On Thursday, June 16th, 2011 the Bellevue DCFS office was visited by liaisons from Fostering Together. During the office's All-Staff Meeting, Stephanie Swallow and Kathy Haugland took an opportunity to express their appreciation for the partnership they have wi
th the staff of this office and also to hand out their Fostering Together "Social Worker Survival Kits" for those times when a Social Worker finds themselves in need. Items included an energy bar for an extra boost of energy to get them through those extra long days, a strip of bubble wrap to help release tension, a Social Worker acrostic listing all of the reasons why we value them for what they do and of course... chocolate. In their roles as liaisons for Fostering Together, Stephanie and Kathy have found that their relationships with Social Workers helps them to be able to provide support to the foster familes they work with.
Stephanie Allison-Noone, the Administrator for the Bellevue office, has been a strong partner with Fostering Together and understands the need for foster parents and social workers to work together more closely. She has visited many of the Fostering Together Support Groups in King County in order to meet foster parents and hear what they have to say. She also encourages Social Workers from her office to attend Support Groups in order to help foster parents feel more supported. She understands that the more we can bring these two groups together the better the care will be for our foster youth.
Based on an event that was 
successfully piloted out of the Kent DCFS office, foster families looking for placements, were invited to join the liaisons in order to introduce themselves to the Eastside workers, One such family, was a newly licensed Foster-Adopt family from South King County who attended the event hoping to find a sibling group in need of a forever family. Max, a newly certified Spanish interpreter for the state of Washington, and Dara, an elementary school teacher were licensed in early June and are hoping to have a sibling group placed with them in order to use her Summer Vacation to transition the children into their home. Attending this event, helped to get their name out to the social workers who are responsible for finding forever homes for children in their care.
Fostering Together plans to take this Meet and Greet model to all of the other DCFS offices in Region 2 in the coming year. If you are interested in participating in one of these events, please contact Stephanie Swallow at stephanie-swallow@olivecrest.org to find out when this event will be held at an office close to your home.
