38th C= IRCUIT FOSTER & ADOPTIVE PARENT SUPPORT GROUP

Meeting Minutes – July 15, 2008

&nbs= p;

The meeti= ng started promptly at 6:30

&nbs= p;

Charlie S= tevens facilitated the meeting.

&nbs= p;

Charlie o= pened in prayer.

&nbs= p;

The DSS representative was not in attendance but we covered the Accreditation proce= ss from the information provided last month.

-The State is going through Accreditation for each DSS departm= ent by county. This is why there has been an increase in paperwork and documents needed. The accreditation started in 2004 with a completion goal of 5 years or August of 2009.

Jacquelynn performs a self assessment which results in considerable work prior to the site visit. The site visit is where the accreditation team comes into the offices to determine if the local DSS division meets the requirements of accreditation. <= /p>

Accreditation will mean that those doing business with DSS will receive consistent and quality service.

&nbs= p;

The group discussed that there will be a change that all foster parents will require = CPR and that will be facilitated by the DSS offices. As soon as the information is made available the group will pass it on to foster parents.<= o:p>

&nbs= p;

The group discussed National Adoption Day and what role we will again play in that.&n= bsp; We need to determine how to generate funding for the group to support this initiative.

&nbs= p;

The group then discussed funding and how to generate revenue. It was decided that the group= would turn over control of the web site to a private party and sell limited advertising on the site as a source of revenue. This was voted on and approved. The web site control will be relinquished to a company call= ed Winnovate who’s owne= r has agreed to take over control for 10% of their normal fee (20 per month).&nbs= p; The group will try this approach for a few months to see if this helps the group grow, generate funds and better communicate.

&nbs= p;

The group discussed that group member donations to the group are tax deductible if pa= id by check and if you get a receipt from the Treasurer. If anyone would like to donate please contact Roy Mereness (roym73@tr= csystems.com) or Andrea Allen (arom523@aol.com).

&nbs= p;

The group= then discussed several newspaper articles that have recently been published.&nbs= p; One concerning adoption of older children in the system= The article was in the news leader and was titled “A Family At Last”, it is now in archive. The second from the community free press which can be found here http://www.cfpmidweek.com/weeks/IssuePDFs/vo6i14web.p= df .

&nbs= p;

The group= then again talked about the investigation process and issues related to investigations and their impacts on foster parents. The group talked about DSS supplying policy changes and using the first portion of the meeti= ngs to talk about changes in policy that impact all foster families. The group will contact DSS about this and make sure that we have DSS presence at the meetings and that the time is used to update members as to changes in D= SS policy.

&nbs= p;

The group= then discussed the foster advisory board and it was determined that the group consistently has the same issues and talks about the same issues at the meetings.

The main = issues were found to be-

&nb= sp; Case worker consistency, case worker turnover, case file management and transition from worker to worker.

&nb= sp; DSS investigations of foster parents and the process us= ed for those investigations.

&nb= sp; Using the Advisory Board and other means to voice concerns to the government officials and policy makers

&nb= sp; Foster Parent Bill of Rights

&nbs= p;

The meeti= ng ended at 8:30

&nbs= p;

Attendees= :

Charlie S= tevens

Jim and K= im Morgan

Tammy Wil= es

Bill and = Reyne Christenson

Pat and J= eanne Scholes

Julie Bla= ckson

Roy and T= ammy Mereness

Kim Sellens

Jeanie Hu= nt

John and = Andrea Allen

Joe Reish=

&nbs= p;

<= /o:p>