18 episodes

From Families' Anchor, join us as we navigate through the Child Welfare system. Hear stories from parents, Parent Navigators, service providers, attorneys, judges, the Department, family & friends, foster parents, and more. Come be part of the positive conversation and change of Child Welfare to a family well-being system.

The "F" Word: Foster Care Families' Anchor

    • Kids & Family
    • 5.0 • 10 Ratings

From Families' Anchor, join us as we navigate through the Child Welfare system. Hear stories from parents, Parent Navigators, service providers, attorneys, judges, the Department, family & friends, foster parents, and more. Come be part of the positive conversation and change of Child Welfare to a family well-being system.

    Foster Parent Perspective: Sasha's Story

    Foster Parent Perspective: Sasha's Story

    Welcome back to The "F" Word: Foster Care!

    We are back after a long year and half! We welcomed a new baby into our family, had a house flood and are finally back on track and excited to lift more voices. Enjoy this episode Fall 2021. New recordings coming soon!

    We welcome Sasha, a foster and adoptive parent, to the conversation this week. Sasha is an adoptive mother of one, and foster parent to 12 children. She has been part of 9 reunifications with another one just around the corner. Sasha fosters with United Hope, and focuses a lot on partnership parenting. Sasha shares valuable insight and advice for anyone looking to become a foster parent or current foster parents looking at motivation, support and guidance in partnership parenting.

    Welcome to the conversation!

    If you are interested in joining our podcast please email us below. We are always looking for anyone with experience in the family well-being system (child welfare) from parents, attorneys, case managers, judges, foster parents and more.

    Email: thefwordfostercare@gmail.com  familiesanchor@gmail.com

    Twitter: @families_anchor @FWordFosterCare

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/familiesanchor
    (Georgia Virtual Parent Support Group information can be found on Facebook)

    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    • 1 hr 14 min
    Parent's Voice: Bobby Jo's Reunification Story

    Parent's Voice: Bobby Jo's Reunification Story

    Welcome to The “F” Word: Foster Care! This week we continue our National Reunification Month celebration with Bobby Jo. Bobby Jo is a mother of 3 and she shares her reunification story and her new journey supporting other parents in similar situations as she experienced. Bobby Jo became a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) in 2019. She completed Trauma Informed Care and Mental Health first aid. She also received her certification in Whole Health Action Management (WHAM). Bobby Jo completed training with the Respect Institute and has received additional training in WRAP, Wellness Recovery Action Plan. We are so excited to have her join us as we conclude our Reunification Month celebration!

    Welcome to the conversation!

    (We apologize for the delay in releasing our June National Reunification Month episodes)

    If you are interested in joining our podcast please email us below. We are always looking for anyone with experience in the family well-being system (child welfare) from parents, attorneys, case managers, judges, foster parents and more.

    Email: thefwordfostercare@gmail.com  familiesanchor@gmail.com

    Twitter: @families_anchor @FWordFosterCare

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/familiesanchor
    (Georgia Virtual Parent Support Group information can be found on Facebook)

    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    • 1 hr 2 min
    Parent's Voice: Brittany's Reunification and Parent Partnership

    Parent's Voice: Brittany's Reunification and Parent Partnership

    We welcome Brittany, a mother of two beautiful boys, story of reunification and how she was able to partner with her Resource Parent (foster parent). Brittany's emotional story shares the ups and downs of child welfare. She shares what it was like to give birth while in the world of foster care and her journey towards recovery. Brittany  shares how the journey towards positive co-parenting started and how she has been able to continue a relationship with her Resource Parent.

    Welcome to the conversation!

    Email: thefwordfostercare@gmail.com  familiesanchor@gmail.com

    Twitter: @families_anchor @FWordFosterCare

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/familiesanchor
    (Georgia Virtual Parent Support Group information can be found on Facebook)

    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    • 1 hr
    Reunification Director: Samantha Walker

    Reunification Director: Samantha Walker

    (We are delayed in getting our remaining Reunification Month episodes out)

    This week we welcome Samantha Walker, Reunification Director for Georgia Division of Family and Children's Services. We discuss reunification month in June, types of reunification, conditions to return and why it's important to not only work and support children but families as a whole.

    Samantha N. Walker received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of New Orleans and a Master of Social Work degree from Southern University at New Orleans. After college, she began her career as a CPS investigator. In 2008, Samantha moved to Georgia and began working for the Division of Family and Children Services as a foster care case manager. During her twelve- year tenure with the Division, she has served in many capacities, including: foster care case manager; kinship assessor; permanency supervisor; permanency administrator; and permanency program director. She currently serves as the Division’s Reunification Director.

    Samantha is passionate about supporting families in the home whenever possible by exhausting all reasonable efforts prior to requesting legal custody of a child(ren). Providing consistent, quality services to parents along with helping families identify and create their own informal support networks are the cornerstones to supporting and encouraging reunification. She strongly believes in building consensus with the family at the onset of engagement, and that early-on identification of the safety issues leading to out-of-home care will assist in achieving reunification. When conditions for return are clearly
    established and communicated with all pertinent entities including families, courts, relatives, and partnership parents, successful reunification for families is highly achievable.

    Welcome to the conversation!

    Email: thefwordfostercare@gmail.com  familiesanchor@gmail.com

    Twitter: @families_anchor @FWordFosterCare

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/familiesanchor
    (Georgia Virtual Parent Support Group information can be found on Facebook)

    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    • 58 min
    Parent's Perspective: Erin's Powerful Reunification Story

    Parent's Perspective: Erin's Powerful Reunification Story

    Erin is a mother of four beautiful children. She has lived experience as a parent with child welfare involvement. Her parental rights were terminated and then REINSTATED after a period of incarceration and rehabilitation. She successfully reunified with her son in 2020. She is currently employed by the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network where she serves as the Training Coordinator for RESPECT Institute of Georgia. Her role is to assist peers in developing their own stories of recovery through a five-day training process. She is a Certified Peer Specialist-Mental Health as well as a Certified Peer Specialist-Addictive Diseases. She is formally trained in both Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid and has completed trauma-informed care and cultural competency training. She is a Whole Health and Wellness Coach. She is a mentor and advocate for her peers who are experiencing challenges related to mental health and substance use disorders. Erin is part of the GA Parent Advisory Council through GA DFCS.

    Erin was award the 2021 National Reunification Hero Award (she's a hero and more in our book!) https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/child_law/erin-thomas-hero.pdf

    Her story of reunification is a story of hope, health, faith, healing, resilience and more. You won't want to miss this!

    Resources for this week's episode:
    Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network
    www.gmhcn.org
    Georgia Council on Substance Abuse
    www.georgiasubstanceabuse.org
    CARES Warm Line *Substance Abuse 
    1-844-326-5400
    Peer2Peer Warmline *Mental Health
    1-888-945-1414
    www.peer2peer.center

    Welcome to the conversation!

    Email: thefwordfostercare@gmail.com  familiesanchor@gmail.com

    Twitter: @families_anchor @FWordFosterCare

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/familiesanchor
    (Georgia Virtual Parent Support Group information can be found on Facebook)

    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    • 1 hr 7 min
    Parent's Perspective: Carmen Youth Mental Health Awareness

    Parent's Perspective: Carmen Youth Mental Health Awareness

    Carmen is the owner of Families Advocating for Voices of Resilience, Inc. (FAVOR) she is a mother of four and a grandmother of two. Through her experience being a mother of children living with serious emotional disorders, she helps families maximize their fullest potential and empower them to have a voice in their treatment, education, and daily life. Carmen collaborates with numerous child service agencies which provides communities with different resources. She is a member of the GA Parent Advisory Council, part of the DeKalb Family Policy Council, co-chair of the Youth and Family workgroup. Carmen is also one of the founding parents of the DeKalb Access and Resource Center. She was also a founding parent and worked for the Youth Matters Program. Carmen uses her faith and resilience to serve youth and families throughout Georgia.

    *Due to technical difficulties we were not able to release this episode last month during Mental Health Awareness Month.

    Join our conversation as we dig deeper into resources for youth with mental health, and Carmen shares her family's journey through child welfare, mental health struggles, and how it empowered her to bring change to Georgia.

    https://favorfamilies.com/

    Welcome to the conversation!

    Email: thefwordfostercare@gmail.com  familiesanchor@gmail.com

    Twitter: @families_anchor @FWordFosterCare

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/familiesanchor
    (Georgia Virtual Parent Support Group information can be found on Facebook)

    Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

    • 56 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
10 Ratings

10 Ratings

Soliana Araya ,

Amazing Podcast on An Amazing Topic

This podcast shows you how troubling the foster care system can truly be. The guests show you a perspective that is truly mesmerizing. Great Podcast definitely recommend!

Momma_Empowerment ,

Powerful

Shines a light on what child welfare looks like. Shows all sides and brings light to child abuse prevention and what we all can do to keep children safe.

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