Foster Parents: hang on to those gift receipts! DCS reimburses gift expenses, up to $50 per foster child. Learn more about reimbursement guidelines and processes on the Holiday Gift Reimbursement form.
Please note: Requests for gift reimbursement are due by February 15, 2015.
As a foster parent of transition-age youth, you help teens become more independent in many ways. You advocate, teach, train, demonstrate, monitor and model skills that help teens become more self-sufficient.
Weekly documentation of your time spent with a teen to develop these skills is required. An easy checklist of qualifying activities is provided on our “Foster Care Forms“ page. You can also learn more about this tracking requirement on the “Transitional Living Skills Development -Information Sheet”.
Please note: Each youth is required to receive 3 hours of instruction per week. If you have questions about the requirement or documentation, please talk with your case manager.
Quick Links:
Transitional Living Skills Development – Tracking Form: download PDF; download Word document
Transitional Living Skills Development -Information Sheet: download
We are happy to share that The Indiana Department of Child Services has announced a cost of living increase in per diem amounts for our foster families. The daily increase amounts are: Ages 0 – 4 years: increase of $0.28 per day; Ages 5 – 13 years: increase of $0.30 per day; Ages 14 – 18: increase of $0.35 per day.
This increase is effective beginning January 1, 2015, and will be reflected in your February 2015 deposit/check.
Adult and Child Center provides frequent classroom-style trainings for licensed foster parents (see the schedule here). There are several other options for foster parents to complete their annual training requirements. This document provides a brief outline of several opportunities to complete the required annual training, including: alternative training (often completed on your own schedule, at the library or at home); workshops (in-person trainings offered in a group setting), and individuals instruction (one-on-one training from an Adult and Child staff member).
Health Care Education & Training, Inc (HCET) is providing a 2-hour training entitled “The Talk”: Talking to Teens about Sex and Contraception on December 5, from 10:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.
The training is open to youth workers, parents, foster parents, caregivers, educators, and health care providers. The goal is to provide participants with the tools to comfortably and effectively communicate with young people about sexuality. (More information here: The Talk-Talking to Teens about Sex and Contraception)
This holiday season, we’re celebrating with our foster families!
In lieu of gift cards this year, we are holding a Foster Family Holiday Party on Saturday, December 6, from 2-5 p.m.
Hosted by Englewood Christian Church, located at 57 N. Rural Street, Indianapolis, IN
Make plans to bring your family!
RSVP by December 1: 317-893-0207 or ; Please give the total number of children and the total number of adults attending.
Please note: This invitation is for all foster families and household members.We cannot accommodate extended family members.
Welcoming a foster child involves more than a commitment to care for the child; it also means you will be busy with the necessary paperwork and appointments as the child gets settled in your home and at school. Along with intake appointments, enrolling in school, visitations and court hearings, the State of Indiana requires that the child have a physical scheduled within 10 days and completed within 30 days.
Adult and Child has contracted with MedCheck (operated by the Community Health Network) to provide physicals for newly placed foster children, in an effort to make this convenient for you.
MedCheck offers:
IN*SOURCE is providing a webinar for parents on how to prepare for a special education case conference.
When: Monday, Oct. 27, 7-8:30 PM
Where: Online/ at the location of your choice!
How: Register online by Friday, Oct 24
About the webinar (from IN*SOURCE):
Case conferences can be confusing and stressful for parents. This webinar helps parents identify issues of concern, organize documents, prepare information, and communicate effectively during the case conference. This webinar will help parents become their child’s best advocate and build positive relationships with school personnel. This workshop is free and is open to the public. Presented by Cathy Boswell, IN*SOURCE Regional Program Specialist
Please register online (see below) by Friday, October 24, 2014; register early as space is limited. If fewer than 3 people are registered by 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, October 24, 2014, this webinar may be cancelled.
For more information, please contact Cathy Boswell at (219) 552-1992.
Did you know: the Affordable Care Act includes Medicaid coverage for youth who “aged out” of foster care, up to age 26?
According to this report:
“Effective January 1, 2014, all states must extend Medicaid coverage to age 26 for all youth who are enrolled in Medicaid and in foster care on their 18th birthday, or enrolled in Medicaid when they aged out of foster care if over age 18.
Youth who aged out in the past several years and are not yet age 26 are covered immediately, and youth currently in foster care are covered when they age out. This provision is intended to ensure these young people can have health insurance without interruption until they are age 26, and parallels the provision currently available to many youth of coverage to age 26 on a parent or guardian’s health plan.”
Foster Parents: are you looking for training resources, outside of in-person classes? Be sure to check out The Virginia Beall Ball Library, a service of the Indiana Youth Institute.
The library provides FREE resources, including: books, eBooks, downladable audiobooks, special reports, journals, videos, DVDs, and CDs. The library is located at 603 Washington St., on the 8th floor (just one floor above our foster care team!).
Library resources specific to foster parents are available at: http://www.iyi.org/resources/doc/IYI-Bibliography-Resources-for-Foster-and-Adoptive-Parents-May2014.docx.pdf
