January 2008 Newsletter
Welcome to Fostering in Oklahoma Newsletter
We are a non-profit organization committed to strengthening Foster and Adoptive Families and Relative Caregivers through support, training, and advocacy with the aim of nurturing child safety, well being and stability in partnership with child welfare professionals and the entire community. This newsletter is dedicated to making foster care and adoption in Oklahoma the best they can be.
- Social workers will find Fostering Interest important for the way it gives voice to the concerns of the parents and children they work with every day.
We hope you enjoy "Fostering in Oklahoma". If there are things you'd like to share or you have questions, please get in touch with us! FCAO Lana Freeman 2934 SW 6th Newcastle OK 73065 (405) 387-5052 lanaf@pldi.net
Director Fosters Baby Jill
8-Year-Old Maternal Aunt Provides Kinship Placement
By Stephanie M. Bond
Editor OKDHS Newsletter June 2007
Maternal Aunt Katie Brewer, while admitting she was a little worried that OKDHS Director Howard H. Hendrick would leave Baby Jill in the dark, declared he did a good job serving as the baby’s foster parent.
Brewer, 8, daughter of Karen Poteet, programs manager, Children and Family Services Division Post Adoption Services, and Director Hendrick participated in the Oklahoma Foster Doll project. The project, spearheaded by the Foster Care Association of Oklahoma, and State Sen. Kathleen Wilcoxson, provided a foster doll to Gov. Brad Henry, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, every House and Senate member and Director Hendrick.
“Each one of these dolls represents a child in Oklahoma’s foster care system,” said Wilcoxson, a foster and adoptive parent. “Many of them are special needs children, and many have more abuse and neglect than any of us can imagine. All of them need a loving home.”
Poteet, who’s worked for OKDHS since November 2004, sits on the board of the Foster Care Association. The project needed several hundred dolls and Poteet asked her daughters, Katie and Adi, 9, if they’d donate some of theirs.
“I thought it would be a good civic project,” said Poteet. “They were willing."
Though Katie, especially, was a little reluctant. She understood the purpose of the project, though.” Poteet and her husband adopted the biological siblings in Illinois Christmas Eve, 2001.
Wilcoxson held a media conference to launch the event in February. The senator, Foster Care Association board members, as well as adopted children, including Katie and Adi, and teens in permanent OKDHS custody delivered the dolls to legislators. Each doll had a case history and certificates of honorary approval. Some legislators received sibling groups.
Poteet said the association asked her to deliver Director Hendrick’s baby to him as she was returning to the Sequoyah Building from the Capitol.
“I didn’t realize it, but Katie said, 'Mama, that’s one of our dolls. That’s Adi’s baby.' I had nothing to do with the choosing of the dolls, but there she was.”
Named Jill, the baby’s placement history, created by the Foster Care Association, included being taken into emergency care after her mother’s death. The mother died from a drug overdose, and the baby needed special care concerning possible drug exposure. The baby was behind in her development.
Poteet said her youngest daughter worried about Jill. “She’d say, ‘Mama, I can take better care of the baby than that man. Is that man leaving her in the dark when he leaves his office? Is that man taking good care of her?’ She was just obsessed.”
Poteet had an idea. CFSD Foster Care has been working on implementing the Bridge Resource Program. The program, according to Joani Webster, programs administrator, seeks bridge resource families to mentor and serve as role models for the birth family. If children cannot return home, bridge resource families may serve as the guardian or adoptive family. The bridge family and birth family work together for the best interests of the child.
“As Jill’s case file included finding a kinship placement, we thought Katie could serve as the maternal aunt for kinship placement,” said Poteet.
Over Spring Break and Easter break, Katie picked up Jill for visits.
“Katie has been terrific to visit her doll regularly,” said Foster Dad Hendrick, himself the father to four children. “The frequency of her visits probably helped hasten the reunification. “
"The project has been a nice way to be reminded of the sobering challenges our foster parents face 24/7. We are so blessed to have their support.”
In May, the Foster Care Association picked up the dolls and took them to malls and stores throughout the state to continue to raise awareness. As for Jill, Katie adopted her May 11 and received a new diaper bag and a new baby outfit from Director Hendrick. "Thank you for taking care of her,” said Katie.
College Cost Reduction and Access Act (HR 2669)
On September 27, 2009, President Bush signed into law the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (HR 2669), the bill that includes the Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act amendment, making it possible for teens in foster care to be adopted without losing access to college financial aid.
Under this new law, youth who are adopted after their 13th birthday will not have to include their parents' income in the calculations for determining their need for financial aid.
