Placing infants and toddlers in loving, stable and committed foster homes throughout Santa Barbara County

August 2015 Newsletter

After months of agonizing, weeks of revising, and a few very long days with fingers crossed, Angels Foster Care is pleased to announce that our new website is finally up and running! And not only did we take on the enormous task of re-designing and changing much of the content of our website, we also took this opportunity to change our domain name and website URL. From now on you can find us at www.angelsfostercare.org and all of our staff can be reached using the

angelsfostercare.org domain when using email (see the bottom of the newsletter for a complete list of new contact emails for our staff). This was a long time in the planning and executing, but we felt it was important that our identity reflect, more clearly, what we do and who we are.

In addition to the technical

improvements we wanted to make, we knew the content of our website needed to be updated and the appearance refreshed. We think you'll be pleased with the ease of use of the site, especially for anyone interested in becoming a foster parent or learning more about the process. In Phase 2 of the website roll out, our Angels foster parents will be able to access forms and documents and materials that can be uploaded or downloaded to keep current with licensing requirements. Special thanks and recognition must be given to Ellen Dameron, our South County Development Associate, for spearheading this project and managing this enormous task with so much organization, patience, and talented writing and editing. She really made it all happen so pat her on the back the next time you get a chance.

As I share the news about this wonderful change and new growth for our organization, I have to also share the personnel changes that have come our way. Betsy Nickels, our wonderful South County Social Worker, has made her way to Indiana where she is pursuing her dream of earning her PhD in Counseling Psychology. She was accepted to a prestigious program that will enable her to continue to develop her wonderful skills as a clinician and therapist. We, of course, are so sad to lose her on our team, but are pleased to know she will continue to do so much good work for people with her wonderful personality, integrity and compassion.

With Betsy's exit, we are able to open the doors to Stacey Anderson, MFT, as our new South County social worker, who brings her own set of skills, insights, and professional experiences to the children and families to our program. Stacey has jumped right into her work and is proving to be a wonderful addition to our clinical staff. Please read below as Stacey introduces herself to you.

So, as the saying goes, the only sure thing in this world is change and this summer has brought a bit of change to Angels Foster Care. We are happy with the changes and hope that you will also be!

-Jennifer Mills, LCSW

Operations Director

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Newly Certified Families - welcome to Eric and Sara of North Santa Barbara County!

New Placements: none to report this month.

Recent Adoptions: no new adoptions to report this month.

Thank you to our amazing foster families for opening their homes to Angels children!

WELCOME STACEY!

I was born and raised on the Central Coast. I attended UCSB for my Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and then Antioch University for my Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology. I became licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in December 2014. My work experience includes doing social work for Child Welfare Services, as a therapist with Family Service Agency, and then as a service coordinator for Tri-Counties Regional Center. I am really happy with the experience I gained in those settings, and I am even happier to be joining the Angels team!

Through my various jobs, especially at Child Welfare Services, I became familiar with the process that a child goes through when taken into protective custody. That process can vary widely for each child, but what I know is that placement through an agency like Angels is one that is handled with care, concern, and love. I am thrilled to be a part of that process and hope to support the stellar reputation that Angels has built for themselves, as well as supporting all of the wonderful Angels families and children!

- Stacey Anderson, MFT

Angels Foster Care Social Worker

3rd Annual Angels Foster Care Summer BBQ

It was wonderful seeing many Angels families and children at our annual summer BBQ in July. Thank you to the Kiwanis Club of the South Coast for cooking up another scrumptious BBQ for everyone to enjoy, and to Recipes Organic Bakery for supplying the wonderful fresh strawberry pie and homemade cookies.
Adults and kids enjoyed mingling, face

painting, playing with bubbles and

making hand-print graffiti art on our large poster. Not even a few sprinkles from the unusual summer rainstorm could dampen the fun spirit of the day. Looking forward to our next Angels gathering!

FOSTER PARENTS OF THE MONTH

Victoria and Jim

of North Santa Barbara County

Angels is very appreciative of the time you have spent working as foster parents, and the love and support you have given your Angels child!

WHAT'S COMING UP

Angels Foster Parent Pre-Certification Training

A fall training class is currently forming. If you are interested, be sure to submit your paperwork this summer in order to be considered. Note that pre-screening and certain paperwork are required before prospective foster parents may enroll in parent training classes. Please contact Social Worker Stacy Peterson at stacy@angelssb.com as soon as you are ready to begin the process.

YMCA Family Day in the Park

Sunday, August 16, 11-4pm

Waller Park, Santa Maria

Please stop by and visit the Angels booth at this annual day for families! The event features a car show, music and entertainment, a fishing derby and lots of great kid activities. Admission is free.

4th Annual Chalk Festival

Saturday, September 26, 10 - 5 pm

Historic Old Town Orcutt

Once again, Angels Foster Care is in the middle of the fun and will have an information booth at this unique festival. Stop by to visit while you are enjoying the delightful works of art done in chalk.

HOW TO SUPPORT ANGELS

Contribute to our 2105 Endowment Campaign

Support Angels far into the future and provide financial stability to the agency as the fund grows and pays out profits annually to support Angels' work. Our goal this year is to bring in $50,000 to qualify us for matching funds. Make a personal contribution, have your business donate a portion of sales or host a small gathering to secure further contributions. Contact Executive Director Meichelle Arntz to get started!

Sign up for Amazon Smile to benefit Angels

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Angels Foster Care every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the exact same prices, selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate .5% of the purchase price to Angels. All you need to do is visit http://smile.amazon.com on your computer or mobile device and select Angels as your designee. Register now and your future Amazon purchases will benefit Angels!

BULLETIN BOARD

Angels Continuing Education Reminder

All currently certified Foster Parents have been issued new credits online for 2015! Please log in to your FosterParentCollege.com account to access your credits. 10 hours of online education must be completed annually for all Foster Parents certified through Angels.

Angels Library

We have many useful books on parenting in our South County office library. Please stop by to browse our resources or contact your social worker if you would like us to select a book for you on a specific topic.

Out & About in the Community

We're available to speak throughout Santa Barbara County about Angels Foster Care and the urgent need for foster homes. If you know of a local club, group, church or synagogue that would like an Angels presentation, please contact Ellen for South County opportunities or contact Kelly for any events or projects in North County.