Foster Care Placements
Family Time (Parent Child Visits)
Adapted from AOK’s Guidebook, “It Takes a Village“ Children in foster care will start visiting with their birth family very soon after they enter care, sometimes as quickly as the next day. Typically, Family Time with birth parents will be supervised and held weekly for one hour at a DCF office. Of the many reasons…
Read MoreFoster Parents’ Role in Foster Care Review
Adapted from AOK’s Guidebook, “It Takes a Village“ A foster care review is one of the most valuable milestones in a foster care case. As a foster parent, you have a rare opportunity to sit around the same table as everyone else, and hear the same information in real time. This meeting is held every…
Read MoreHow a Case Progresses Through the System
Adapted from AOK’s Guidebook, “It Takes a Village“ DCF’s practices and policies with regard to foster care can be complicated and idiosyncratic. As we’ve described previously, these practices are not always standardized and can vary from office to office, or even social worker to social worker. However, there are a series of typical milestones that…
Read MoreBefore the Social Worker Leaves
Adapted from AOK’s Guidebook, “It Takes a Village“ There are a few things you should make sure to have before the social worker leaves. However, it is not uncommon for the social worker not to have some of this information immediately available, particularly if it is an emergency placement. So, just try to get as…
Read MoreAOK Guest Post: Last Chance Words
“When he first came to us, you wrote a letter asking us to take care of him. We loved him and did our best to care for him. I hope you’ll agree…..” I wrote these words in a note to send to our foster son’s mother just hours before he would leave us forever. Or…
Read MoreThe Lasting Effects of Our Time with Michael
Earlier this month would have been the third annual Homebrew Showcase for All Our Kids. The last two years of this event have been a wonderful partnership between Paddy’s Irish Pub and AOK. Although the funds raised as a result of this event have meant so much to us, the relationships we’ve made with the…
Read MoreEp. 25: Meet Child Welfare Advocate and Veteran Foster/Adoptive Parent: Missy Tyler Tarjick
Hearing about Missy’s lifelong involvement in foster care and adoption is inspiring, surprising, and sometimes even jaw dropping. From her own birth family’s fostering journey to her 20-year experience as a foster, adoptive and (more recently) guardianship parent – you are bound to be amazed. Hear about how she manages her large brood (how large?…
Read MoreThe Waiting Game
But before that kind of waiting, there’s another kind of waiting… The waiting that happens before you get your first placement. That can be the hardest waiting of all.
Read MoreKeynote Address: Children’s Study Home 2019 Meeting
On June 6, 2019, I shared the keynote address with State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield) at the Children’s Study Home Annual Meeting. Rep. Farley-Bouvier shared some information about the Foster Parents Bill of Rights, and her legislative advocacy at the state level. I talked about the challenges of being on the front lines of foster…
Read MoreNo More Empty Nest
As an empty nester, Candice Tauscher wasn’t looking to take up a new hobby like golfing or gardening, she was ready to fill her nest again through foster care. “We probably move more slowly than the other parents,” Candice said. But Candice and her husband, Brian, are just as involved as those first-timers, attending…
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