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AMP
2Leaving Your Child
Home Alone
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Inattention in Children
with ADHD
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Black Hawk Foster & Adoptive Parent
Newsletter
Invest in Iowa’s Children….OUR FUTURE
VOLUME 16 ISSUE 5 JANUARY 2014
January Meeting
“Shaken Baby Syndrome”
Happy New Year! After all the holiday activities, it is time to get back to our regular meetings. Our first meet-ing of the year will be held on Tuesday, January 14, startmeet-ing at 6:30 for social time and our trainmeet-ing will be from 7-9 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, 1024 W. 8th Street, Waterloo.
Elaine Slade, R.N. who is Patient Care Coordinator for the Visiting Nurses Associ-ation, will be providing our training. This training will : Define Shaken Baby
Syn-drome, Identify the signs and symptoms of SBS, through the SBS Simulator, show areas of the brain that are affected by severe shaking, explain what happens physically when a baby is shaken and explain how a baby’s cry can trigger a care-giver’s shaking a baby. This training is approved for 2 hours for foster parent
credit.
Snacks and beverages will be provided.
Child care will be available for children ages 0-12. And AMP is available for youth ages 13-21 years.
With winter weather, there is always a chance of snow and icy roads. In the case of inclement weather, we will try and make a decision to cancel, no later than 4:00 p.m. the day of the meeting. We will post the can-celation on the KWWL website. If schools in our area are closed or dismissed early, you can assume that we will cancel the meeting. If in doubt call any of the numbers below.
If you have questions please contact Dianna Seedorff, IFAPA Peer Liaison at 319/235-2534 or one of our dependable co-chairs: Judith Jefferies at 319/610-1861 or Nicole Grieves at 319/939-7693.
AMP– Achieving Maximum Potential
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It is that time of year when we need to start thinking about how youth will fund their fu-tures! For those youth that are considering attending college next year, it is absolutely essential that they apply for financial aid. Youth aging out of care in the state of Iowa have access to federal and state grants, and scholarships that can most likely pay for the complete tuition costs for nearly any community college, state university, or even private college. There is also the potential for the funds to assist youth attending college full time in purchasing books and supplies, as well as helping to pay for housing . Even if the youth are still on the fence as to whether or not they want to continue their educa-tion, they should still take the time to apply. They are not committed to following though with enrolling at school if they change their mind. This is an excellent opportunity as earning an education is super expensive! The application becomes active January 1st.
The sooner they complete the application, the better. Some of the money is on a first come first serve basis; meaning some funds will run out if you wait to long. All the information you need is on the AMP website: www.ampiowa.org Go to AMP Near You– Then down past the councils to Transition. Click on Transition and you will find links to the online applications for FAFSA, ETV, and All Iowa Scholarships, step by step slide show on how to apply, new medical insurance called E-MIYA (medical insurance until age 26), information sheets on Aftercare, scholarships for adopted youth, food assistance and more! Please check it out.
Foster parents ask your high school youth whether they have visited the www.ihaveaplaniowa.gov website at school. Your student can show what they have done on the website. There are many post-secondary activities available, including ACT Test Prep, Career Assessments, Career Finder, College Searches, and Scholarship Searches! Students will need to remember their “pin” number before they can access these wonderful tools. If they forgot their password, they can ask the school if they kept a record of it.
Teens always love new clothing, so remember with the new year beginning the clothing allowance starts over. The initial clothing allowance is set for a maximum of $237.50 per child once they enter foster care. While the child remains in foster care, the DHS social worker may authorize additional clothing allowances of a maximum of $190.00 for family foster care per child. This must be approved by DHS social worker first. IFAPA’s website has a form to send to the DHS worker along with receipts to be filed within 30 days of the clothing purchase. The reim-bursement will come as a separate check when paid. Remember, that the clothing purchased must follow the child if they move to a new placement or return home. If the child outgrows the clothing, check with your DHS worker as to what to do with the items
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What can AMP do for you? It can help with applying for college, career choices, employment options, relationship building, leadership skills, mentor others, advocate for change, financial tips, life long friendships, involved in the community, and creative expression! Parenting a teen today is tough! Let AMP help!!
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Leaving Your Child Home Alone License Clarification
When deciding whether to leave a child home alone, you will want to consider your child’s physical, mental, develop-mental, and emotional well-being; his or her willingness to stay home alone; and laws and polices of the state. There is no “legal age” set in Iowa for allowing a child to be left alone and unsupervised, but you must be mindful that you may not really know the child or youth in your home. Some foster children appear quite mature, but may be developmentally at a much younger age when left alone.
Once you have determined that your child is ready to stay home alone, the following suggestions may help you prepare your child and to feel more comfortable about leaving him or her home alone:
Have a trial period. Leave the child home alone for a short time while staying close to home. This is good way to see how he or she will manage.
Role play. Act out possible situations to help your child learn what to do such as how to manage visitors who come to the door or how to answer phone calls in a way that doesn't reveal that a parent is not a home.
Establish rules. Make sure your child knows what is (and is not) allowed when your are not home. Set clear limits on the use of cable television, computers, and other electronic devises, and the Internet. Some experts suggest making a list of chores or other tasks to keep children busy while you are gone.
Discuss emergencies. What does the child consider an emergency? What does the parent consider an emergency? Have a code word that the parent and child can use in the event of any emergency.
Check in. Call your child while you are away to see how it’s going, or have a trusted neighbor or friend check in. Talk about it. Encourage your child to share his or her feeling with your about staying home alone. Have this
conver-sation before leaving your child and then, when you return, talk with your child about his or her experiences and feelings while you were away. This is particularly important when your child is first beginning to stay home alone, but a quick check-in is always helpful after being away.
Don’t overdo it. Even a mature, responsible child shouldn’t be home alone too much. Consider other options, such as programs offered by schools, community centers, youth organizations, or faith-based organizations, to help keep your child connected and involved.
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Inattention in Children With ADHD
Signs of Inattention in ADHD
Inattention is one of the aspects of ADHD that sometimes goes unnoticed. Symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsiveness are more obvious because they cause disruptions at home and at school.
Be-cause inattentive behavior can lead to deficits in school, it is important to recog-nize these symptoms in order to obtain appropriate treatment.
Some inattentive behaviors that parents and teachers should look for include: Failure to pay attention to details, often making careless mistakes on
class-work.
Difficulty paying attention to the task at hand or easily distracted by extrane-ous sights and sounds.
Problems with organization and planning; may often lose items such as schoolwork, pens, books, or personal items.
Skipping from one activity to the next without finishing previous tasks.
Identifying Inattention
Predominantly Inattentive ADHD can go unnoticed because children with this type of ADHD do not display behavior that is particularly disruptive. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, children with this type of ADHD rarely ex-perience symptoms of impulsivity and hyperactivity. Often described as forgetful or sluggish, children experiencing symptoms of inattention need treatment just as much as those experiencing the more disrupting symptoms of hyperactiv-ity and impulsivhyperactiv-ity.
How do you distinguish between normal childhood behavior and the symptoms of ADHD? According to the National
In-stitute of Mental Health, children with ADHD may also experience some of the following symptoms of inattention:
Children who are inattentive have a hard time keeping their minds on any one thing and may get bored with a task after only a few minutes. If they are doing something they really enjoy, they have no trouble paying attention. But focusing deliberate, conscious attention to organizing and completing a task or learning something new is difficult.
Homework is particularly hard for these children. They will forget to write down an assignment, or leave it at school. They will forget to bring a book home, or bring the wrong one. The homework, if finally finished, is full of errors and erasures. Homework is often accompanied by frustration for both the parent and child.
Source: 1996 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity National Institute of Mental Health To learn more go to About.com, Psychology; by Kendra Cherry
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In Iowa, foster parents need six hours of training annually to renew their foster care license. At least three training hours must be done in a group setting. Foster parents must complete their training two months prior to licensing date. Note: Families will no longer be granted extensions or exceptions for not getting their training credit on time.
If you want to receive foster parent training credit, it is your responsibility to send your training certificates to your KidsNet licensing worker within 30 days following the training. Be sure to keep the original copy for your records.
PLEASE KEEP IN MIND - With the exception of CPR, First Aid and Mandatory Reporter classes, foster par-ents CANNOT receive training credit for any class after October 2009 that they have previously attended and used for re-licensing.
Foster parents are mandatory reporters of child abuse. As mandatory reporters, foster parents are re-quired to complete two hours of training in child abuse identification and reporting. This training must be taken within the first year of initial licensing and every five years thereafter. CPR & FIRST AID every three years, but before the end of the third training cycle.
“On Line Training”
DHS has approved that foster parents may receive up to 3 hours foster care training credit for courses listed on
www.FosterParents.com and
www.FosterParentCollege.com. The foster parent will read the course material, answer the test questions, and click on submit button. A certificate will be generated im-mediately. The certificate will need to be sent to your licensing worker. Remember to make and keep a copy for your records. There is a charge for these trainings.
“Mandatory Reporters Training”
The Iowa Department of Public Health has ap-proved one online Mandatory Reporter Training Class for foster parents to take. Foster parents will receive 2 hours of credit for this course. The cost to take this course is $23.95 PLEASE REMEMBER-IFAPA promotes this online class as an additional resource for foster parents; however, this is not con-nected to IFAPA. For detailed instructions on how to take this online course, visit the IFAPA website:Training Available in Black Hawk County
Need Support? Have a question?
We are here for you!
Dianna Seedorff, IFAPA Peer
Liaison
319.235.2534 or 888.622.4521 seedorff_ifapa@hotmail.com
Patricia Smart,
DHS Licensing Worker for Black Hawk Co. 319.292.2360
psmart@dhs.state.ia.us
Katie Squier,
IKN Renewal and Support Worker 319.859.3588
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More Available Training
“Attachment– What does it Really Mean?” Date: Saturday, January 11
Time: 9 am—12:15
Location: Country Inn & Suites, Waterloo Credit: 3 hours
The word attachment is thrown out a lot in foster care sys-tem; however, it is often misunderstood. We will discuss what attachment is and the different kinds of attachment, discuss Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), other Attach-ment issues and finally explore the process by which at-tachment is created. (Joann Seeman Smith, PhD)
To register call 800-277-8145 ext.1 or online at www.ifapa.org
“Allakazam! - Does It Take Magic to Create a
Healthy Positive Attachment with Kids?” Date: Saturday, January 11
Time: 1:30 pm—4:45 pm
Location: Country Inn & Suites, Waterloo Credit: 3 hours
Secure, healthy, positive attachment is what we all strive for with our children; however, this can some-times feel like an elusive relationship. We will discuss activities and interactions that you can engage in with our child or teenager to create that relationship. These activities and interactions will revolve around four cate-gories that help to heal past relationship scars and built trust and love. (Joann Seeman Smith, PhD)
“Connect the Dots: Emotions to Behaviors” Date: Saturday, January 18
Time: 9 am—12:15
Location: Clarion Hotel, Cedar Falls Credit: 3 hours
The children who enter your home may have experienced serious trauma and not have the ability to explain it to you. Their behavior will often give you clues about what has happened but sometimes this is difficult to understand and more difficult to manage. Connect the Dots is a class to help parents understand the connections between the be-haviors you see and the emotions your child may be feel-ing. Using audio visuals, audience participation, real life vignettes and personal experiences, Christy helps the au-dience develop an understanding of how our experiences frame our choices and how our emotions affect our behav-ior.
To register call 800-277-8145 ext.1 or online at www.ifapa.org
“How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk” Date: Saturday, January 18
Time: 1:30 pm—4:45 pm
Location: Clarion Hotel, Cedar Falls Credit: 3 hours
Communication is essential for positive supportive rela-tionships. When parents can help children identify and express their feelings; the child is more likely to learn to manage his/her feelings effectively. When a child devel-ops the skills to express him/herself appropriately all communication even difficult communication becomes easier. Talking, listening and setting effective bounda-ries are essential skills for parents. This type of commu-nication becomes even more valuable when the parent is dealing with individuals who have experienced signifi-cant emotional trauma.
To register call 800-277-8145 ext.1 or online at www.ifapa.org
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Training
“The Grieving Process– How to Help You and Your Child Heal”
Date: Saturday, February 8 Time: 9:00 am —4:30 pm
Location: Clarion Hotel, Cedar Falls Credit: 6 hours
Throughout our lives we have all experienced physical pain and injury. We accept this as part of life. When we’ve experi-enced these injuries we also accept that there is a healing process involved that is normal and necessary in order for us to be able to effectively return to our everyday responsibili-ties. What many of us forget at times is that this same healing process is necessary any time we have experienced a loss an emotional level. Not grieving is equivalent to not allowing your body to heal after major physical trauma or injury. Simi-lar to other emotional difficulties in life, though, we tend to minimize the importance of the grieving process and this can result in anger, bitterness, resentment, depression, and anxi-ety that can negatively impact one’s life. The purpose of this workshop is to help participants understand the grieving pro-cess and how to help children, adolescents, and adults heal emotionally from loss in a healthy manner.
CPR & First Aid Date: Saturday, February 15 Time: 1:15 pm —5:30 pm
Location: Waverly (location to be announced) Credit: 4 hours
See registration form on the IFAPA website. (www.ifapa.org) There are no refunds due to partici-pant cancelations or non-attendance. Cost is $40 per person.
Payment is due February 7, 2014.
“Mandatory Child Abuse Reporter Training”
Date: Saturday, April 5 Time: 1:30 pm —4:45 pm
Location: Waterloo, Hawkeye Community College Credit: 3 hours
This is the state approved Mandatory Reporter class required for foster parents to complete within the first year of licensure, and then every five years thereafter. In addition, the Foster Allegation Information Resource (FAIR) program will be dis-cussed. This is an IFAPA program that provides information and support to foster parents who have had an allegation of abuse made against them.
