NewFound News for You
Follow along with NewFound Families as we work to support families. In this news column we seek to provide current information about the admininistration of the child welfare system. Become part of our community and join us on Facebook.
Join us for a Couples Retreat!
Meaningful and strong relationships are so important when it comes to building and caring for your family, especially when it comes to parents. Secure, positive relationships between two caretakers makes a huge impact emotionally for children. To create these positive relationships, it's important to step away from the hustle and bustle of everyday to practice self-care and spend quality time with each other. We know that your lives get busy and often quality time is missed out on, so we're bringing the quality time to you!
Leave the stress, electronics, and kids behind (with safe and nuturing family or friends of course). Take time for your relationship by attending our Couples Retreat this Summer! All of your costs are covered by the Sunshine Lady Foundation and NewFound Families-Virginia.
From July 12th-14th, we're inviting you to join us at the Mortgage Hall Estate in Middleburg, VA to reconnect and relax with your significant other. We will be offering a variety of activities that you and your love will be able to enjoy including:
- Journaling with author Deborah Gold (receive a free copy of her book Counting Down!)
- Hand Spa Treatment class (receive a free goodie bag with products used to give each other foot massages once you're back in your room)
- Health and Wellness Nutrition class (with sampling and lunch)
- Guided meditation
- Fishing and Outdoor fun
- Wine Tasting
- and whatever else you do to relax!
We encourage you to arrive on Friday anytime after 3PM, and you will be able to check out at noon on Sunday. We prefer you leave behind electronics, but we know how nerve wracking that can be for caretakers. Family check-ins will be available at all times, we just ask that you do it in private. And of course, be sure to leave an emergency contact with your child-caring family or friends.
To register and receive final details, please write us a short letter about why this retreat is important to you, and send a $25 post-dated check. We will happily return the check to you once you arrive, unless you opt to consider it a donation to the NewFound Families programs and support services.
Foster Caregivers play an important role in supporting and advocating for children and youth with mental health difficulties in their care. Children and youth in foster care are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medications (APs) compared to children and youth who are not in foster care. Caregivers, with the right tools and information, have the ability to advocate for collaborative systems of care for children and youth taking antipsychotic medications.
Thinking about becoming a foster parent but you just aren’t sure where to begin? It’s okay to be overwhelmed at first. Choosing to become a parent is a big deal, no matter how your child comes to you. Unlike “traditional” parenthood, becoming a foster parent requires several boxes to be checked before you welcome your new family member home. But if you follow these 123’s of becoming a foster parent - and just take it step by step - the process can feel a lot more manageable and understandable.
As you’re contemplating being a foster parent, check out this roadmap we’ve created to help guide you on your journey to parenthood.
Meet Our Weekly Support Chat Facilitator, Cindi Maurice
Being a parent is definitely not easy. But being a foster, adoptive, or kinship parent can be even more of a struggle. There are so many questions that can go unanswered and resources that are unknown. That’s why we started our weekly support chats. No foster, kinship, or adoptive parent should go it alone. You need a support system of other parents who are experiencing the same things you are - and a place you can go to for help or advice.
The City of Newport News Department of Human Services held a National Adoption Day Celebration in November for National Adoption Month. As part of the event, they invited Mrs. Ruth McCall-Miller to share her story. The theme was "Follow the Yellow Brick Road". Her story was so moving, we just had to share.
Ruth's Adoption Story
My story is your story. My story is for all of us who do what we do to make sure that children and families find one another.
October 7-11 is Mental Health Awareness Week. This week was established in 1990 by the U.S. Congress in recognition of efforts by the National Alliance on Mental Illness to educate and increase awareness about mental illness. Did you know that 1 in 5 Americans are affected by mental health conditions? That number increases significantly when we talk about children in our foster care system. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, “up to 80 percent of children in foster care have significant mental health issues, compared to approximately 18-22 percent of the general population.”
