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U.S. DHHS Awards Spaulding & Partners

Grants to Establish 2 National Initiatives

QIC-EY and KINDER-CARES  to Empower Youth and Strengthen Families

Spaulding for Children has been awarded two new grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families (DHHS). Spaulding will serve as the lead agency for both programs.

A five-year, $20 million DHHS grant will develop a new national quality improvement center to authentically engage and empower youth in foster care, especially related to permanency decision. The funding will establish the Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency (QIC-EY) starting October 2021. The new national center will help to ensure that children throughout the United States who are in foster care are authentically engaged, particularly related to permanency decisions. Click here for QIC-EY press release in PDF.

Spaulding also received a 5-year, $2.5 million DHHS grant to develop a new program designed to promote and support normalcy in child-rearing activities and parenting for children in foster care. The funding will establish the Kinship Network Development, Empowerment and Resilience plus Connection and Relationship Enhancement through Shared Parenting (KINDER-CARES) Program. The new initiative will provide critical support to kinship families caring for children in foster care when they most need it, and will increase kinship families’ access to vital supports and critical resources that can lessen the challenges of taking in a child. The program also is designed to transform relationships between the child welfare system, foster parents, kinship caregivers, and parents. Click here for KINDER-CARES press release in PDF.

Trunk-or-Treat Halloween Party

Stroll through the decorated trunks. Dance to the spooky music. Delight at your take home bag o' goodies.

It all happens at the 2nd Annual Spaulding Trunk-or-TreatFriday, Oct, 22, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., outside the Spaulding for Children offices at the Crossroads Building, 16250 Northland Drive, Southfield, Michigan. We will set up in the rear parking area, rain or shine


Detroit Equity Coalition (DEC) will bring their Covid-19 Mobile Vaccination Unit.  If you have not been vaccinated and are 12 years of age or older, please come out to get vaccinated.

Please remember: Masks and social distancing required. Costumes encouraged. All are welcome -- even the "Man in the Moon" from the picture above.

StoryTime with Miss Katie - S.2

Katie Ward started reading books on Monday nights when COVID set in last year to connect with the families she could not visit. She later moved "StoryTime with Miss Katie" to Sunday nights to accommodate the school year.

Miss Katie selects books to read, which range from popular favorites to laugh-out-loud stories to touching life lessons. Books include holiday classics, as well as works that touch on issues our children and families face, such as anxiety, isolation and the challenges of being unique.
 
Katie often is joined in her readings by her young son and daughter.  They now present Season 2.

Join Miss Katie on Facebook each Sunday at 7 p.m.
Click here to link to the program's page. And, please pass the good word to those who love good stories!

StoryTime has evolved to include a giveaway where those watching on Facebook can enter to win a set of the month’s books. Generous donors have stepped up to buy the books. To become a donor, contact Cheryl Gist cgist@spaulding.org.

Katie also has placed each book in Spaulding family rooms. Now that families are able to have visitations and meetings in our Southfield offices, we are thrilled to see children grabbing those books and reading them.
 
As a new resource for caregivers looking for age-appropriate books to share, we have posted the entire list StoryTime books online. Click here to visit our page at Spaulding.org.

There's Still Time

Sponsor a Child for Gifts This Holiday Season

Last holiday season, we were able to provide gifts to more than 100 children and more than 50 families.

We are reaching out again to donors that can provide for our youth and families in our foster care programs a wonderful holiday season this year. Please help us make the holidays great for a child in need.
We have extended the deadline for sponsoring a child. We still have many children for whom we would like to provide gifts. 

If you are interested in sponsoring a foster child for the holidays, or providing family gifts, please fill out the Google form here or contact Sharon Corpolongo at scorpolongo@spaulding.orgThank you!
Webinar Feedback:

The Latest on COVID-19
On Sept. 28, the National Adoption Association presented "What Child Welfare Employers Should Know About COVID, Safety Measures and EEOC Standards." The webinar, co-sponsored by the National Adoption Association, Spaulding for Children, Family Builders Network and the Center for Advanced Practice, presented the latest information on re-entry planning, employment issues, and vaccination policies.
Cristina Peixoto, President and CEO of Spaulding for Children, was in attendance. Here are some of her observations.
"Dr. Arti Lynn, Principal Medical Scientist, COVID-19, Emerging viruses at Gilead Science, discussed the impact of COVID in minorities and the demographics of the clinical trial participants. I was quite impressed by the racial diversity of the individuals who participated in these clinical trials. As we saw from the data presented, Johnson and Johnson (JJ) had a significantly larger group of minority populations represented on the trials. The target population for the JJ vaccine was primarily people living in rural areas and in countries where refrigeration and the two-dose vaccine requirement of Pfizer and Moderna would limit access to the life-saving vaccine."
"Robert Duston, a Labor and Employment attorney, discussed the unintended consequences of vaccine mandates and potential EEOC and ADA claims. We all walked away overwhelmed with the legal implications of requiring vaccinations or frequent testing for unvaccinated employees. Several of the CEOs and HR personnel in attendance agreed that the best strategy is to encourage vaccination, while maintaining mask requirements indoors or when conducting business -- regardless of the employee’s vaccination status."
Spaulding Donor Highlight

The Franklin Cider Mill

Thank you, Franklin Cider Mill, for donating cider and donuts to our Trunk-or-Treat. We encourage all in the Spaulding family to remember and support them, in turn. It's a great (and delicious!) place to visit.

The Franklin Cider Mill is located at 7450 Franklin Road in Bloomfield Hills, at the corner of 14 Mile Road, one Mile West of Telegraph Road. 
They are open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Nov. 28.
The mill has been in the Peltz family since 1966.

Located next to a branch of the Rouge River, the Franklin Grist Mill was completed in 1837, the same year that Michigan gained its statehood. Grist mills grind grain into flour, typically harnessing water or wind power. 

Around the turn of the century, the Franklin Grist Mill was flooded and shut down. Its new owners adapted the mill from grinding grain to squishing apples and stipulated that the cider season would run from August 15 until January 1. Today, cider season opens Labor day weekend and remains open until the first weekend after Thanksgiving.

When you go, don't forget the donuts! They are made fresh and on-demand each day from an old German spice recipe. The donuts have been served warm with cold cider for more than 80 years.

To visit the Franklin Cider Mill website, click here.

For More Fall Family Fun...


Fall is fantastic in Michigan. Beautiful colors. Crisp air. Delicious harvests. Plus tons of great stuff to do like the Franklin Cider Mill for families, children, and even parents — safely, outdoors and indoors.

Get details in our Family Fall Fun Guide. Click here.

Work With Us!

Spaulding is always looking for talented and passionate people to join our team. Presently we have openings for a Program Coordinator, Kinship Family Specialist, and an IPP SpecialistWe also are offering a variety of internship opportunities for Bachelor and Master’s degree students for our Foster Care and Adoption programs and business and human resource offices.

What makes Spaulding a great organization to join is, of course, being part of a team of professionals that make real differences on people’s lives. 

What the public may not know is that while we are a nonprofit, we have worked hard to create a suite of benefits for the members of our team, including:
  • Medical/Dental/Vision/Retirement Program/Short-Term and Long Term Disability/etc.
  • Flexible Work Schedule
  • Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays
  • Free social work licensure supervision
  • As an employee of a not-for-profit organization, you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.
For more information on what it’s like to work with us, and to view detailed job descriptions, please visit online. Click here
 

Healthy Check Ups 
This Month and Every Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The time serves to remind us that in the U.S., one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. And about 95% of all breast cancers in the U.S. occur in women 40 and older.

One more important fact: Women who regularly get screened for breast cancer have a 47% lower risk of dying from the disease, compared to those who don’t screen regularly. But please don't neglect screening for ALL cancers!
 
Here are a number of recommended tests and ages for screening several types of cancer:
  • Cervical cancer, age 25: HPV test, Pap test.
  • Skin cancer, age 35: Full-body skin exam.
  • Breast cancer, women aged 40 to 44 years should have the choice to start  screening annually with mammography, women aged 45 to 49 years should begin screening with mammography annually.
  • Colorectal cancer, age 45: Colonoscopy, fecal immunochemical test (FIT).
  • Lung cancer, age 50: CT scan.
  • Prostate cancer, age 55: PSA test, digital rectal exam.
Finally, we continue to urge everyone who can to get their COVID vaccine and a Flu vaccine too. And, until the pandemic is over and the all-clear sounded, wear a mask and social distance.

Heads-Up!
November is National Adoption Month

November presents a chance to raise awareness of adoption across the nation and around the world. Here are two special days to mark on your November / National Adoption Month calendars:
  • World Adoption Day is Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021.
  • National Adoption Day is Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021.
Please share news and information with your networks and followers to help spread the word about adoption throughout the month. The occasions serve as great hooks for sharing in the news and on social media. Besides, if we don't spread the word about adoption, who will?


Change a child's life, become a foster parent!


Click to learn more.

 

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Please keep us posted about news you'd like to share with our colleagues. We'd also like to know your thoughts about our newsletter and how we can better cover what interests you. Email our Editor, Cheryl Gist: cgist@spaulding.org. Thank you!
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In partnership with families, communities, organizations, states and the nation, Spaulding for Children’s mission is to assure that all children grow up in safe, permanent families and have the help they need to be successful in life.
 

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