Those who care for children who have been abused and neglected, whether social workers, advocates, mentors, or parents, know that the holidays can be a stressful time for these children. The good news is there are ways to make it easier for them if we know what to do. We wish the best for each family over this holiday season!
Below are websites and other resources to assist you as you help the child in your care heal, manage, and cope during this time.
Four Adopted Siblings, Lots of Stress
Foster Children and Your Extended Family During the Holidays
Yearly Grieving Struggles
Fostering Perspectives
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FY 2013 Medically Fragile Training Dates
The remaining dates for initial and ongoing Medically Fragile trainings are available here.
For more information contact Jessica Fletcher, TRC Associate Director.
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November is Adoption Awareness Month
November is National Adoption Awareness
Month. The primary purpose of this month is to raise awareness about adoption, adoptive families, and children who need adoptive homes.
In recognition and celebration of Adoption Awareness Month, we encourage all of you who are touched by adoption to please wear a white ribbon during the month of November. If someone asks you about the ribbon, share with them your experience or knowledge about adoption. Not only does this provide a positive public image of adoptions, but it may also help in the recruitment of families.
We will be celebrating adoption on Thursday, November 1st in Frankfort at the Forever Families Appreciation Reception. This event will honor some outstanding adoptive families from across the Commonwealth.
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Meet our new Adoptive Parent Liaisons
Paul and Jan Huber began their foster and adoptive journey in Washington State twenty years ago. While there they fostered many children, including two girls to whom they became legal guardians.
| Jan and Paul Huber Nicholasville, Ky |
The adoption process was started with another sibling pair but the placement disrupted shortly before the Hubers moved to Kentucky in 1998. As foster parents, they opened their home to two brothers in 2001 and adopted them three years later. They have three birth children, ages 18 to 32, and have six grandchildren as a result of their journey together.
Therese Dixon is married to Bill. They have been married for 30 years and have a son, Jason, 29, who is married and works as an RN. Their daughter Kendra, 25, just got married and is a Speech Pathologist. Destiny (adopted in 2007) is the baby of the family!
| Therese, Destiny, and Bill Dixon Pine Knot, Ky |
They are also proud new grandparents of their first grandchild. Bill is self-employed and Therese is a special education teacher. She has been at McQueary County High School for the past 17 years. They enjoy traveling and going to car shows. They have three mini-horses, a dachshund, a cat, and some goldfish in the fish pond!
Carey Ruiz has been a foster and adoptive parent since 2008, receiving her first placement in March of 2009. She and her husband, Derek, adopted him in May 2011. In addition to their son, they have six daughters ranging from age 20 to 1 year. Carey lives in Lexington and works at Asbury
| The Ruiz Family Lexington, Ky |
University, where she teaches Sociology. She loves to garden and raise backyard chickens. In addition to chickens, her family also has three dogs and two cats. She is passionate about fostering and adoption, and is looking very forward to working as an Adoptive Parent Liaison with Adoption Support Kentucky!
For a full directory of Adoptive Parent Liaisons in Kentucky, please click here.
For more information contact Adoption Support for Kentucky Coordinators, Christine Sauer and Shonda Lucas .
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Medically Fragile Annual Training: A Success!
The Medically Fragile Training Program recently held its semi-annual ongoing training event on September 28 & 29 at the Crowne Plaza in Louisville. There, 117 participants from across the state received training on topics that included Understanding Pediatric Cancers, Discipline and the Traumatized Child, Prenatal Substance Exposure, and many more! We were honored to have an array of professionals from various organizations donate their time and expertise to provide these trainings. It is the knowledge these presenters shared with Medically Fragile families that made this event such a success. A complete listing of presenters and training topics can be found here.
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Plenary training session
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For more information contact Jessica Fletcher, TRC Associate Director.
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The University of Kentucky College of Social Work's Training Resource Center (UK TRC) is dedicated to providing training, technical assistance, service and evaluation to professionals and caregivers working to improve the well-being of families, children, and communities throughout Kentucky and around the world.
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