Dear Caregivers,
Can you believe it? The holiday season is here! Last month we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our LifeSet program that serves youth age 17 to provide intensive case management services and interventions to help youth achieve their goals for self-sufficiency. DFS has served almost 200 youth in the LifeSet program this past year. Did you know that incorporating youth engagement into daily child welfare practice can start with a simple conversation? Try to listen to what the young person has to say, what their goals are, and how they feel about foster care and adoption. Create an environment where they can be honest and ask questions. Youth are the experts of their own lives, so let them partner with you in permanency planning to make decisions about their life.
We recently had the honor of celebrating National Adoption Awareness Month where we focused on the adoption of children currently in foster care. We anticipate that approximately 572 children will find their permanent, loving family through adoption by the end of this month. This means dozens of selfless families have taken the step to give children a place to call home this year and throughout the holiday season.
Speaking of the holidays, I’d like to share a few tips for celebrating this special time of year as a foster family. I hope you find the ideas below helpful.
· Prepare children in your care for the holidays in your home.
Knowing what to expect will help the children to decrease anxiety around the holidays.
· Prepare family and friends before you visit. Let people know in advance
about new family members in your home.
· Remember confidentiality. You may receive well intended, but prying
questions from those you know over the holidays. Think in advance about how
to answer these questions, while maintaining the child’s confidentiality.
· Have extra presents ready to offset differences. Extra presents may be
addressed “from Santa”, even for older youth, to help offset a larger number of
gifts other children may receive at the same time. Children often keep count of
the number of gifts received (right or wrong) and use it to compare with other kids,
so sometimes quantity is important.
Thank you for the tireless work you do to help our children secure lifelong connections, both legally and emotionally. We can’t do this life-changing work without you. Let’s continue to support our children, their health and well-being. Enjoy the holidays!
Sincerely,
Tim Burch
Clark County Administrator of Human Services
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Angel Tree Celebration
This year, gift distribution will take place at Cashman Center - 850 Las Vegas Blvd S, on Saturday, December 11, 2021 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Please bring the child(ren) with you as this will be a festive occasion with holiday surprises. This is a drive-through event, so you can fully participate from the comfort of your own vehicle. Registration is closed all participants must be registered.
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A direct and compelling Webinar:
Surviving and Thriving with FAS, NAS and Other Exposures
December 8th and 15th at 10:00am-11:00am PST
Trust-Based Relational Intervention
Parenting is challenging, particularly when you are parenting a child from a hard place. Children from hard places include children who were born prematurely, have been abused and neglected, have been adopted internationally, and have special needs. This training will focus on understanding the meaning of child behaviors, the brain chemistry of a child from a hard place, and how to help these children (and your family) heal and connect. Participants will learn tools they can put into action with their children immediately.
December 1st and 8th at 6:00pm-9:00pm PST
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Holiday Stress Tips and 5 Ways to Support Children |
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Shopping, decorating, traveling...the holidays can be wonderful AND stressful! Here are some tips for Caregivers.
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How does the role of the CASA volunteer differ from that of the Children's Attorney Project (CAP)?
CASA volunteers advocate for best interest, while the children’s attorneys advocate for their client wishes, as well as to protect the children’s legal rights. CASA volunteers do not provide legal representation in the courtroom. While CASA volunteers may also tell the Judge about the child’s wants and desires, their primary role is to represent the child’s best interests. CASA volunteer are required to submit a written report to the courts every six month, whereas, attorneys do not have this requirement.
For additional information, contact the CASA program at:
Phone: 702.455.4306
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DID YOU KNOW?
An EPSDT (early periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment) exam MUST be scheduled within 7 days of a child entering foster care and periodically thereafter (see the screening schedule here). You are encouraged to invite and inform biological parents to participate and attend appointments unless prohibited from doing so by the case manager. Additionally, it is your responsibility to keep the agency updated on medical, dental, vision, behavioral health, and emergency appointments for a child in your care. In order for the agency to create and maintain an accurate “medical passport” for all children, please fill out the Monthly Medical History Form for Foster Children and email it to fosterchildmedform@dcfs.nv.gov, even if you have no updates for the previous month!
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Peggy's Attic Is in need of donations.
Please call 702-455-5424 for an appointment to drop of your gently used children's clothing.
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Independent Living Corner |
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T he ETV program is now being managed by Social Services- Step Up program. For more information, please email ETV at the address provided: ETV@ClarkCountyNV.gov
Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada announces the launch of RISE, a free mobile app to provide up-to-date information and resources for young adults in Clark County, in particular youth who are transitioning out of foster care or have already transitioned, homeless youth, and youth on the brink of homelessness.
RISE is an easy-to-use mobile app with links to housing information, food assistance, employment resources, education and more in the Clark County area. The app is available on Google Play and the App Store.
Nevada Partners STEM program is launching in November 2021. If you reside in North Las Vegas, you are eligible to participate. 24 seats are ready to be filled. 8 -week community training courses are offered in the areas of Solar Energy, Hydroponics, 3D printing and Drones. A certificate of skills training will be provided upon completion. For more information, please contact your IL worker. Below is a link to a video about the program.
The Children’s Service Guild scholarships are available to youth. Six (6) $2,500 scholarships can be awarded to high school seniors who are going to attend a trade school or college. They must apply before their 18th birthday!! Applications can be filled out on-line starting October 1, 2021 thru January 31. 2022 with the Public Education Foundation Scholarship program. To find the scholarship information and application go online to https://thepef.org/scholarships and locate the Children's Service Guild Scholarship.
Requirements are that you are a senior in a public or private school in Clark County, Nevada. The student must have overcome personal challenge(s) and been touched by the court system (Department of Family Services and Department of Juvenile Justice Services). Applicants must plan to attend a trade school or college upon graduation from high school, have at least a 2.0 unweighted GPA and submit the application prior to their 18th birthday. They also must have two letters of recommendation from non-family members. One letter needs to be from a person involved with the family and juvenile justice system.
FAAYT is looking for members please click here to see more.
For youth attending college please be informed of the following deadlines for filing your FAFSA. Priority deadline for UNLV is November 1, 2021, the earlier youth apply the better for access to the most funding resources.
Academic year FAFSA open date Federal FAFSA deadline
2021-22 Oct. 1, 2020 June 30, 2022
2022-23 Oct. 1, 2021 June 30, 2023
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CHILDREN'S SERVICES GUILD |
Happy holidays to everyone!
We had our 46th Annual Holiday Boutique and Raffle on Nov. 6th, 2021 and it was a huge success!
So nice to be back in action after 2020! Thank you to all who attended, donated to us, and bought and sold raffle tickets. This year
Children's Service Guild also distributed thanksgiving dinners to DFS and DJJS foster families,
Our Scholarship Program:
We are reaching out to you to inform you, the children and their parents that you work with, about our scholarship program. We are offering six (6) $2,500 scholarships for high school seniors who are going to attend a trade school or college. They must apply before their 18th birthday!! Application'sCican be filled out on-line starting October 1, 2021 thru January 31. 2022 with the Public Education Foundation Scholarship program.
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Hi Everyone.
Please use the attached versions of the Educational Rights and Understanding the Needs Document for dissemination, We made some minor changes.
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NORMALCY RESPITE REIMBURSEMENT |
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We received funding to reimburse normalcy respite providers that are identified by foster parents. Funding will be available starting today and will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis, until the funds are depleted. This funding will ONLY be offered for normalcy respite to strongly encourage the use of familiar caregivers or peer-to-peer support versus stranger care.
Click HERE for more information.
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Day Camp Options for Families / Children
City of Las Vegas:
Clark County Parks & Recreation:
Boys and Girls Club of Southern Nevada:
Las Vegas YMCA:
City of Henderson:
City of North Las Vegas:
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Canyon Ridge Supports Caregivers
Open to all foster caregivers (licensed, unlicensed, relative, fictive kin) Please make sure to register your register yourself and each child that will be participating. Registration closes once all slots are filled. Must register no later than Monday, December 13, 2021. Night out is Friday, December 17, 2021
What Do You Get Out of it?
Foster Parent Night Out -
Friday December 17,2021
Being a Foster Parent is a tremendous responsibility and help to our community. We understand that with the increased responsibility it is difficult to find regular respite care. In the third Friday of every month, from 6p - 9p. Canyon Ridge Christian Church would like to serve the foster parents of our community by providing free respite care. During that time, we will provide your children and your foster children a fun, safe and nurturing environment so that you can take some time to rest, catch a movie, go out with your spouse and more! Space is limited to a first come, first serve basis. Please drop off your children between 6:00p - 6:30p as the doors will closed after that time for safety purposes. Fill out the registration form to sign-up today!
Please note - feed your children before drop-off (we will provide snacks, but not dinner).
Open for children ages birth - 5th grade.
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Canyon Ridge
Support Groups
- Foster Kinship Support Group
- 2nd Tuesdays of the month
- 6 pm - 7:30 pm
- Room C110
- Childcare Provided for 0 - 5th grade
- Foster Support Groups
- 1st, 2nd, 4th Fridays of the month
- 6:30 pm - 8:45 pm
- Childcare Provided for 0 - 5th grade
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Family Support Groups
There are a variety of support groups available monthly for foster, kinship and adoptive families.
Foster Change has compiled all these wonderful resources into one useful guide.
You can view the list here.
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OMBUDSMAN SERVICES
The Mission of the Clark County Ombudsman for the Department of Family Services and Clark County Social Service is to review, resolve, track and report complaints in an effort to add increased accountability and facilitate systemic improvements to the local child welfare and Social Service systems.
For more information, call
702.455.1046.
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What is Quality Parenting Initiative? |
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Building quality relationships through support and partnership for the well-being and support of our children.
Enhance Your Skills
Various trainings are offered in the community to help enhance caregivers' capacity to parent. Please click on the links below to learn more about exciting training opportunities from which you can benefit.
The QPI Clark County Values
- Children do best in families
- Engaging our community
- Supporting & strengthening families
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