. He provokes his younger sister and they tend to fight often. It works for Cody to separate him from the situation and allow for him to focus on something else. Cody can be domineering and has explosions sometimes when he gets upset. He is working on controlling that and finding ways to cope when he is angry.

Cody has shown a positive ability to attach to his current caretaker. He has been in this home for several months and makes good strides in the placement. One of Cody's main issues seems to be with his relationship with his sister. He does get along with his sister yet tends to have several arguments with her. He torments her often and provokes fights with her. These two siblings are very competitive with one another.

Madison is more stand offish with children and seems to be outgoing with adults. She engages with older people and becomes talkative with adults. Madison does get along with other children; it just tends to take her longer to feel comfortable. She can come across shy in some situations. Madison is competitive with her siblings but does show a strong bond to them. She has shown positive attachments to her current foster mother. She has been able to build good trust with her and is making very good strides in her emotional stability in the placement. Madison is involved in counseling at this time. Currently her treatment goals have to do with helping her respond appropriately when she is angry and helping her with techniques to decrease her outbursts. Madison current has an Axis diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct.

Cody and Madison need an adoptive family that is able to provide them with the stability, consistency and love that they need now and in the future. The family needs to understand that these children have had an attachment with their biological parents and the transition into an adoptive home may take some time. These children will need ongoing counseling to help them adjust and help them with emotional stability.

CASEWORKER NOTES: I would really like to keep these two in state and as local as possible. They have siblings that are in the area that they are very close with. It will be important for them to keep contact with them. I am looking for a family that is able to handle their emotional issues-especially as they transition. I think that these kids will do well but probably have a rough ''honeymoon'' period-that may not be too ''honeymoonish''. I think that other kids in the home would be okay-according to the parents skill level and experience.

NOTE:
Cody is also very set on being able to bring his cat to his adoptive home with him. This is something that he has expressed to be important to him.

Heart Gallery link:

http://www.lanecountyheartgallery.org/cgi-bin/k9bytes.pl?command=showkid&kidid=12719

HOW CAN YOU HELP?  ADOPT   Call the Department of Human Services ~ DHS 1-541-686-7555 and ask to talk with the adoptioin worker of the day about how to adopt.    SPREAD THE WORD On our website and this email!  Share with your family and friends that they need and want a family.    SPONSOR   Donate once or monthly to help us find them their forever family.  We will use this money for promotional material and activities that are directed to finding them a family.  We will report to you our activities, how we spent the money and their progress.

Life Book/ Family Finding DHS   Please join our first training and DHS volunteer process  Aug. 12th at 5:30 at the West 11th DHS office 2101 W. 11th Ave., Eugene, Oregon  WE NEED YOU! What is Lane County Family Finding? Family Finding is an intensive relative search model with the ultimate goals of achieving permanency and supporting enduring family connections for children in the foster care system. Lane County, DHS and A Family For Every Child have joined together and have created a program we believe will make a difference in the lives of local foster children.   History: The Family Finding model was originally designed to target children who have been in foster care for many years and who have lost contact with family members and other significant adults in their lives. The Lane County Family Finding evaluation will randomly assign children who are just entering foster care and in the beginning stages of the court dependency process to receive family-finding services How can I help? We have three different volunteer positions available: File Mining: Research the files for information Spend 1-3 hours a week at a DHS office. Internet Research: Be a detective! Search for lost connections for foster children Spend 1-6 hours a week or per case.     Contact Volunteer: Call identified potential family or other individuals associated with the foster child. Spend 3-10 hours a week or per case Please e-mail questions to Christy at cbobie@aol.com Or call Christy 683-5769   www.afamilyforeverychild.org A FAMILY FOR EVERY CHILD / HEART GALLERY Is an organization that's many programs focus on seeking permanency for Oregon's Foster children.   FAMILY BUILDING ADOPTION SUPPORT PROGRAM - Is looking for Family Mentors to support families as they work their way through the very challenging adoption process, this is primarily an email/phone relations.  Some on to bounce off questions and be additional support to families.  Nationally 95% of families drop out of the adoption process somewhere along the way, we hope to help keep more families engaged.   We use are mentors and our Monthly Meet and Greet meetings.   A Family for Every Child is also seeking Family Mentors to guide new adoptive families who struggle with challenging behaviors from their child/ren.    TEEN PERMANENCY-This program is geared more at the hardest to place older foster children (10 and above).  We hope to provide a number of supports to make it possible for families to be successful in fostering and adopting these harder to place kids.  If you have adopted a difficult teen or you have foster/adopted an older child then you are who we need.  Support a family! The Family Mentor would provide support to the family and offer advice on how to handle these behaviors.    Our program is also seeking volunteers for our FAMILY FINDING PROGRAM. Volunteer positions include mining files (researching files to find lost friends and family), initial family contact (making calls to relatives and past contacts), and internet research (searching the internet to locate family).  For these and more volunteer job descriptions, please contact.  We have trainings in all the areas above.   For further information on any of these programs or volunteer opportunities, please check our web site and/or call Christy Obie-Barrett at (541)954-9626 or email at cbobie@aol.com.   WWW.AFAMILYFOREVERYCHILD.ORG COMMITTED LANE COUNTY FOSTER HOMES NEEDED    Heart Gallery and A Family for Every Child have partnered with DHS to help recruit long term committed Foster families for specific children.  We are doing this by featuring them on our web site with, pictures that represent them and their stories.  www.afamilyforeverychild.org on the kid's page.   We are in need of homes in the Bethel and Springfield school district.  Homes for sibling groups and homes for teens.  WE are a permanency focused organization and realize that many children need a long term committed foster home before they can or will be adopted.  We have developed a relationship with DHS that allows our families to be given priority and helped through the process, depending on the urgency of the child's need for a new home.  Our organization is also offering our families additional support through the process and after.   If you are interested in parenting one more child or sibling group, interested in getting  extra help through the process and additional support, please call Christy at 954-9626 or email at cbobie@aol.com.   We are also looking for experienced families to support these new families. ~GREAT ROTARY DUCK RACE~ Lane County Heart Gallery needs you!                 We hope to sell 2000 tickets as our part of the ticket sales!  If you or your business would like to help us sell tickets to raise funds for the 2008 Rotary Duck Race, please let us know. Buy a Duck ~~ Help a Child     If you would like to buy a Duck Race Ticket, we will be selling them July 1-thru-Oct. at the 5th Street Market, look for the Ducks in the Fountain!   Duck launching in the 5th Street Market fountain 1 p.m. July 7th. Ticket cost: $5.00 each Contact Karen at karkimmac@msn.com, or call 1-541-359-9783. If your place of business or you know of a place of business that would like to sell tickets for the Duck Race, please contact Karen at 1-541-359-9783 or karkimmac@msn.com   GREAT ROTARY DUCK RACE KICK~OFF EVENT  Presented by: first tech credit union    Holiday Inn Kick-off Event Springfield Holiday Inn on Kruse Way Wednesday, July 23, at 5:30 - 7:30pm RSVP by calling, Jason Barnhart at 541.746.1651 or email Jason@springfieldchamber.org ~TESTIMONIALS~   I wanted to give kuddos to whoever set ********  up with her mentor.  ******* reports she LOVES her mentor and that her mentor is "really cool."  Good job ya'll.  Thanks so much.    Jennifer Kirchner    ********************************  To begin, I would like to applaud you all for all you have done through the Heart Gallery to assist both the children and the potential parents of the children in Lane County.  My husband and I have four adopted children (two sibling sets) through DHS.    The main reason I am writing to you, is to jump up and down shouting Hurrah about the new program Heart Gallery has begun recruiting for specific foster kids on the path toward needing an adoptive home.  This program calls out to the huge group of parents that want desperately to adopt an older child but are too fearful of that life-long commitment to a stranger.  This way, both the parents and the kids are able to meet and develop a  relationship so when it is time to commit, it is as easy as signing a piece of paper with no fear, stress, or uncertainty for anyone involved.  What a blessing!!!  As you know, we inquired about the program right away as we were eager to get involved in such a positive program.  This is just what Oregon foster kids desperately need to help open the door to their ultimate success as a part of a happy, healthy, forever family.  With delicate thinking and matching of child to family with the your input in addition to the child's caseworker, CASA, counselor, foster parent, and us, a 12 yr. old female was suggested to visit our family with a long-term foster arrangement in mind as the child had not shown any interest in being adopted.  We had an amazing visit and by the end of the weekend she was already referring to us as her family and inquiring about how long it would take before we might be able to adopt her so she can be a permanent part of our family.  We are moving forward and she is in process of moving in permanently now with adoption in mind.  We couldnt' have asked for a better match; and with NO FEAR!  I am certain that all matches are done delicately and once a family has been selected, the success rate is high, however, this small perception of control to say no after meeting that this program allows both the prospective family and child alleviates that un-needed stress.  I think a lot more families will step up with this program and the number of teens stuck in foster homes until they are emancipated will minimize as this program grows.  I support this program whole-heartedly and thank you for all your efforts to instigate and continue this program! Thank You, XXXXX  XXXXXXXX From:  Patti and family    We did have a nice visit on Sunday - Leeasa, her case worker, foster mom and CASA worker came over to our house for about an hour.  Her CASA worker asked the most questions.  Her case worker never did a visit like this but seemed very accepting of it.  She is very nice.    Leeasa actually moved in last night. Nancy is coming over today for the inspection/certification.  I didn't realize that her foster mom lives less than a mile away from us so it was easy to move her.  She seemed happy and relaxed last night.  We have a lot in common so I'm sure she will be a good fit for our family.  It's like God chose her to be part of our family :-)   She is very excited about getting a French Exchange Student.     We talked a lot last night.  She shared some of her foster care experiences after she asked how long we were going to keep her.  At first I told her 2 weeks then I smiled and said however long you want to stay. We then talked about her interests in going to college and future plans.  It was very sad when she asked how long we were going to keep her.     Leeasa & Rachel stayed up late last night and got her room organized.  I haven't seen it yet but she was excited to be able to decorate how she wants.  Sarah spent the night with a friend last night but they talked some on Sunday.  It may be a little harder for them to bond.  Sarah was excited to get Leeasa even though she really wanted a younger sibling.      Where you can find Heart Gallery venues   JULY 2008 Immanuel Church of the Lutheran Bretheran 5th Street Market - Eugene Cornerstone Cafe and Bakery 2729 Shadow View Drive off of Crescent Avenue SYMANTEC Gateway Mall Valley River Center Friendly Street Market Oakway Center Eugene Airport ~Smaller Venues~ Rays Food Center--Creswell Creswell Community Center Siuslaw Valley Bank - Creswell SOFCU - Creswell Cottage Grove Community Center Bookmine-Cottage Grove Dr. Dave Matthews DMD - Eugene Summitt Bank - Eugene Arbor South Architecture - Eugene Precision Classics and Collision - Eugene Pacific Auto - Eugene Reflections - Eugene