News from
the
NCFPA's Executive Director
By the time you read this, we
will have had our 2001 NCFPA conference, Making a Difference,
One Child at a Time. This is an exciting but critical time
for the NCFPA. In the past, funding for our association has been
provided by the N.C. Division of Social Services through grants
to the N.C. Child Advocacy Institute and Independent Living Resources,
Inc. However, our goal has always been to be an independent organization
by 2001.
We are now on
our own, but find ourselves in a financial crunch. With cutbacks
all around us, we have not been guaranteed any funding to keep
our organization going. The N.C. Division of Social Services helps
us keep the cost of our annual conference affordable. However,
monies for our actual organization have not been secured, despite
the fact that we have written and submitted grants proposals.
We need your support now more than ever.
In the meantime,
the NCFPA is working hard for you and for the children of North
Carolina. In the legislative arena, we are working on several
bills, including one that would provide free tuition at state
colleges and universities for children adopted from the child
welfare system, a foster parent bill of rights based on the bill
of rights that came out of the association's conference last year,
and an adoption assistance bill that would increase adoption assistance
subsiHodies.
On the policy
level, we have managed to get some of the issues addressed in
our foster parent bill of rights into the new foster care rules
that will take effect in January 2002. However, many of the issues
in the best practices policies are not being practiced in all
instances.
The NCFPA is also working on
getting a grant for a hot line for foster, adoptive and kinship
parents.
Our logo and
mission statement both now officially state that the NCFPA works
with adoptive, foster, and kinship families and intends to represent
adoption issues, especially as they pertain to foster parents.
Sixty percent of the foster children who are adopted in North
Carolina are adopted by foster parents. This is slightly below
the national average. One of our goals is to get more information
out to foster parents about adoption. November is National Adoption
Month. For more information, go to the North American Council
on Adoptable Children web site.
Thank you to
everyone who responded to our survey on our web site. We are working
on many of the issues you have raised. As director of the NCFPA
and the adoptive and foster parent of eight children, I have heard
and dealt with many different issues. We need your stories, both
the success stories and the difficulties you and your children
face. Examples are very important if we want our child welfare
system to improve. Please send your examples to 5629 Oleander
Dr., Suite 114 -PMB 111, Wilmington, NC 28403.
Being a professional
parent is a difficult job. It seems the rewards are few and far
between, but when they come, they are priceless. We need others
to support us in this job and to remind us that we are not alone
in our difficulties and to remind us that we really do make a
difference—one child at a time.
Thank you for
all you do!
Laura Johnson, Executive Director,
N.C. Foster Parent Association, t: 910/793-1337
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Attitude
The longer I live, the more
I realize
the impact of attitude on life.
It is more important than the past,
than education, than money,
than circumstances,
than failures, than successes,
than what other people say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.
It will make or break a company, a church, a home.
The remarkable thing is, you have a choice every day regarding
the attitude you will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain
way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have,
and that is our attitude.
I am convinced life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90
percent how I react to it.
And so it is for you. You are in charge of your attitude.
—Author unknown
How to become a member
To become a member, fill out this form and mail
it, with payment (do not send cash) to the address below. Make
checks payable to the NC Foster Parent Association.
Rates
Individual: $15 Couple: $25 Local
association: $25 Agency/business: $100
Name
First:____________________
M I:____________________
Last:____________________
Title:____________________
Organization: ______________________
County: __________________________
Agency/Work Address: ______________
Street:________________________
City:_________________________
State:________________________________
Zip:_________________________________
Tel (day):_____________________________
Tel (evening):_________________________
E-mail: _____________________________
Please check the one that applies:
__Foster/adoptive/kinship parent
__Local foster parent association
__Agency/business
__Other
Return completed form with payments to: NC Foster Parents Association,
c/o ILR, Inc., 411 Andrews Rd., Suite 230, Durham, NC 27705.
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