A blog with information on happenings, discounts etc for foster families out of the Salem/ Cape Ann Department of Children and Families office. DON'T FORGET TO CHECK BACK OFTEN! BLOG IS UPDATED 2-3 TIMES A WEEK! AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ARCHIVES. YOU CAN SEE PAST POSTINGS!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
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Friday, April 29, 2011
News from Danvers CARES
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Danvers CARES | 64 Cabot Road | Danvers | MA | 01923 |
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Discounts for summer activities
Discounts for summer activities
Water Country passes will be available again this year. This year’s admission is going up to $37.99. The pass price is $29.00. Tickets may be purchased from Carla. Cash only please. These passes will be available all summer. Passes are valid with no expiration date. (Children under 48 inches are $24.99 at the door).
I will also be able to get tickets at presale price of $26. I need to have your order and payment by June 15th and I will order for the $26 price. Later orders can be made but with advance notice and minimum purchase.
Six Flags passes will be available this year. The regular admission is $44.99. The pass price is $28.00. Tickets may be purchased from Carla. Cash only please. These passes will be available all summer.
We now also have York's Wild Kingdom. The regular admission is $16.25 for children and $21.25 for adults. The pass price is only $11.00These tickets can be used from Memorial Day to Labor Day. (children under 4 years old are $4.75 and sold at the gate) Parking is free. This includes the zoo, shows, amusement rides etc.
Santa’s Village Discounts
This season, we are offering 1/2 off admission or $12. The regular admission is $24. per person; children ages 3 and younger are always free of charge. This includes all the fun-filled rides and fabulous shows for the day. If you arrive within 3 hours of closing, you are entitled to return any other day of the season--including Christmastime.
25% off for our families!
Please send me an e-mail for our online store link and password!
We always have the free pass for up to 6 people at
Stone Zoo
And
Call Carla to reserve
for any day.
It’s an actual pass that needs to be picked up and returned
Training Canceled
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
info re: Clothing cuts
Dear MAFF Board Members:
The House Ways and Means Committee released their fiscal year 2012 budget recommendations this week. The news for foster children and other kids and families in need of DCF assistance is not good.
Funding for DCF has been cut by more than $20 million from FY 11 levels bringing the cuts since FY 08 to nearly $60 million.
If allowed to stand- these cuts will mean among other things, cutting one of the quarterly clothing allowances, a 25% reduction in coats, shoes, underwear etc…for foster children.
In addition, tution and fee waivers for DCF involved children to attend State Colleges and Universities is funded at less than half of what is needed for a full year
But it’s not over yet!
Representatives Fox, Donato, O’Day and Khan are taking the lead to sponsor two amendments; 1) to restore the quarterly clothing allowance 2) to fully fund the tuition and fee waiver.
Even with their strong advocacy, getting these amendments passed is going to be an uphill battle. To win it we need every Representative to hear from foster parents about why these supports are so vital to foster children.
Please spread the word and get people calling and e-mailing their Representatives today to ask them to sign on to co-sponsor the amendments filed by Representative Fox to 1) to restore the quarterly clothing allowance and 2) to fully fund the tuition and fee waiver. Representaives can continue to sign on up until the budget is finalized during the week of April 25th. For your reference a contact list for House members is attached.
Not sure who your Representative is?
Go to: www.malegislature.gov/People/FindMyLegislator
Not sure what to say?
- When you reach the Represenative or their aide, tell them your name and your address- knowing you live in their area is important to them.
- Tell them that you are calling to ask them to sign on to amendments filed by Representative Fox to 1) restore the quarterly clothing allowance and 2) to fully fund the tuition and fee waiver.
- Tell them why the amendments are needed.Talking points on the two issues which you will find below may be helpful to you in doing that.
- Then make it personal to the lives of the kids who are or have been in your homes.
- If they have questions you can't answer, tell them you will get back to them and then do. Feel free to call if you need help finding the answer.
- Close by thank them for their time and support
- We can’t cut our way out of the budget crunch by cutting clothing off the backs of foster kids!
- Think about this: If a parent failed to adequately clothe their children and instead spent the money other things we would call that neglect. But when the Commonwealth fails to provide proper clothing for the foster kids they call it fiscal responsiblity.
- As a foster parent I stand in for all of the responsible adults in Massachusetts who are collectively responsible for foster kids. Together, we, like all other parents have a legal responsibility to provide our children with the basics. Cutting food, clothing and shelter for foster kids must be OFF LIMITS!
What the 25% reduction means in terms of $$
Age | Current Yearly Clothing Allowance | Annual Clothing Allowance after HWM cut of 25% | Clothing allowance per month after HWM cut of 25% |
0-5 | $428 | $321 | $26.75 |
6-11 | $724 | $543 | $45.25 |
12-17 | $1128 | $846 | $70.50 |
- Most often kid’s arrive at foster homes with nothing.
- Things wear out. When it comes to kids, stains, holes, tattered sleves and and worn shoe soles are a fact of life!
- Kids Grow! Most go through 2-3 complete changes in clothing and shoe size each year.
A sampling of what clothing costs:
Baby
Diapers (box of 200) $40 | Receiving Blankets $15 | Onesies 5 pack $7 |
Infant socks 8 pack: $10 | Pajama set $12.99 | Outfit $10 |
Winter Coat $20 | Fleece Jacket $10 |
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5 year old Girl
Canvas Sneakers $15 | Flip-flops $5.00 | Underwear(pack of 5) $8 |
Underwear(pack of 5) $8 | Girls swim suit $15 | Tights $9 |
PJ set $10.00 | Sweatshirt: $5 | Tee shirt $ 6 |
Light weight coat: $20 | Jeans: $13 | Rain coat: $8 |
Heavy jacket: $25 |
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Teenage Boy
Sneakers $40 and up | Outdoor Boots $30 | Underwear (9 pack) $12 |
Athletic Socks (6pack) $10 | T-shirt 7.99 | Polo Shirt $15 |
Jeans $25 and up | Long sleeved Shirt $16 | Sweatshirt $20 |
Fall Coat: $20 | Winter Coat $40 |
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TUITION AND FEE WAIVERS
We can't continue to ignore our obligation to help DCF involved kids to attend State Colleges and Universities. These are public schools and no one deserves the chance they provide more than a kid in DCF care.
- Full waiver of tuition and fees at state colleges for youth who age out of the care of the Department of Children and Families (DCF), are adopted from DCF care or are under DCF sponsored guardianship was approved by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor in 2008. To date full funding for this waiver has never been provided.
- Broken promises made by adults are a fact of life for most DCF youth. But let's show them that some adults do keep their word by keeping our promise to help these youth get the education they need and deserve!
- Tuition and fee waiver programs for other deserving individuals have been fully funded. This tells foster youth that they are not as valuable as others in the state.
- Every parent knows that our kids continue to need help for years after they turn 18. Kid’s who age out of DCF don’t have a parent to turn to. So we as a community need to step up to provide them with basic assistance to get the education they need to stay on a path to becoming healthy productive adults and eventually capable parents.
- The amount of funding provided has supported 1 semester per year per child. As a result, any child without alternative sources of support has been forced to prolong college over additional years, some have abandoned the idea of college as viable option for them.
- Attendance at a post secondary school is one of the most reliable predictors of a productive and successful adulthood. If we don’t support these youth now we will need to support them later and at a far greater financial and social cost
Training May 3rd
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Free training on Helping Children with Challenging Behavior
Hi everyone! MSPCC and Adoptive Families Together are thrilled to be able to offer an exciting, educational and FREE Training by the THINK:KIDS program at Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday, May 9, 2011 from 9:30am-12:30pm. Please see below for details and please register early!
Lori Baeumler
Program Coordinator for Adoptive Families Together, Kid's Net and KInnections
MSPCC 157 Green St. Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Phone 617-983-5800 or 617-587-1522
Fax 617-983-5840
lbaeumler@mspcc.org
www.mspcc.org
Think Differently: A New Approach for Understanding and Helping Children with Challenging Behavior
Richard B. Simches Research Center • Massachusetts General Hospital
185 Cambridge Street • 3rd Floor Auditorium • Boston, MA.
Monday, May 9th, 2011
9:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.
This workshop is open to professionals and parents served by MSPCC and its affiliates.
Funding for this training was made possible by a grant from
The Jason Hayes Foundation
Description of Workshop:
This three hour workshop provides an overview of the approach described in the book: Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach. The innovative, evidence based approach provides a new way of understanding and helping these kids. Challenging behavior has traditionally been thought of as willful and goal oriented. This has led to approaches that focus on motivating greater compliance through the use of consequences. Think:Kids has some very different ideas about why these kids struggle. Research over the past 30 years, demonstrates that for the majority of these kids, their challenges result from a lack of crucial thinking skills. Our approach focuses on identifying and teaching the specific lacking skills that account for each child’s struggles. The latter is accomplished largely through helping children and adults learn to solve problems and resolve disputes collaboratively and in a mutually satisfactory manner.
The workshop will provide an overview of the approach, provide resources for further study and suggest some ways adults can begin to shift their thinking and approach to foster positive relationships with these children and encourage growth in areas of flexibility, frustration tolerance and problem solving.
WORKSHOP AGENDA
9:00-9:30 | Registration |
9:30-10:15 | Philosophy and the Power of Conventional Wisdom |
10:15-10:45 | Pathways to Challenging Behavior: Identifying Triggers and Lagging Thinking Skills |
10:45-11:00 | Break |
11:15-11:30 | The Plans: Your Three Options for Responding to Problems Break |
11:30-12:15 | Plan B: Solving Problems and Teaching Skills Collaboratively |
12:15-12:30 | Question and Answer/Further Resources |
WORKSHOP DETAILS
Questions | Lori Baeumler (MSPCC) at: lbaeumler@MSPCC.org, or Beth Edelstein (Think:Kids) at: BEdelstein@thinkkids.org, 617-643-9331.
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Location | 3rd Floor Auditorium, Richard B. Simches Research Center, located in Charles River Plaza, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, with easy access to the Commuter Rail (North Station), MBTA Green or Orange Line (North Station) or the MBTA Red Line (Charles St). |
Parking | Parking in the Charles River Plaza is costly (about $28). The North Station Garage offers daily rates of $20, with a short walk (5-10 minutes) to the Richard B. Simches Research Center. Exit garage and make your way (up Lomasney or Causeway St.) to Staniford Street. Just past 50 Staniford, turn right onto O’Connell Rd and bear left for the covered walkway for access to the Charles River Plaza. Turn right when coming out of the walkway and the building will be on your right, just past the CVS. Go to: http://boston.bestparking.com/index.php#1 to check rates at other area garages. |
Think Differently: A New Approach for Understanding and Helping Children with Challenging Behavior
Richard B. Simches Research Center • Massachusetts General Hospital
185 Cambridge Street • 3rd Floor Auditorium • Boston, MA.
Monday, May 9th, 2011
9:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.
WORKSHOP REGISTRATION
Please fax completed form to 617-643-9715,
email to BEdelstein@thinkkids.org,
or mail to:
Beth Edelstein
Director Outreach and Support
Think:Kids
101 Merrimac Street, Suite 250
Boston, MA. 02114
(Please print clearly and use a separate form for multiple registrants)
Name:___________________________________________________________________________________________________
I will be attending as a: (check all those that apply): ___ Parent ___ Clinician
Other____________________________________
Position/Title (if applicable):_____________________________________________________________________________
Organization Name (if applicable): ______________________________________________________________________
Address:________________________________________________________________________________________________
City:___________________________________________State:_________________Zip:___________________
Email:________________________________________ Phone:_______________________________________
Funding for this training was provided by
The Jason Hayes Foundation
www.jasonhayesfoundation.org
Think:Kids
101 Merrimac Street, Suite 250, Boston, MA, 02114
www.thinkkids.org • 617-643-6030