What is your Job title?

Senior Foster Family Specialist

What is it exactly that you do? 

I work with the Assistant Director of Foster Care and assist him with leading our team and helping with daily tasks. Our team of Foster Family Specialists work together to coordinate and provide intake services, training, recruitment, retention, approval, certification, and Re-Authorization of foster families. We also help provide guidance and assistance to foster parents and staff.

What is your favorite part about your Job?

There are many aspects of my job that I enjoy, but a few areas I enjoy most are knowing I can help make a positive difference in a child or families' life, providing support and guidance to approved kinship and certified foster families, and how each day brings a new challenge. Many times, our support helps a child remain placed with a family member.

What is a success story that you can remember that made you feel accomplished in your role?

One success story that stands out would be helping a family through an Intrastate Compact Placement. A child was residing in a foster home in NYC, and a family member was trying to have the child placed with her as an approved kinship foster parent here in Oneida County. The child was not receiving adequate care, and the family member was trying everything she could to have him placed with her. She felt she was not being heard until she contacted me, asking general questions about what kinship foster care was and speaking with Oneida County Department of Family and Children Services. She feels it was due to our combined help that she could have him placed with her. Even though it was a very long road to achieving permanency, after three years of being an approved kinship foster parent, she adopted him!