Toni and Mike Bauer are an example of going the extra mile for a child. When a four-month-old was placed in their home they immediately began working with the biological father who had almost completed his case plan.
Best friends Maggie Wojtylak and Deanna Johnson have been co-parenting and mentoring biological parents since their home was licensed March 25, 2008. Currently, they are serving as mentors to a birth mother of a child placed in their home and have been supervising visits with her for almost a year.
The Lecza family had a child placed in their home on a Monday morning in February of 2012. That same evening, the child experienced an accident and broke his femur...
Theresa Mixon has been fostering since 1998 and is currently fostering two children. She has a 17 year old male that has been residing in her home for two years. Ms. Mixon believes in ensuring the children are actively involved in community activities and athletics...
My wife, Joy-Lynn and I became Foster Parent Mentors (FPM) through Heartland for Children in 2012. When we were approached with the opportunity to be an added support for incoming Foster Parents, we jumped at the opportunity because we saw the value in having someone who other Foster Parents could relate to as being an invaluable resource; especially, if the individual(s) were completely new to the fostering and/or parenting experience.
As FPMs through Heartland, we've had the chance to interact with incoming Foster Parents on many levels including assisting with respite, providing guidance or best practices with difficult behavioral issues, advocating for a child who had to be moved from one home to another, making recommendations on working with case management, providing another vantage point through the process of Termination of Parental Rights (TPR), and many other areas that Foster Parents can encounter during their first and continuing years of child advocates.
What we've gained as FPMs is a heightened level of understanding of how important it is to identify the needs of incoming Foster Parents. Being able to make recommendations on how the training component has and can continue to successfully equip incoming parents with the proper training and education; is a value add that Heartland has really welcomed input on.
Cebien Alty - HFC Foster Parent, Foster Parent Mentor