| Monthly Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 6 | June 2010 |
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 Greetings! School's out! What a fun time of year. We are eating dinner later and everything seems to relax at my house with the days being longer.
Please join us at our monthly picnics, this is a great way to keep up on your continuing education requirements and spend time with other parents who are doing the same work you are. It is a great way to support each other.
Also, on June 29th Angels is having a great fundraising event, the third movie in the Twilight series, Eclipse. Please join us for a fun evening of vampires. |
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Special Announcements
New Families
Welcome to Jim and Patti!
There are no new adoptions to report this month.
Preschool Scholarships Available
Child care scholarships for foster and fost/adopt children are now available at Hope 4 Kids Preschool & Infant/Toddler Center, located at 560 N. La Cumbre Rd. in Santa Barbara. Thanks to a generous grant from the William and Lottie Daniel Child Care Scholarship Fund and The Orfalea Foundations, they are now accepting scholarship applications to enroll preschool foster and fost/adopt children living in Santa Barbara County! One of the primary goals in establishing this grant is to give foster parents the ability to accept placement of a child based on appropriate fit and eliminate lack of child care funding as the cause for having to turn down a placement. Contact the school at (805) 682-2300 or www.hope4kidspreschool.org for more information.
Please become a friend of Angels on Facebook today! 
Angels Calendar
Sunday, June 20 - Happy Father's Day!
Angels Foster Family Picnics
Tuesday, June 22, 11am in South County
Wednesday, June 23, 11am in Mid/North County
Exact locations will be e-mailed to families two weeks prior to the picnics. Families are welcome to attend one or both picnics. Please RSVP as soon as possible to your social worker or to the office at 898-0901 so we can be sure we have enough food for everyone.
SUMMER FUNDRAISER!
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Advance Film Screening Event
Tuesday, June 29, 8pm
Arlington Theatre
Tickets: $25 General, $100 VIP
Tickets on sale now at the Arlington Theatre Ticket Agency, (805) 963-4408
VIP admission begins at 7pm and includes a pre-film dessert party, early admission to the film and preferred movie seating. See you there!
Angels Foster Parent Training - next sessions
July 16, 5:30-9pm; July 17, 8-4pm; July 21, 5:30-9pm
Sept 17, 5:30-9pm; Sept. 18, 9-5pm; Sept. 22, 5:30-9pm
If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining the class, please have them call the Angels' office or give us their name and number and we will call them.
A Court Minute: The Language of CWS Investigation
It begins when a child abuse report ("a referral") is made to Child Welfare Services (CWS). Anyone may report suspected child abuse report. Some people, such as medical professionals, teachers, and foster parents, are legally mandated to report suspicions of child abuse. The report or referral will document the allegations of abuse or neglect.
Once CWS determines that a referral needs to be investigated, there are two different response times for in-person investigation: immediate response (within 2 hours) or a 10-calendar day response. Once the investigation is complete, the CWS social worker will make any one of the following findings on the report:
Unfounded Findings on Allegations: This means the report was determined by the investigator who conducted the investigation to be false, to be inherently improbable, to involve an accidental injury or not to constitute child abuse or neglect as defined by law.
Inconclusive Findings on Allegations: This means the report was determined by the investigator, who conducted the investigation not to be unfounded, but in which the findings are inconclusive and there is insufficient evidence to determine whether child abuse or neglect has occurred.
Substantiated Findings on Allegations: This means a report was determined by the investigator who conducted the investigation, based upon some credible evidence, to constitute child abuse or neglect.
When the allegations have been substantiated and a decision has been made to put the child into protective custody, the CWS worker will file a dependency petition with the court. The child's parents are notified of the detention and informed of their right to a court hearing on this detention. The Detention Hearing occurs within 72 hours of a child being placed into protective custody.
- Jennifer |
From the desk of your Angels Social Worker
I recently had the pleasure of attending the annual "Beyond the Bench"
conference in San Diego. Judges, attorneys, social workers, and other professionals working with the child welfare system in California gathered to learn more about how to ensure the best interest of children is being upheld within our state. During one of the large group sessions an experienced judge asked everyone to take a moment and think about who has the hardest job in child welfare. The answer was not social workers, attorneys, or judges - it was foster parents. She asked everyone to stand on behalf of foster parents, the real heroes protecting children in need, and offer a round of applause. So - since there were no foster parents present at the conference, I wanted to make sure that giant kudos was passed on! Over 1,000 attendees cheered on their tremendous appreciation for you. I'm so proud and delighted to be working on behalf of the heroes!
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Angels Contacts 
Executive Director
Meichelle Arntz
Meichelle@angeslsb.com
(805) 898-0901
Program Director
North County
Social Worker
Jennifer L. Mills, LCSW
Jennifer@angelssb.com
(805) 264-4470
South County
Social Worker
Stacy Peterson, MSW
Stacy@angelssb.com
(805) 898-0901
Recruiter
Outreach Coordinator
Newsletter Editor
Ellen Dameron
ellendameron@cox.net
(805) 886-0390
Angels Office
Phone:(805) 898-0901
Fax: (805) 682-6649
3905 State Street,
#7-115
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
info@angelssb.com
www.angelssb.com
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Ask Dr. Charish 
Dr. Charish is better known as Charish Barry, MD, a local pediatric hospitalist with Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and a pediatrician in private practice (www.petitepediatrics.com). She is also a member of the Angels Board of Directors. Please e-mail her with your questions.
Sleep and Mental Health
Sleep has become a casualty of modern life. The 2003 National Survey of Children's Health showed that 15 million US children and teens get inadequate sleep. Teenagers aren't' the only ones accumulating sleep deficits. Adults get about 10% less sleep every night than our great grandparents did and bout 60 to 90 minutes less than what is desirable. Workers with long commutes get up earlier and arrive home later, limiting the number of hours available for sleep (and increasing the risk of nodding off behind the wheel). Even once they make it to bed, more than 15% of adults in the United States experience insomnia or have trouble sleeping.
If you are excessively sleepy or you just don't feel well rested in the morning, what can you do about it? Fortunately, there are many things we can do to improve sleep as individuals, family members, and a community. Here's a checklist to help you get a good night's sleep.
Sleeping Environment
- Get comfy. Make sure your bed and bedding are comfortable.
- Remove distractions. Get the TV out of the bedroom. Avoid watching or listening to upsetting, violent, or scary materials within 2 hours of bedtime. That includes the news, conflict-filled talk shows, and high-anxiety dramas. Use the bed only for sleep and intimacy, not for TV, reading, working, talking on the phone, or playing electronic games.
- Soothing sounds. Listen to relaxing music, sound from nature, or the sound of silence. Keep the noise level down. Consider earplugs if you can't control the environment.
- Security and safety. Before you head for bed, make sure your doors are locked, the stove is off, the iron in unplugged, the water taps are turned off, and there are no bogeymen under bed (just kidding on this last one, but it does help to go through a routine to ensure you've done what you can to ensure your personal safety).
- Darker is better. Turn the light off. Darkness promotes sleep and healthy levels of melatonin, an important hormone that regulates sleep and wakefulness.
- Keep it cool. Cool room temperatures promote sleep and minimize interfering itchy sensations.
- Smell the roses, or better yet, lavender or chamomile. Soothing scents such as lavender have proven effective in helping people fall asleep, even in noisy intensive care units.
- Warm it up. A person warmed passively by a hot bath or sauna (not from intense exercise) falls asleep more quickly than someone who is cold. Even just a hot foot bath has proven helpful to ensuring good night's sleep in a scientific study; so even if for some reason you can't soak your entire body, consider a warm foot bath before bed to help you drift into dreamland. Keep the body warm and the room cool.
Sleeping Routines
- Consider eating a light snack containing a protein (eg, seeds, nuts, low-fat milk, hard-boiled eggs) and a complex carbohydrate (eg, whole grain cracker or toast, slices of fruit or vegetables) within 2 hours before bed.
- Take a warm bath or shower within an hour before bedtime.
- Make it routine. Head to bed at the same time daily.
- Read something soothing, reassuring, or inspiring. Save the action/adventure stories, headline news, and murder mysteries for daytime reading.
- Manage your stress constructively. Practice mediation, autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, prayer, counting your blessings, extending good will to others, or other relaxing stress management techniques.
- Keep a journal. Write down or record any worries, anger, irritations, or other negative perceptions. Get them out of your head, set them aside, and let them wait until tomorrow. Write down or record a list of things you appreciate or for which you are grateful. Make notes about little kindnesses you have observed in others or offered to others. Did someone smile at you today? Offer a handshake? Ask how you were? Open a door? Let you go first? Just noting small acts of kindness can help us feel better and more connected to other people. This helps us feel more positive and secure.
During the Day
- Limit daytime naps to 45 minutes, maximum.
- Expose yourself to bright light in the morning; this helps set your biological clock so you'll be tired in the evening. Avoid bright lights before bed.
- Exercise during the day; yoga or other slow, meditative exercises may be helpful in the afternoon or evening.
- Check with your doctor. Make sure you can breathe easily at night; congestions and obstructions to breathing reduce restful sleep. If you snore, ask your doctor to check for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. If you have a painful or itchy condition, discuss optimal management with your health professionals. Review your medications (if any) to make sure they aren't the culprit.
What Else Can You Do?
- Consider a cup of calming herbal tea such as chamomile, lemon balm, hops, or passion flower.
- Talk with your clinician about trying valerian, melatonin, tryptophan, or 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) supplements.
- Get a massage or at least a hand, foot, shoulder, or back rub from someone you trust.
- Consider trying acupuncture, especially if pain makes it hard for you to sleep. (Sleepiness and a sense of calm and relaxation are side effects of acupuncture.)
- Ask your clinician about cranial electrotherapy stimulation or electrosleep.
What to Avoid
- Avoid alcohol within 4 hours before bedtime (alcohol use just before bed can lead to rebound wakefulness 2-4 hours later).
- Avoid caffeine 4 to6 hours before bedtime.
- Avoid heavy or spicy foods 4 hours before bedtime.
- Avoid strenuous exercise within 2 hours of bedtime.
- Avoid stimulating TV, electronic games, and arguments within an hour of bedtime.
If you can't fall asleep within 20 minutes, get out of bed, leave the bedroom, and try one of these strategies - snack, warm bath, soothing music, inspiring book, making a list or jotting in a diary.
- from HealthyChildren.org
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The Last Word....
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection."
- Sigmund Freud |
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