The view through the Kishpaugh front window rolls clear to the horizon, over ochre Kansas hills lit by autumn sunshine. Chad’s eyes glisten as he recalls another “bright and sunny day,” when he and Amanda lost their son among these hills, in a collision with a truck and trailer at an unmarked rural intersection just a mile from home.
Travis and Marie Clem received their first foster care placement just days before Thanksgiving, and they doubt they’ve had a full night’s sleep since. But that’s just fine with the Shady Point, Oklahoma, couple because they believe the blessings they’ve received through foster parenting more than make up for a few lost ZZZs. For the Clems, fostering is both a family and a community effort, as well as a Biblical mandate.
Congressional champions for the Family First Prevention Services Act, who are working in a bi-partisan and bi-cameral manner, this week continued to demonstrate support of a successful FFPSA implementation. On Nov. 5, 2019, the House and the Senate introduced the Family First Transition Act, which has provisions designed to help states and stakeholders ease the transition to the federal child welfare financing structure in the FFPSA.
Saint Francis Ministries and Grutza Consulting are teaming up to deliver technical assistance and consultation to public and private child welfare systems. System leaders are working to swiftly and effectively address myriad changes and opportunities to operate successfully in alignment with the Family First Prevention Services Act.
Social Justice Program, Foster Family of the Year, HOPES Project, Moran staff visits The Mount, Texas & Nebraska News, U.N. Designation, KidzKamp, World Refugee Day, Employee Spotlight. Hi-Lites 2019 Fall edition is available for download.
Saint Francis Ministries leader Rachel Marsh testified this week before a Kansas legislative committee to ask them to strengthen the intersections between juvenile justice and the child welfare system.
Saint Francis Ministries is excited to announce the receipt of two grants that will help Kansas work toward stabilizing vulnerable families and keeping children out of foster care. The Kansas Department for Children and Families on Oct. 1 announced the award recipients of its grants in support of the Family First Prevention Services Act. Saint Francis, based in Salina, Kansas, received awards of $729,267 for a Seeking Safety initiative and $2,871,371 to begin offering Family Centered Treatment in the state. The DHHS grant period for these awards is Oct. 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020.
Leaders of Saint Francis Ministries and St. John’s Military School on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, announced a collaboration that will create a positive, empowering future for the school’s Salina campus. Saint Francis Ministries, the long-time Salina-based nonprofit that provides child welfare and adult services in six states and internationally, has agreed to take over the St. John’s campus and will lead a collaborative effort to establish future plans for the property.
Military families posted far from home often must rely on each other for support. This is especially true for those who serve children in need, along with serving their country. Nicole Berry knows this firsthand. She considers her Army friends and neighbors as much of a family as any connected genetically. The same goes for her spiritual family at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.
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