The Brighter Blog
Community Care Licensing Compliance
by A Brighter Childhood on 01/27/15
At A Brighter Childhood Foster Family Services, Inc., we wish you a great start to the New Year! To ensure your Foster Family home is in compliance with Community Care Licensing (CCL), here are some suggestions on what to review for updating for the New Year: Maintaining Foster Home both inside home, garage space and yard Safety (ex: making sure there are clear pathways to the exit and entrances of home) Locked Medications to include refrigerated meds (also check if medication is expired) Money management (Savings account; Clothing expense; Personal allowance) Documentation If you have questions regarding details of any of the bullet points or updates on your home, please ask your Social Worker or contact the office.
Car Seat and Booster Seat Information
by A Brighter Childhood on 10/09/14Sometimes, all of the information and guidelines about car seat and booster seat use can be overwhelming. We've compiled a list of tips and various reputable children's safety websites to help assist you!
- Car seats have expiration dates! There is sometimes a label on the bottom or side of the car seat that tells you the date it needs to be discarded. If there is no expiration date listed, add six years to the manufacturing date - that is your car seat's expiration date.
- A child under age 1 should always ride in a rear-facing car seat. Keep them in a rear-facing car seat as long as possible. Once they outgrow the rear-facing car seat, switch them to a forward-facing car seat.
- Keep your youth in a forward-facing car seat with a harness and tether until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seat's manufacturer.
- Once your foster youth outgrows the forward-facing car seat with a harness, move on to a booster seat in the back seat. Keep your child in a booster seat until he or she is big enough to fit in a seat belt properly (the lap belt must lie snug across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt must lie snug across the shoulder and chest).
- Keep your child in the back seat until at least age 12.
- California law states that children under the age of 8 must be properly buckled into a car seat or booster seat in the back seat. However, this is the minimum required. To keep your foster youth as safe as possible, also follow these safety tips listed on the blog and on the following websites.
Passport to Summer - Your FUTURE!
by A Brighter Childhood on 05/17/13
The Passport to Summer and Your Future Information Fair is happening this Saturday, May 18, at the Pannell Meadowview Community Center.
Here is the webpage for more info: http://sd06.senate.ca.gov/
Attention A Brighter Childhood Foster Parents: PLEASE encourage the foster youths in your home to attend this amazing opportunity for their futures.
This is an opportunity to gather great information on:
Vocational Training, Education, Apprenticeships, Employment, Health, Family Resources, Summer Programs, Enrichment Programs and MORE!
Some Safety Tips
by A Brighter Childhood on 05/16/13
Here are a few more safety tips from A Brighter Childhood Foster Family Services, Inc. to keep you and our foster youths safe.
Find your local Fire Department phone number and save it into your cell phone. You can call the Fire Department for any type of emergency. Oftentimes when calling 911 from a cell or mobile phone, the emergency call is sent to the satellite and then does not always go to the local dispatcher; it could be directed to a dispatcher a few cities away.
A Brighter Childhood Foster Family Service, Inc. wants to be sure our foster parents are prepared for anything and this includes knowing who to call for help. Identify the local number to call and save it to be prepared. Another idea is to have it written somewhere in the First Aid Kits. The Sacramento Fire Department’s number is (916) 808-1300. Please look up the number in your specific area.
Practice your prepared Emergency Action Plan with every single foster youth that enters your foster home so that everyone knows what to do in the event of an emergency. Also the practice will help identify possible problems that could arise with the needs of different foster youths.
Here is another tip for foster care: If you are cleaning up after an accident that requires sterilization (such as vomit), it is suggested to use a bleach solution of 1:10. This means one part bleach to ten parts water. In other words, pour one cup of bleach into ten cups of water. Be sure to wipe the mess off the surface in one direction so that you are cleaning the surface and not just smearing the mess around. Use proper precautions when using such poisonous chemicals.
We hope these pointers serve as effective reminders from our foster care agency. For more information, please use the "Contact Us" button.
Mother's Day
by A Brighter Childhood on 05/10/13
According to the dictionary, a foster mother is a woman who looks after and brings up a child or children as a mother, in place of the natural or adoptive mother. Here at A Brighter Childhood, we know that our foster mom’s are so much more.
Being a foster parent can often be more complicated than traditional parenting. The struggles and challenges foster youths face demand for more guidance and support from the foster care giver and the team of staff collaborating in the best interest of the youths.
Our foster parents make a positive attempt to empower the child who has faced neglect, abuse, or has undergone trauma on how to trust and love again. For older youths, many of the simple lessons such as meal planning, check writing, filling out applications, scheduling appointments and more, need to be learned from the mentoring foster parents.
The selfless act of opening up a home and life to a child or non-minor dependent should be commended.
So, this Mother’s Day we would like to thank all of our foster moms for their open hearts and committed service; you brighten the lives of youths and leave everlasting footprints on their futures.
