Who are the Waiting Children in the U.S. Foster Care System?
Teenagers. Sibling groups. Children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. Children who have been abused and neglected.

Many thousands of children who wait for parents live in foster homes, group homes or residential treatment centers. More than half the children are of minority descent. Sadly, many of them have experienced abuse and neglect, and all have endured the trauma of being separated from their families. The challenges differ from child to child, but they all long for unconditional love, patience and understanding. These children are waiting for the day when they will have a family who can give them the stability and loving care they so desperately need...and deserve.
 

Foster Care Totals

There are over 550,000 children in foster care in the United States.

  This time of year everyone seems to be bustling around just as joyful and thankful as the holiday season seems to suggest.  If you listen to all the ads, you're supposed to be really happy during the holidays, right??  But what if holidays usually turn out to be more stressful than they seem to be worth?  How can you keep from repeating yet one more year feeling stressed and anxious?

Please join us as we continue with part 2 of our workshop designed to equip you with tools to help you tackle money and the holidays. 

Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008  

When:  6:00p - 8:00p

Where:  Garden City, KS, at the Community College Endowment Room

MEAL PROVIDED!!

Thank you to all that attended part 1 of our Christmas Cash Crunch Workshop.  It was a fun and successful evening. If you could not make the first workshop you still have a chance to make this one.   ~ Remember any part of a workshop is valuable.  ~ We look forward to seeing you there.

1). MYTH: Food stamps are welfare.
FACT: The Food Stamp Program is a nutrition assistance program. It helps low
income people buy nutritious foods. It is not welfare.

2). MYTH: Elderly people only receive $10 a month in food stamp benefits.
FACT: Ten dollars is the smallest amount of food stamps you can receive.
The average amount of food stamps for the elderly is much higher.

3). MYTH: Elderly people cannot own or be buying a home. If they own or are
buying a home, the government will take it.
FACT: Individuals can own or buy a home and still get food stamps. The home and its
lot are not counted as a resource in the Food Stamp Program. The Food Stamp
Program does not require a person to sign away their home.

Adoption Facts / Foster Care Adoption Facts 
    
 
On any given day in North America, nearly 600,000 children are in the foster care system, and more than 150,000 of them are available for adoption, just waiting for the right family to find them.

There are 510,000 children in the U.S. foster care system; 129,000 of these children are available for adoption.
More children become available for adoption each year than are adopted. In 2006, 79,000 children had parental rights terminated by the courts, yet only 51,000 were adopted.
A child in foster care can wait up to five years to be adopted.

The average age of the child waiting to be adopted from foster care is eight years old.
The average number of months a child waiting to be adopted has been in foster care is 39 months.

The holidays are upon us and it is time to reflect on how very blessed we all are to have family and friends.  Christmas is a time to celebrate our savior's birthday. A time for families to gather together and to celebrate the blessings that God has provided for us, a time of giving, and a time to remember those who have fallen into difficult times.  Catholic Social Service would like to share our blessings this holiday season with those families in need.  We would like to assist a family in Dodge City, Garden City, and Great Bend, KS, which have fallen into difficult times.  If you know of a family that is in need this Christmas season, please send their name, address, and phone number to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it along with a small note as to why you have chosen this family.  We, at Catholic Social Service, thank you for your thoughtfulness this holiday season.

July 15, 1968. It is only three months following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the nation is burning. Black and White America are locked in the tense grip of massive change. Into this inferno steps an unsuspecting young White couple. Neither significantly knew even a single African American person while growing up. Now, a child will change all of that forever. In this fateful moment, a Black baby becomes perhaps the first in the history of New Mexico to be adopted by a White family.

Money means program is for keeps

What have you done for your marriage today?
That is a question that does not normally come up in marriages, according to Mike and Kelly Houser, of Garden City.
The couple completed a Marriage For Keeps class, offered by Catholic Social Service. The class is a 13-week course designed to strengthen marriages by teaching communication skills and techniques.
"Marriage reduces child abuse, drug abuse and poverty," said Debbie Snapp, executive director of Catholic Social Service.
The service is one of 21 organizations receiving money from the Finney County United Way. Catholic Social Service will be receiving $4,000, or 3 percent of its total budget, from the United Way. The United Way money will go toward making sure the Marriage for Keeps class is offered in the future.

As we continue along the magnificent journey with Hattie Stein we will find that today, Monday, October 20, 2008,  Hattie along with her fellow delegates will meet with staff from the House of Hope on a Hill Rehabilitation Center.  The Mission of this Center is helping Russian alcoholics aspiring to find sobriety.  The center has concentrated efforts on helping known people of Russia suffering from this disease.  The center can accommodate up to 30 patients in their three different programs they offer which are the Initial Program, the Family Program and the Relapse Program.  All patients receive absolutely free-of-charge care, irrespective of a sex, age or creed.  The delegates will focus the morning on the recommended length of stay, the elements of a successful treatment program and the importance of prevention.

The Dodge City office has begun its 6^th year of the Teen Moms Program. 

There are nine students enrolled this year with more applications coming in!  

 The year started on September 17, 2008 with the annual kick-off picnic.  The students brought their children and families and fun was had by all!  The picnic is used as an ice breaker for the previous year’s students to meet and get to know the new students.   Some of the Discovery Workshops held so far include Group Opening Night, College Night and Choices and Kansas Works. 

 The students had these things to say about the workshops: 

“I really enjoy coming to teen moms.

 I really look forward to it each week.” 

“It’s good to be back.” 

“I enjoyed getting to know everyone and talking.”