Foster care is fundamentally a temporary solution to a crisis situation. The goal of all foster care placement is the child’s eventual safe return home. Until that happens, child welfare agencies like Saint Francis Ministries work with the parents to help them address the issues that led to their child’s removal and placement into foster care.
“Fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man. The end product of child raising is not the child, but the parent.” Frank Pittman
Salina, Kansas – June 2, 2023 – Saint Francis Ministries is delighted to welcome Reverend Andrew T. O'Connor as our new Executive Officer for Mission & Ministry. In his capacity, Fr. O'Connor will offer pastoral care to our staff and clients, cultivate strong relationships within the communities we serve, and collaborate with various faith groups.
Each month, we bring a focus on a different topic as a nation, and June brings National Safety Awareness Month. The National Safety Council (NSC) has identified focus areas for each week of National Safety Month.
The traditional kick-off to summer, Memorial Day weekend brings to mind outdoor family fun – grilling, swimming, camping, boating – you get the picture. And since Saint Francis is all about families, we love the holiday.
Wherever you live, odds are kids are getting out of school for the summer this week or within the next couple. That means, there will soon be lots more activity on the sidewalks, streets, and common areas of our communities.
Salina, Kansas – May 2, 2023 – Saint Francis Ministries announced today that Amanda Pfannenstiel has been named the child and family services organization’s new Chief Clinical Officer. With 19 years’ experience in behavioral health services, Pfannenstiel will provide oversight and leadership for clinical services across not-for-profit’s six state service area.
Mental Health Awareness Month takes place every May, and it’s one of those monthly observances that means a lot to Saint Francis Ministries. Just a couple weeks ago, our clinical services director, Pam Cornwell, discussed the relationship between trauma and mental health and how it affects those in our care.
One of Saint Francis Ministries largest programs is foster care. Last year, we served about 4,200 children and teens in foster and kinship care in four of the six states where we have a presence – Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska. On top of that, we worked with 905 foster/kinship homes to help ensure those young people were properly cared for until they could either reunite with their families or achieve some other type of permanency.
Monday marks the beginning of both Trauma and Mental Health Awareness Month, so this week we explore how trauma and mental illness correlate with each other. Traumatic events are those situations that put you or someone close to you at risk of serious harm or death.
Kansas DCF Newsroom
Nebraska DHHS Newsroom
Oklahoma DHS Newsroom
The Joint Commission Press Room
United States HHS Newsroom