August Newsletter
Education News
LEARNING TO CARE WORKSHOP
REGISTER TODAY FOR OUR NEXT FREE EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY
Join us on Monday, September 16, for our next Learning to Care workshop: “Looking Through the Eyes of the Vulnerable.” Danny Stevens will share experiences from his 38 years in child welfare. The workshop will explore the lives of children involved with the foster care system. Using case examples, Danny will review the lessons learned throughout his career through the eyes of some of the children he served, looking at the emotional impact of the policies, practices, and good intentions of the adults who surround them.
Danny Stevens is the Coordinator of the Athens-Clarke County Family Treatment Court and a part-time instructor with the University of Georgia. He retired from DFCS in 2013 as program manager in the State Permanency (Adoption) Unit. His primarily role with the Department was in the adoption and foster care areas. His graduate research focused on infertility, adoption and marital satisfaction.
To register for this free 2-hour workshop, follow this link. Don’t forget, childcare is free, but space is limited!
Adoption News
NEW ADOPTIVE PARENT SUPPORT OPPORTUNITY
EMPOWERED TO CONNECT: PARENT CONNECT COURSE
THE COURSE
We are offering a nine-week course this fall for adoptive parents. The curriculum was created by Empowered to Connect (ETC). The course will begin on Thursday, September 19, and run for nine consecutive weeks, meeting each Thursday from 7:30-9:30. The cost will be $125 which will include five books, course work, and access to additional readings and videos.
To register, click here.
ETC Parent Trainings equip parents with a holistic understanding of their child’s needs and development while empowering them with the tools and strategies to effectively meet those needs, build trust, and help their child heal and grow. The ETC Connect course is an interactive learning experience designed specifically for parents and caregivers whose children have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), toxic stress, and maltreatment. This course was developed by Michael and Amy Monroe and relies heavily on the Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®) model developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and her colleagues at the Karyn Purvis TCU Institute of Child Development.
ABOUT EMPOWERED TO CONNECT
Empowered To Connect (ETC) has a long and fruitful history of serving children and families. ETC was started in Irving Texas as a part of Tapestry Ministries of Irving Bible Church by Michael and Amy Monroe with the support of Dr. Karyn Purvis. In collaboration with Dr. Purvis, Michael and Amy went on to write two Empowered To Connect parent training courses, based on the Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) model.
In 2009, Show Hope and the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development held the first Empowered To Connect conference. In the years since, the conference has been held 19 times, simulcast to thousands of locations and reached countless caregivers and professionals with a message of hope undergirded with truth and compassion.
In 2018, the ownership and program rights of ETC were transferred to the care of the Memphis Family Connection Center (MFCC), a holistic family care clinic based on the principles of TBRI. MFCC co-founders Mark and Tona Ottinger have been ETC parent trainers since 2010 and are deeply invested in ETC and supporting its continued growth for years to come.
ABOUT THE TRAINERS
In July 2019, Sam and Amanda Greavu traveled to Memphis, Tennessee for a three-day course following a seven-week online training. This training certified them as as ETC Parent Trainers and equipped them to teach Prepare and Connect Courses.
Sam and Amanda have been married for 9 years. Sam is a Physical Therapist with Athens Orthopedic Clinic and Amanda works on staff at CFLM as our Director of Communications. They have two sons, both of which joined their family through adoption. Their oldest son was adopted at birth through domestic adoption. Their youngest son was adopted through international adoption from China at two.
Foster Care News
BACK, BACK, BACK TO SCHOOL
PENCILS, MARKERS, AND GLUE…
As the calendar approaches August, we all know it means one thing: Back to School! Starting a new school year can be hard for any child, but for kids in care, returning to the classroom can carry additional difficulties. We want to help equip kids in care and the families that serve them to have the very best school year possible.
With that in mind, CFLM has facilitated school supply support for children in Clarke and Oconee counties for the last three years. Compass Community homeschool group reached out to CFLM three years ago wanting to help provide school supplies for kids in foster care. For the last three years, they have helped us do just that! This year, with the help of our donors, Compass Community and CFLM teamed up to purchase school supplies for 63 children in care throughout Clarke and Oconee counties.
In addition, this year the President of the Foster Parent Association in Walton county reached out and asked for assistance. Funding provided through a grant to CFLM, enabled us to purchase 50 backpacks and fill them with supplies. The backpacks were distributed at the Walton County Back to School Bash held at the Walton County DFCS office.
TRAUMA IN THE CLASSROOM
Studies show that classrooms are filled with children who have experienced childhood trauma. The CDC ACE study tells us that “almost half the nation’s children have experienced at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma.”
In the CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Study, the ten types of childhood adversity measured were:
physical, sexual, verbal abuse
physical and emotional neglect
a parent who’s an alcoholic (or addicted to other drugs) or diagnosed with a mental illness
witnessing a mother who experiences abuse
losing a parent to abandonment or divorce
a family member in jail
That is certainly a humbling set of statistics, but we believe that with a lot of work from compassionate caregivers, children and youth can begin the hard work of healing from these complex and difficult experiences. Teacher play an integral role in that process. To help equip the classrooms in our community, we’ve provided some helpful links below. Teachers, we want to help you see the need behind the behavior and meet the need, so that you may continue the difficult work of strengthening and stretching young minds. Parents, feel empowered to advocate for teacher by sharing this information with your child’s school.
a helpful blog from an adoptive mom and former elementary school teacher
a list of several resources from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development
information about ACEs and the science behind it