NFPA offers advance orders of blue bracelets

State affiliates, we're offering you 50 FREE blue bracelets for National Foster Care Month! Just email Sarah Schafer at sschafer@nfpaonline.org by March 20 to take advantage of this offer. If you'd like more than 50, you must pay for additional bracelets in advance at the member rate of $37.50 per 50 bracelets ordered.

Local affiliates and agency members, you can order the bracelets at our member rate of $37.50 per 50 bracelets ordered. If you are a state or local foster parent association or agency and would like to order bracelets, the non-member rate is $50 per 50 bracelets ordered.

All orders must be sent by March 20 to Sarah at sschafer@nfpaonline.org and include your name, address to which bracelets are to be sent, and a credit card number with expiration date. Bracelets will feature "Foster parents make a difference" and "NFPA."

As advocates for caregivers, it's never too early to start planning for National Foster Care Month so don't miss this great opportunity. Get your orders in by March 20!

Is your teen prepared for college?

Check out this great graphic about high school students being unprepared for college...

Why doesn't the press cover foster care?

by David Sharp

There is always rhetoric in the press about so many things, for now it is guns!! I wish the children living in our nation's foster care system could get this kind of press. There are no "sides" to take and no big disagreement on how to fix the problem ... no, this issue's only enemy is awareness. If all these pro- and anti-guns folks were asked if we should help innocent and helpless orphans and abused children, they would all say "yes."

However, this issue is not interesting enough to the press because most people believe they are unaffected by it.

Ben Franklin once said, "For change to occur the unaffected must be as outraged as the affected." That statement is true as demonstrated by most of the comments we've seen lately.

Scholarships available for 2013 SAIGE Native Youth Program

The Society of American Indian Government Employees (SAIGE), a national non-profit organization that advocates for American Indian and Alaska Native Government employees, is hosting its annual Native Youth Program. This program is designed to provide Native American students an opportunity to learn about careers within the federal government, to participate in professional and personal development workshops and leadership training, and to network with Native American professionals.

The Native Youth Program will be held during SAIGE's 10th annual National Training Program, Guiding Our Destiny with Heritage and Traditions, June 3-7, 2013 in Spokane, Washington, at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino, owned by the Kalispel Tribe.

SAIGE is offering a limited number of scholarships for Native students to attend the 2013 Training Conference June 3-7, 2013 in Spokane, Washington. The scholarships will include conference fee, airfare, hotel accommodations and meals. 

From our mailbag: 2013 Horatio Alger Recipient

It's a win-win for our members and supporters to stay connected to us through this blog and social media.

"We are pleased to announce to you the 2013 Horatio Alger National and State Scholarship recipients! Just wanted to also share with you that we ask the scholarship recipients to indicate how they heard about the scholarship programs and this year we had one recipient who indicated she heard about the scholarship through the National Foster Parent Association. She is a Delaware Scholar." 

Sincerely, 

Lindsay Paul
Educational Programs Coordinator
Horatio Alger Association

There are a few more scholarships available for students in Idaho, Louisiana, Montana and Tennessee (deadline April 15). Visit the Horatio Alger website for more information.

Foster care education reform signed into law

by David Sharp

The National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) joined in a letter of support for the A Plus Act, also referred to as the Uninterrupted Scholars Act (S. 3472 and H.R. 5871). The legislation amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to enable child welfare agencies to access the educational records of children in foster care to help improve their educational success. The agency may disclose the records to other parties with a court order.

FERPA, originally created to protect the confidentiality of education records, has been a barrier to child welfare agencies, as well as foster parents even when educational agencies are willing to collaborate in the exchange of information. Bipartisan sponsors in the Senate are Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Al Franken (D-MN). The House lead sponsors are Reps. Karen Bass (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Michelle Bachmann (R-MN).

This bill was passed by Congress on January 1, 2013, but was not enacted before the end of its Congressional session, however was signed into law by President Obama this week! While this bill will be a big WIN for children and their agencies, it does fall short of giving the most important stakeholders, i.e., foster parents, access to their dependent children's school records.

NFPA will continue to work with congress to amend this bill to include all stakeholders in a child's life.

David Sharp is the Public Policy chair for NFPA.

From our mailbag: A letter of thanks to David Sharp

I would like to tell you about our experience with the National Foster Parent Association and what they did for us in a time of need.