Prospective foster and adoptive parents are welcome at any Open House listed on our website. Please call one of the regional coordinators listed at the bottom of this newsletter or

for more information or to schedule an individual appointment.

 Click here for the most current listing of open houses across the state.

 Click on the calendar at right to see FAM events. 

Check out all the great information we've been posting on Facebook recently! Below is a small sample. 

•  IRS Auditing Thousands of Adoptive Families  Families claiming the Adoption Tax Credit are being audited at an alarming rate. 
• DCF Taps First Latino Deputy Commissioner
  Congratulations to Fernando Muniz, new Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Children and Families.   
• 2nd ANNUAL MERIDEN FAMILY FUN DAY: "Raising awareness about Childhood Obesity" being held on June 1 from 11AM- 5PM at Hubbard Park in Meriden FREE ADMISSION 
• Teenage Brains - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine Time for Tuesday Trainings! (Available only on our Facebook page) In addition to reading this article and filling out the form (link in our Notes Section), you will need to take the quiz, "What's Your Risk Tolerance?" The link appears on the left side of the article. Please answer the questions thinking about YOUR OWN behavior and thoughts when you were a teen. We think you will find it interesting to discover how much of a risk-taker you were when you were young! 
• Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder in Kids: Here's the DSM-5's Controversial Update: Interesting new addition to the DSM-5... What do you think? 
• ABC Family Releases Preview of "The Fosters" Check out this new show on ABC Family Channel. "The Fosters"centers on two moms as they raise a multi-ethnic family with foster and biological kids. How cool is that! And better yet - our own Sixto Cancel ( former foster youth from CT) has been asked to mentor one of the cast.  

  

Each month one of our member agencies feature a "star" whose service to children in foster care deserves special recognition.

 
Stars receive a small gift from FAM and a certificate of appreciation from the nominating agency.  This month, we share a family from our partner, Family and Children's Aid in Danbury. 

Karen and Fran Gallagher became licensed as a therapeutic foster family in February 2011. They are a very close-knit and supportive family. They have six biological children varying in age from 15 to 26. They believe that foster care is a natural extension of support and wanted to provide for a foster child just as they did, and continue to do, for their biological children. The decision to pursue foster care was obvious for them. The Gallagher family's first placement was in June 2011. Right from the start she was treated as part of the family and they were thrilled to have gained another family member. They enjoyed incorporating their foster daughter on vacations, holidays and everyday activities.

The Gallaghers have always supported positive relationships between their foster daughter and her biological family, including visitation with extended family members at the Gallagher home as well as in the community. In April 2012, the Gallaghers eagerly accepted another foster placement-their foster daughter's younger biological sister! As with their first placement, they immediately welcomed her as part of the family! The Gallaghers are highly involved in both of their foster daughters' lives. As parents they enjoy watching them grow, discover, and do new things. The Gallaghers are committed to adopting their foster daughters and are hoping to begin the adoption process this year.

The Gallaghers are always willing to lend a helping hand, providing respite and assisting other Family and Children's Aid families in any way they can. We would like to thank Karen and Fran Gallagher, as well as their entire family, for their continuous dedication and support to Family and Children's Aid. We appreciate all that they do and look forward to our continued work with them.

Angela Bonaiuto

Therapeutic Foster Care Case Manager
Family and Children's Aid

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet of May 2011, Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person. Symptoms may occur several times in a day or week in affected individuals, and for some people become worse during physical activity or at night. During an asthma attack, the lining of the bronchial tubes swell, causing the airways to narrow and reducing the flow of air into and out of the lungs. Recurrent asthma symptoms frequently cause sleeplessness, daytime fatigue, reduced activity levels and school and work absenteeism. Asthma has a relatively low fatality rate compared to other chronic diseases.

The fundamental causes of asthma are not completely understood. The strongest risk factors for developing asthma are a combination of genetic predisposition with environmental exposure to inhaled substances and particles that may provoke allergic reactions or irritate the airways, such as:

• indoor allergens (for example, house dust mites in bedding, carpets and stuffed furniture, pollution and pet dander)
• outdoor allergens (such as pollens and molds)
• tobacco smoke
• chemical irritants in the workplace
• air pollution.

Below you will find an article titled "Smoke-Free Laws Tied To Drop in Child Asthma Attacks" which correlates the effect that smoking and second-hand smoke have on a person suffering with this chronic illness.

LONDON (Reuters) Jan 21 - Introducing laws banning smoking in enclosed public places can lead to swift and dramatic falls in the number of children admitted to hospital suffering asthma attacks, according to a study in England published on Monday. Researchers at Imperial College London found there was a 12.3% fall in hospital admissions for childhood asthma in the first year after laws against smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces came into effect in July 2007. Similar anti-smoking legislation has been introduced in many other countries, including in the United States where it has also been linked to a reduction in childhood asthma emergencies. "The findings are good news ... and they should encourage countries where public smoking is permitted to consider introducing similar legislation," said Christopher Millett from Imperial's school of public health, who led the study. Asthma affects more than 300 million people worldwide and is the world's most common children's chronic illness. Symptoms include wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing and chest tightness. In Britain, it affects one in every 11 children. Before the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces was implemented in England, hospital admissions for children suffering severe asthma attacks were increasing by 2.2% a year, peaking at 26,969 in 2006/2007, the researchers found.

That trend reversed immediately after the law came into effect, with lower admission rates among boys and girls of all ages. There were similar reductions among children in wealthy and poor neighborhoods, both in cities and in rural areas. The effect was equivalent to 6,802 fewer hospital admissions in the first three years after the law came into effect, the team wrote in the journal Pediatrics. "There is already evidence that eliminating smoking from public places has resulted in substantial population health benefits ... and this study shows that those benefits extend to ... childhood asthma," Millett said in a statement. A study published in 2009 also found the ban on smoking in public places in England led to a swift and significant drop in the number of heart attacks, saving the national health service 8.4 million pounds ($13.3 million) in the first year. "Previous studies have also suggested that the smoke-free law changed people's attitudes about exposing others to second-hand smoke and led more people to abstain from smoking voluntarily at home and in cars," Millett said, (Medscape 2013.)

Asthma can begin at any age, but most children will have their first episode at the age of 5. If your child has any signs of breathing difficulty, have him or her evaluated by their pediatrician immediately.

Melody Jones, RN BSN

CT Department of Children and Families