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| Monthly Newsletter Volume 7, Issue 8 |
August 2013
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Greetings!
It seems like each August over the past few years Angels is often in the midst of an exciting change from the opening of two offices to Angels' staff taking on new responsibilities. So, it seemed only fitting to not to let this August slip by quietly.
 I am very pleased to announce that Angels Foster Care of Santa Barbara was recently granted permission by the California State Department of Social Services to expand our services to young children as a treatment Foster Family Agency. This shift will allow Angels to enhance supports and services to Angels' children and their foster families, building on what has already been accomplished in the past six years.
Part of our transformation includes Stacy Peterson shifting job duties to focus on initial training and certification of families, continuing education and foster parent support and Betsy Nickels assuming a countywide primary case management role. Angels' families will soon receive more detailed information about exciting upcoming additions to our program and what they can expect in the next few months.
This change would not be possible without a plethora of people who have assisted and supported us along the way. Many thanks to the Angels Board of Directors, Angels staff, foster families and our community partners who, over the years, have stood behind our vision of a different type of foster care for the most vulnerable children in our community and committed themselves to not only making it happen, but ensuring its continual success.
- Jennifer Mills, LCSW
Director of Operations
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Angels Announcements
Newly certified families: welcome to Avery & Katie of South Santa Barbara County.
New Placements: We are pleased to announce three new placements this month. Thank you to North Santa Barbara County parents
Lynn & Dean and Rhonda & Mike for recently accepting baby girls, and special thanks to Avery and Katie for accepting an infant boy.
Adoptions: Congratulations to Heidi & Julio of South Santa Barbara County for their adoption of Alejandro! We are having a record year with 13 adoptions since January, and several more upcoming in the next few weeks!
Angels Stipends: Please note that monthly checks are processed on the 15th of each month and typically take 7-10 days to arrive in the mail. If you haven't received your child's check by the 25th of the month, or have any questions about payments, please contact your social worker.
"Clothing Allowances" for Angels Children: Around this time of year, Santa Barbara Child Welfare Services typically provides a small budget to be used for new clothing for Angels children. We anticipate receiving these funds in late August and will issue checks to Angels parents as soon as they are received by our office. Note that payments may be staggered due to when specific funds are received for each child.
Angels in the Community
We're looking for opportunities throughout Santa Barbara County to speak about Angels Foster Care and the urgent need for foster families. If you know of a local club, group, church or synagogue that would be interested in a presentation about Angels, please contact Ellen.
Social Media
Become a Facebook friend of Angels today and receive frequent posts about our latest news.
Twitter: follow us @AngelsFosterSB
Read the Angels Blog
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Angels Parent Education
REUNIFICATION SUPPORT GROUP: For current Angels foster parents
7:00 p.m., Santa Barbara Office
Please contact Stacy to RSVP or with questions: stacy@angelssb.com
ANGELS FOSTER PARENT PRE-CERTIFICATION TRAINING
If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining our next series of training classes, please have them call the Angels' office or pass their name along to us.
Next Series of Open Training Dates:
September 10, 12, 17, 19 & 24 from 5:30-9pm.
Location to be announced
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Social Worker Corner: A message from Stacy
Hello everyone! After taking time off to bond with my baby boy, and then easing back in to work with a modified schedule, I am happy to report I am officially back! I have enjoyed being the primary social worker for many of you over the past four years. I've been able to experience MANY different cases and walk with you through ups and downs.
As Jennifer mentioned above, I am coming back to a slightly different job and I wanted to take this opportunity to explain my new role. I will still continue to manage a minimal caseload and oversee ongoing cases. However, most of my time will be focused on helping us expand our program and move forward as an agency. We always need more foster parents!
Therefore, a large part of my new job will be focused on screening and training new foster parents and then making the final assessments as they go through the certification process. Also, I will be revising our continuing education program for foster parents and starting up regular support groups. I am very excited about this opportunity and I look forward to continuing to support you as foster parents!
-Stacy Peterson,
Social Worker
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Angels Contacts
(805) 884-0012 Social Worker Betsy Nickels, MA, EdM (805) 884-0012
Outreach Coordinator
Newsletter Editor
Ellen Dameron ellen@angelssb.com (805) 884-0012
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