FAFS has been a great support and help for my family over the past 6 years. They offer training and many resources for foster and adoptive families, that really make a difference in our lives.
I have been volunteering with this organization for a couple years now and enjoy being a part of such a great group. Everyone has the same goal and that is to better the experience that the children have while in foster care. The children have very little to no control over where they are and how they get treated. FAFS gives resource parents the assistance they need to be a good placement for the children. They offer evening in person training classes, books free of charge, on-line classes, events for the children and much more. Foster and Adoptive Family Services is a dedicated organization that always strives for the best.
I came to FAFS 2 years ago to see what it was all about. I had fostered many and adopted 2 (at that time) and wanted to see if there was anything I was missing out on - boy was I glad I went! Being a member and now a chairperson, I have had so many wonderful experiences with all my kids and have been opened up to so many more things! Support, fun events, gifts, raffles, meetings, information and all kinds of camaraderie! On top of all of this, FAFS provides all the trainings both in person and via their online educational services to keep me licensed and up to date on all the important issues surrounding this part of my busy life. I know for sure I would not be nearly as fulfilled and informed as I am were it not for this amazing organization and the wonderful people involved.
To whom it may concern,
I fall under multiple roles such as client served, professional with expertise in this field, and volunteer. FAFS has and still does support at risk youth such as my self with programs support services and financial stability. I would not be here with out this nonprofit and the people who work for this non profit They helped me through homelessness, continuing my education, and giving me a hand and pulling me up while still continuing my education. Out of all the non profits i have worked for or with FAFS truly has our best interests at heart and is that light at the end of the tunnel for most of us at risk youth. With that said this non profit should out rank any of its competitors based on there track record.
We were foster parents for over 10 years and have had over 35 children pass thru our doors. The information we have been able to get thru FAFS has been price less. It has touched the lives of all the children that have been in our lives. Thru give a wish, holiday parties, summer camp, school tuition or local foster parent outreach and training. Thank you for you continuing touch on the lives of ALL Our Children.
I started fostering as a single parent of a young daughter because I wanted my child to know the love of siblings. 17 years later I have fostered 18 children and adopted 3. Fostering children takes your entire heart, It expands as needed. I shed tears as each one moved on. Tears of gratitude for being part of their life, tears of hope as they greet their future and most of all ...love tears to keep in their hearts whether they remember us or not.
FAFS has helped in so many ways. guidance, encouragement, and the connected feeling of being in a group who is making a difference.
We became foster parents 14 years ago and have since adopted 2 wonderful children. Although we have closed our home, we continue to be active in FAFS both at the county level as well as the state level. Why do we stay involved? Because we believe in FAFS mission. We know they are there to advocate for children in care and the families caring for them. They provide wonderful children's programs such as Fostering Wishes and Camperships. They provide much needed training on a tremendous array of topics in modalities to suit every need. We have been the recipient of their services and will continue to support their cause in any way that we can.
Became involved with FAFS when my niece and nephew were put in DYFS in 2007. FAFS helped me find all the appropiate services they needed. My niece and nephew were able to get counseling and other support services. When I did not call in a while my FAFS rep would reach out to me to make sure the kids were doing well. They send out material to assist you in choosing classes that would be helpful in obtaining necessary information and the training credits you need. They have really been a great asset. The adoption was final in 2011 and they still assist me with any services I need. This organization does an excellent job!
This a great organization that provides phenomenal support to foster and adoptive families through amazing training and counseling. They are committed to making youth in the system feel valued and cared about through their various programs and offers.
My husband and I were active members of the foster care community and FAFS between 1999 and 2007. FAFS was extremely helpful in steering us through the sometimes confusing process of fostering and adoption. Although it has been a while since we were involved and we now live in Alabama we still continue to be friends with several FAFS members and continue to get answers to whatever questions we might have. I truly miss the support that this caring group of people offer.
FAFS is a wonderful organization. The members are loving and loyal to those in their care. I have been a Foster Mom for over 6 years and have gotten all the help and support I need for my "sons". I am proud and happy to be associated with Union County Local West. Keep up the good work!
This is an agency that has a deep dedication to the safety,and well being of each child in New Jersey's child welfae system. It has a staff dedicated to advocating for resource parents so that their homes contribute to the well being of each child in their care. This agency is an excellent caretake of the funds that they receive as demonstrated in their annual audit.
My family has fostered children for over 20 years. Throughout that time, the Middlesex County support network of FAFS has been there for us - providing training, support, and opportunities to meet with other families working with the child welfare system.
Our children have grown up attending FAFS events with us. My youngest, adopted at age 6 and now 20 years old, has made some of her closest friends at FAFS meetings. It has always been important to her to connect with other children and youth who understand what it is like to have been in foster care and who understand adoption.
At the state level, FAFS has offered assistance in interpreting DCP&P policies and practice as well as excellant training in many of the issues faced by children in out-of-home placement. I don't think we could have continued to foster for as long as we have without the support of this organization.
FAFS is a wonderful support to our local county group. We can count on them for answers to our many questions, support emotionally with various problems and financial support for our foster/adoptive/kinship families. It is a blessing to have a group that our children can benefit from and be part of so they know they are not alone in their unique family situations. On a personal note, I have had the support from them as a foster/adoptive resource home with various issues that have come up during the years.
FAFS has been the only reliable source of unbiased information and true support as we navigate adoption from the foster care system. We've been involved for 3.5 years. Their volunteers are so committed and they really try to help children in foster and kinship care.
I became involved in FAFS five and a half years ago when i found out my goddaughter and her brother were in DYFS custody in Passaic County. We became a license foster family and got custody of the two little ones and FAFS was there to help answer all our questions, even after we adopted the two little ones the have been there to help us with getting help with programs available to us for counseling for our little ones, our oldest is now 8 and though she still has alot of trauma issues we know that there are people out there to help us through. Other Foster parents who have adopted little ones who suffer the same things, sometimes i feel so stressed out for all the pain my two are still going through four years later, but i know with FAFS i have a support system to reach out to.
I am an adoptive parent as well as a foster parent for nine years.FAFS has been there to answer all questions, direct families to needed resources, and provide awesome trainings.
This group is a large group that is broken down into committees that chair certain events. The co-chairs are in place to verify that all of the smaller groups are on task and functioning well. We meet monthly as well as have teleconferences to make sure everyone has the appropriate resources. Our group is very diverse when it comes to ages, experience, and ideas. It makes for lots of positive excitement all year long. We try to get all resource parents connected. It is important for the children to be able to participate in such fun family oriented events.
FAFS is a great organization. As a foster parent they are my first stop and best resource for training, support and advocacy. I had a very stressful placement and zero traction in dealing with my agency. The FAFS family advocate was there with help and advice. Our local chapter coordinator was a lifeline, ready and willing to provide help and suggestions for everything from the mundane to the extremely challenging. She is extremely knowledgeable, not only about fostering in general and who to contact for what at our local agency, but also about resources in the community.
FAFS is a great organization and provides wonderful support for foster children and foster families. I have felt very supported by FAFS during the 3 years I have been a foster parent. I think their programs are really great, especially their "Fostering WIshes" for foster children, summer camp and college scholarship programs.
This organization is one of the best run out there. They not only support us as foster parents but strive to make the life of a child in foster care better with the support they deserve at this trying time. The staff are the best around! I have always recieved a return call, a warm hello and they are willing to assist with whatever we may need. If I had a choice of where I wanted to work and with whom, this would be the place! We cannot thank them enough for all they do for our children. We are in Salem County and the amount of resource homes does not equal the larger counties, but we still receive the support as if we were as large as they are! Kathy Rutter
Since becoming a foster parent three years ago I have to say that I was extremely grateful that FAFS was available to support foster parents. Becoming a foster parent is a big commitment and changes your life as well as your families. The children you bring in your home are amazing children and deserve a good life. Unfortunately, dealing with the children has never been an issue but sometimes dealing with the system is. FAFS staff are amazing people. They are very knowledgable in all areas of foster care and they are very supportive. When I need to call to ask a question or vent when I am frustrated I can alway count on someone at FAFS to be there for me. Besides being an amazing support system, FAFS does so much more for these presicous children. They has scholarships,special funds, do an annual backpack drive as well as holiday events and other social activities. Each county has an advocate to support the foster parents in their county. Monmouth county has Ashley who goes beyond what she needs to do. The time an energy she puts into her families gives thes foster parents the security they need to know they are not alone.
Now that I have been a foster parent and have taken on the role of Supoort Network person of Monmouth County , I feel that I am truly blessed and very proud to say that I am a part of a wonderful organization.
Phyllis DiNardi
Supoort Network of Monmouth County
A great resource for families both fostering and adopting children through the foster care system in NJ. They help bring families in like situations together both on line and in person allowing for supportive communities to be built around these kids. FAFS also provides education for resource families, and advocacy services for families in need!
I am blessed to be a part of FAFS in Sussex County NJ. I didn't know about them when we started our journey with DYFS, but only months in I was in the middle of a VERY stressful placement and ready to cry with getting no support from the child's worker at DYFS. I got a flyer in the mail advertising a training coming up the following month with Chery Novak's name and phone number on it. I thought I HAVE to go to this training and I NEED to meet other foster parents. I called the number and Cheryl was not home but her husband Larry took me under his wing and talked me down and shared some of their experiences and gave me advise on what to do next! I thank GOD for that flyer and for Cheryl and Larry being so open and helpful. Now 10+ years later I am offering the help and support to new foster parents...it is a great way to get to know others walking the same road.
FAFS offers in service training almost monthly at our local office, our local chapter plans a terrific Holiday party for all foster and adoptive families in our county each year and the kids have a fantastic time. They also try to plan something fun for our families in the summer months. At Christmas they help out with gifts for the kids.
If there is ever a crisis there is someone to talk to with their hotline. It is different that they stay with us even after we adopt...
My husband and I are fortunate to have adopted two children when they were little, they are now 16 and 10! We have had a total of 35 children come to our home in the past 16 years and with the help and assistance of FAFS we hope we are able to continue another 16 years!
My husband and I have adopted 2 sets of 2 sister siblings from the child welfare system in New Jersey. We did not know about FAFS (Foster and Adoptive Family Services) when the first set was placed in our home. While the experience was very rewarding, it seemed that no one we knew really understood what challenges we faced. The second time we become a licensed foster home, we were introduced to FAFS. WOW!!!! What a difference. Since then I have been very involved in FAFS because my family has benefited from all it has to offer. The montly meetings have become a family event. My husband and I attend the training sessions that teach us to more effectively help our children heal and that connect us with other foste/adoptive parents who face the same challenges. While we are in the training session our children get to hang out with other kids who have their same experience as children from the child welfare system. Everybody feels supported and conntected.
The FAFS Holiday Party is the highlight of the year for many of these children. One of my daughters has a cognitive disability. Last time we visited her doctor, she was asked about her favorite holiday. She said Christmas. He asked her why and her answer was the FAFS Holiday Party. She has a fun time and gets to see her birth brother who is adopted into a different family from her. This appointment was in September so her memories were still fresh from last December. The doctor replied "Wow, that must be some party!" And explained that other patients have also raved about the FAFS Holiday Party.
Also when our foster son was to leave our home to be placed with an aunt that lived several states away, I knew who to call. And it wasn't ghostbusters! It was FAFS. I called an experienced foster parent who had helped to move children from her family into relatives homes who lived states away and whom the child didn't know. As a result I was able to support the aunt and make the move the least disruptive for our foster son. He is thriving and we get to see him from time to time! Without the help of an experienced foster parent who I met through FAFS, I was able to help a very difficult move become easier for an 18 month old little boy.
By supporting FAFS, you support foster, adoptive and kinship parents/caregivers who support children who have been neglected or abuse and are, therefore, very fragile and need a lot of tender loving care. By supporting FAFS you give children a party that is the highlight of their entire year. By supporting FAFS, you help the children heal and make transitions from one home to another much easier. We need you. Without you, we can't do what we do nearly as well. The children need you. Your support lessens the long-term impact of their distress. They can thrive and feel loved and whole again.