Bruce A. Henderson, JD President of the Board of Directors, Spaulding for Children
Meeting Challenges, Moving Forward
This has been a year like no other.
For Spaulding, the social aspect – being in person with our families – is critical to providing the services they deserve. So, we had to adjust quickly and become very nimble when the pandemic meant we had to cease our in-person services.
Cristina and her staff were magnificent. They were able to react quickly to a situation that none of us could have prepared for. They immediately came up with plans to keep staff and clients safe. Then, they figured out how to do what we do – which is finding homes for children. We never missed a beat because of excellent staff and leadership that guides the organization.
The initial shock was real and it took us a back. But Cristina, the management team and Cheryl and all the staff were level-headed and came up with a plan. I have been thoroughly impressed.
Everyone did what needed to be done. It’s a tribute to the organization that we have overcome some of the hardest challenges. We could have thrown up our hands and said, “It can’t be done.” But there was no hand wringing. Just leadership that brought focus and perspective on what was needed- support for our families.
How did they do it?
They looked at what families were facing and found a way to deliver what they needed.
Our visits became virtual reach outs.
We learned to create COVID safety protocols. The constant learning curve was hard because they had to adjust daily.
We engaged the support of the community to better respond to the unexpected needs of families.
What did we all learn?
COVID was challenging everyone at once. Our staff, our families, schools, and other support.
We underestimate how much meeting in-person means until we can’t do it. The nonverbal part of communication is lost – key with young children.
It made us all better leaders and made us more creative, because we had to figure out how to do and what to do – then figure it out again when everything changed.
The pandemic put many issues under a microscope, from racial inequality to health disparities – none of these could be overlooked. And they all dovetail.
My wish for 2021
While we can’t go back in time, I hope we can take lessons learned and maintain our creativity and ability to adjust quickly moving forward. That will put us in a great position for whatever the New Year brings.
Wishing everyone a healthy, safe, and peaceful holiday season.
– Bruce A. Henderson, JD
President of the Board of Directors
Spaulding for Children
The Children's Bureau at HHS:
Spaulding's Melinda Lis Receives
National Adoption Excellence Award
The Children’s Bureau at HHS Administration for Children and Families has awarded its 2020 National Adoption Excellence Award to Melinda Lis, Spaulding Vice President of The Academy for Family Support and Preservation. The honor is made in recognition of Ms. Lis’ professional work to increase the number of children from foster care who are adopted or placed in other permanent homes.
The award was presented at the 2020 National Adoption Month Celebration. Normally held before an in-person audience in Washington, D.C., this year’s event was webcast live on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
“Melinda Lis has motivated and inspired the child welfare community and people around her to accomplish more than they would have normally,” Cristina Peixoto, President/CEO of Spaulding for Children, said. “With the right mix of positivity, the amazing ability to tap into other’s strengths and thinking outside of the box, Melinda has successfully contributed to inform and transform the views and understanding about the role played by child welfare systems and communities in supporting post permanency family.”
The adoption excellence awards given each year by the Children's Bureau recognize individuals and families who, and organizations that, have demonstrated excellence in making contributions to providing permanency for children in foster care. This year’s National Adoption Month theme, “Engage Youth: Listen and Learn,” highlights the importance of listening to youth and learning from them to support their path to permanency.
“Melinda is a courageous leader," Arleen Rodriguez-Jacoby, MPLD Program Manager, said. "She leads our team with integrity and compassion. This is a well-deserved award.”
Melinda Lis started her career with Spaulding in July 2013 as the Director of the National Resource Center for Adoption. Once this grant concluded, Melinda became the Project Director for the National Quality Improvement Center for Adoption/Guardianship Support and Preservation housed at Spaulding.
Ms. Lis has more than 20 years of child welfare experience, including extensive project development and management on both a statewide and national level. She also has extensive experience developing curricula and training for foster/adoptive parents and child welfare staff.
“This is a great honor for me, but also is a great honor for our staff,” Ms. Lis said. “We have dedicated our lives to working in child welfare. Today there are more than 122,000 children awaiting adoption – about 3,000 of whom are in Michigan. So, we have more work to do and many more people to help.”
Ms. Lis also devoted a good portion of her career working with the Illinois child welfare system. During her time in Illinois, she co-founded and managed a not-for-profit agency that assisted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services with implementation and management of several statewide reforms. After leaving Illinois, Melinda consulted with organizations in New York, Washington D.C., and Florida. She also worked on a national evaluation of court improvement programs.
The adoption excellence awards given each year by the Children's Bureau to recognize individuals and families who, and organizations that, have demonstrated excellence in making contributions to providing permanency for children in foster care. Professional peers nominate individuals and organizations. Families also can make nominations.
Members of the Spaulding for Children team have been recognized by The Children’s Bureau at Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families a number of times. Recipients include:
Melinda Lis, Spaulding Vice President of The Academy for Family Support and Preservation, received in 2020 the Adoption Excellence Award in recognition of her professional work to increase the number of children from foster care who are adopted or placed in other permanent homes.
Addie Williams, then President/CEO of Spaulding, was recognized in 2016 for professional leadership and pioneering work with special needs adoption.
Natalie Lyons and the National Resource Center for Adoption were recognized in 2012 for professional leadership and honored with the Centennial Adoption Excellence Awards.
Paul VanderVelde, who served as a member of Spaulding’s National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption, was honored in 2006 for devoting his professional life to improving the lives of vulnerable children and families, in particular abuse and neglected children in the foster care system.
Drenda Lakin, then Vice President at Spaulding for Children, was honored in 2004 for her leadership in special needs adoption and contributions to the profession of child welfare.
Professor in Portugal Discovers Resources at Spaulding
From her computer in Portugal, Maria Sequeira Mendes, PhD, searched the World Wide Web for answers. The University of Lisbon professor of literature wanted to know more about adoption to be able to help her 9-year-old son adjust. What she found was a rich treasure trove of instructions for adoptive and foster parents.
“QIC-AG resources helped us find an excellent therapist and pediatrician. We knew what questions to ask and how to look for more resources on trauma and ACE – Adverse Childhood Experiences,” Dr. Mendes said by phone earlier this month. “Through the information we found online from Spaulding for Children, we started knowing what we were doing, instead of feeling blindsided by problems.”
Dr. Mendes and her partner are adoptive parents to a 9-year-old and, recently, to an 18-year-old. Resources for adoptive and foster parents in Portugal are non-existent, so when she found the resources from Spaulding, QIC-AG and CORE Teen on Spaulding's website (www.Spaulding.org), she soon realized they would help others like her family. So, she started working on a website, which will be launched next year.
Dr. Mendes said the information she found at Spaulding was important for her to understand issues from the point of view of young people, in particular the CORE Teen videos.
“It is very difficult to find information about adopting a teenager,” Dr. Mendes said. “There is nothing on how to do a good transition from institutional care to a family; nothing on continued relations or youth’s challenging behaviors.”
Today Dr. Mendes is working to help other adoptive and foster families in Portugal find answers by translating what she learned from Spaulding, QIC-AG and CORE-Teen from English to Portuguese. She said the information represents a vital resource.
“It is difficult to adjust to things we don’t fully understand, and adoptive and foster families often feel lonely. When I found the CORE-Teen material it felt like Christmas,” Dr. Mendes said. “The self-assessment tool was helpful, as were the videos and Power Point presentations. Parents need this information with its clear graphics and memorable messages. Through our translations we are excited to make this available to other parents.”
QIC-AG Looking to Partner with New Sites
Great News! The Quality Improvement Center for Adoption and Guardianship Support and Preservation (QIC-AG) will be extending its work until September 2021.
What's more: QIC-AG also is looking to partner with additional counties, states, territories and tribal nations this Fiscal Year.
When partnering with the QIC-AG, sites receive technical and financial assistance as well as resources to build better supports for families moving toward permanence and those who have already finalized an adoption or guardianship.
If you are interested in learning more, or know a site that might be, please contact Leslie Cohen, Project Director, at LCohen@spaulding.org.
More information is available online fromQIC-AG. Click hereor on the button below.
Looking back at 2020…and what can even be said about this year? There were challenges that were unimaginable and many times while watching the news, seeing what was unfolding, it has been an unbelievable year.
We had to scramble in March to determine how to ensure staff would be able to transition to working from home, this was never something we considered being possible to allow child welfare workers to be able to work from home. But we made it!
All staff had either a computer at home or an agency issued computer in order to begin working at home. We also had staff take a crash course in mobile technology and we also helped our families work through learning new ways to connect via technology. It was challenging because many families, who were not familiar with technology, were now “visiting” with each other through some sort of technology. And staff were only able to see clients virtually, and it quickly became obvious that we all began to miss connecting with each other.
It was the little moments when we could stop by and catch up with our families or our co-workers that many of us missed…and still miss! We found new ways to connect, like partnering with another agency to offer virtual training on a more frequent basis. We also partnered with a high school in Orlando, Florida, to support our children through online tutoring from May thru September. There was also a time during the summer that we were able to organize a drive-thru event to get a bag of summer fun items donated from the community and we had the first opportunity to see our families since March. We used our Summer of Fun Day celebration as a basis for our first drive-thru Trunk or Treat. We had so much support from our Board and from the community as a whole to make the event a success.
Many of the staff are also working diligently on the holiday plans for December. With the support of a community of donors, our goal is to create some bright moments in a time of uncertainty.
Thank You!
We were overwhelmed by the support from donors delivering gifts so we could share with our families. We had 172 donors for 197 children. We also supplied Holiday Fun Packs to 47 families. There also were monetary donations and donations from the Amazon Wish Lists.
Your heartfelt response is truly appreciated by us and the families we serve. No matter what or how you gave, thank you!!
Thank you, FASC! Florida Association of Student Councils Support Spaulding for Children
Every year, the Florida Association of Student Council (FASC) President School picks a cause that is important to them. This year the cause is foster care.
The FASC students wanted to do something that would help students who are in the foster care system, so they collected toys and shipped them to Spaulding for Children office in Michigan. They also purchased items from Spaulding’s Amazon wish list.
“My students have really been touched by this experience," Ms. Valerie Powell said. "We are a class of 188 students from 6th-8th grade.”
Spaulding for Children and the families we serve send our heartfelt thanks to these caring students and educators in Florida. Your caring makes all the difference in the world to your fellow students.
Holiday Baking Is Sweet Way
to Make Lifelong Memories
Baking is such a key part of our holiday celebrations. Every household likely has their holiday baking traditions. At Miss Katie’s home she combined her StoryTime book with baking this season when she made a special recipe that's perfect for sharing – and passing around the table.
Best Ever Apple Pie
Serves 8
Prepare Ingredients
2 (12 inch) pie dough rounds
2 pounds Golden Delicious, Fuji, or Jonagold apples peeled, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick.
1 ½ McIntosh, Cortland or Empire apples peeled, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick
2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Grated Lemon Zest squeezed from ½ lemon
¼ teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ cup plus 1 teaspoon Sugar (measured separately)
1 large Egg, beaten
Gather Baking Equipment
9-inch pie plate
Plastic wrap
Aluminum foil
Large microwave safe bowl
Rubber Spatula
Scissors
Paring knife
Pastry brush
Cooling Rack
Baking Instructions:
Carefully place 1 pie dough round into 9-inch plate. Gently press dough against bottom and sides of pie plate. Let excess hang over edges. Cover pie plate loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm – about 30 mins. Refrigerate second pie dough round until needed.
Adjust oven rack position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
In large microwave-safe bowl, use rubber spatula to toss apples, flour, lemon zest, salt, cinnamon, and ½ cup sugar together. Heat apple mixture in microwave stirring occasionally, until apples are slightly softened, about 5 mins. Use oven mitts to remove bowl from microwave.
Stir lemon juice into apple mixture and let cool 10 mins. Spread apple mixture into chilled dough-lined plate, mounding apples slightly in middle.
Place chilled dough round over center of apple mixture. Use scissors to trim edge of dough ½ inch beyond edge of pie plate. Use your fingers to pinch edges of top and bottom crusts firmly together. Fold extra dough under itself onto rim of pie plate; folded edges should be flush with edge of plate. Use your fingers and knuckles to crimp edges of dough around pie.
Use a paring knife to cut five 2-inch slits in tops of dough. Use pastry brush to paint top of the pie with beaten egg. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Place pie on foil-lined baking sheet and place in oven. Bake until crust is light golden brown, about 25 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and continue to bake until juices are bubbling, and crust is deep golden brown, 30-35 mins.
Use oven mitts to remove baking sheet from oven. Use mitts to transfer pie to cooling rack and let cool for at least 2 hours. Serve slightly warm or room temperature.
Holiday StoryTime
StoryTime with Miss Katie continues each Sunday night at 7 p.m. on Facebook.
This month is holiday themed with the following books: A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M Schultz on Sunday, Dec. 20 ; and The Snowy Day by Ezra Keats on Dec. 27.
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. Email our Editor, Cheryl Gist: cgist@spaulding.org. Thank you!
