Adopt-a-Caseworker Begins!

January is FINALLY here and that means the program begins this month! After 10 months of planning, procedures, guidelines, policies and forms are all complete. A program manual has also been completed (30 pages long).

We currently have 17 Partner groups to match with local Caseworkers. One group is adopting 2 Caseworkers, so we will have 18 matches in month #1. That is a very strong start to this amazing program and we look forward to recruiting enough groups for the remaining 54 Caseworkers. I have completed training for Caseworkers and the Primary/Secondary contact persons for each Partner group. I look forward to making matches by the end of this month!

The Web Exchange is up and running. I finished entering in all Caseworker emails today and will be listing our first item before the weekend. The Caseworkers are very excited about this resource. It's a great way to provide resources for the Caseworkers who are still waiting to be adopted. Please visit the site at www.ambassadors4children.org/xchange

New Gifts to Support the Kid's Closet!

The Kid's Clothes Closet recently received generous funding from the following organizations. We are so thrilled to receive this funding and look forward to using these funds to purchase new clothing, coats and shoe gift cards for local foster children. Thank you so much for your wonderful generosity!

The Musgrave Foundation: $1,000.00
The C.W. Titus Foundation: $10,000.00
Pauly Trust: $5,000.00
The Gannett Foundation: $2,500.00

Kid's Clothes Closet Update

The numbers for 2008 are in! The Kid's Clothes Closet program saw nearly 350 appointments from Greene County foster children in the pursuit of new clothing. The program served just under 300 total foster children in 2008, which is slightly less than the past few years.

As I've been training Caseworkers for our Adopt-a-Caseworker program, I've discovered that there was a great deal of foster care Caseworker turnover in 2008. That likely explains the decline in children served this year, as the Caseworkers are not aware of the program. To address this problem, I created a Kid's Clothes Closet flyer and emailed it to all Greene County foster care Caseworkers. They were all encouraged to make copies and distribute the flyer to foster parents. I also plan to pursue having the flyer included in all new foster parent training materials. My next shopping trip is Friday, so the Kid's Clothes Closet will be well-stocked for the weekend!