{"id":2590,"date":"2024-05-29T18:41:24","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T18:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/?p=2590"},"modified":"2024-05-30T14:00:35","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T14:00:35","slug":"messages-from-foster-family-alliance-of-nc-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/?p=2590","title":{"rendered":"Messages from Foster Family Alliance of NC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>At Foster Family Alliance of NC, we believe that the role you play as a resource parent is incredibly important. You are making a positive difference in the lives of children and families all across the state of North Carolina. We also believe that resource parents cannot and should not do this alone. Our team is here to support you so that you can continue the work you\u2019re doing every single day in your homes and communities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Training and Education<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We offer many opportunities for quality, trauma-informed training and education. The majority of our training is available online in order to ensure it is accessible to individuals in all 100 counties of North Carolina. If you miss a live training, be sure to check out our website or our YouTube channel for the recordings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Connection<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We want you to feel connected to others who are in the trenches with you. If you\u2019re not already in our \u201cNorth Carolina Foster Parent\u201d group on Facebook, we\u2019d like to invite you to join! Additionally, we have several smaller groups you can join including groups for each of the seven regions, Foster Dads, Stay at Home Foster Parents, Spanish Speaking Foster Homes, Single Foster Parents, Kinship Caregivers, Guardianship Caregivers, and Caring for Medically Complex Children. Not only do these groups offer opportunities to ask questions, engage with others, and find other families in your area, but they also offer virtual support groups on Zoom each month with a trained facilitator, trauma-informed content, and certificates for attending. Please reach out to <a href=\"mailto:info@ffa-nc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">info@ffa-nc.org<\/a> or go to our website and fill out the contact form if you are interested in joining one of the groups!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>School Advocacy<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you have a child who needs an IEP or 504 plan? Maybe you have a child who already has a plan in place, but it isn\u2019t being followed? Do you have other school-related needs in order to ensure your child is successful? Sherry Thomas is our Education Consultant and is available to help assist you! You can contact her at <a href=\"mailto:sherry.thomas@ffa-nc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sherry.thomas@ffa-nc.org<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Coaching, Mentoring, or a Listening Ear<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes we just need to talk to someone who truly gets it. Our team has lived experience as resource parents or other roles in the foster care system. Whether you need some one-on-one coaching or just someone to listen and validate your experience, we have team members ready to help.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Resources and Events<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>FFA-NC offers free resources and events to resource families all across the state! Whether it\u2019s a printable PDF or a Family Fun Day in your county, we want you to have fun with your families and feel equipped in your role as a resource parent. Follow along on social media or our website for more information!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Monthly Newsletter<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re not subscribed to our newsletter, you should be! Each month we share everything highlighted above and more! You\u2019ll find stories of foster, kinship and adoptive families as well as foster care alumni, upcoming events and training opportunities, information about other support organizations in the community, and the impact of Foster Family Alliance of NC.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Teaming with Teens (aka our biggest event of the year!)<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teaming with Teens (aka our biggest event of the year!) We have hosted Teaming with Teens virtually for a few years, but this year we took it offline and gathered in person thanks to feedback from our participants! Teaming with Teens is a conference designed to support youth and young adults in foster care, their caregivers, and the professionals involved. We had gift cards for all attendees, loads of freebies, some really great speakers and breakout sessions, and lunch. Did I mention that this is a completely FREE conference?! We had full attendance and great feedback! We can\u2019t wait to do it again next year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Foster Family Alliance of NC is here for you! Please reach out to us if there is anything we can do to support you or your family. ffa-nc.org <a href=\"mailto:info@ffa-nc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">info@ffa-nc.org<\/a> 800-578-7770&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>A learning site for North Carolina&#8217;s foster and adoptive parents and kinship caregivers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Foster Parents are encouraged to talk in advance to their supervising agency about obtaining training credit through fosteringNC.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized is-style-rounded\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fosteringnc.org\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"280\" height=\"280\" src=\"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/fosteringNC_thumb.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2380\" style=\"width:234px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/fosteringNC_thumb.jpg 280w, https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/fosteringNC_thumb-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Foster Family Alliance of NC, we believe that the role you play as a resource parent is incredibly important. You are making a positive [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1660,23,24,1,19],"tags":[],"series":[1695],"class_list":["post-2590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-additional-content-left","category-child-welfare-news","category-resources","category-uncategorized","category-working-with-others","series-may-2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2590"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=2590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}