Time to Warm Up!

With the Winter season fast-approaching, the weather is changing. Temperatures are getting cooler but you don’t have to! Stay warm with some hearty soups that are sure to please even the most discerning palates. We’ve found several kid-friendly soups that are easy to make and will stretch your dollars as well. Check out these recipes below:

Galaxy Noodle Soup

Pizza Soup

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Grilled Cheese Bites

Baked Potato Soup

This last recipe is not a soup but…who doesn’t LOVE chili right?

BBQ Chili

Foster Family Surveys

We received great overall feedback on our Foster Child Surveys and our Foster Child Surveys. While there is always room for improvement, we received valuable and positive feedback and have already started implementing some of the suggestions mentioned in the surveys. We are always open to suggestions and welcome feedback at any time. If there is anything that you would like to suggest, please reach out to anyone in the TFC department at any time.

We're Flying at iFly!

On March 5th, several of our foster kids had the opportunity to fly at iFly. Everyone had a blast and some even got over the fear of flying. 

Even our toddler had the opportunity to soar to new heights and enjoyed doing so! 

Thank you iFly Baltimore for donating tickets to our Treatment Foster Care children and our individuals. Thank you to Karen Guilbault, Nathan Rhodes, and staff for putting this event together. They will not forget this experience.

Check out the video here:

iFlY All Abilities Night

Upcoming Information Session @ The Arc this Tuesday the 13th

Join us for an information session this Tuesday the 13th at The Arc at 6:30. For more information, please contact Karen Guilbault at kguilbault@arcncr.org.

Valentine's Day Ideas

Looking for Valentine’s Day ideas for your family? Here are some cute ideas that won’t break the bank:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/494059021597361023/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247135098276048721/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/558939003747349443/

Are you looking for family-friendly Valentine’s Day recipes? Check out these yummy selections:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/572238696396286195/

http://www.parenting.com/article/fun-to-eat-grilled-cheese-soup

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/easy-valentines-day-recipes-kids?page=3

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/easy-valentines-day-recipes-kids?page=6

http://www.parenting.com/gallery/easy-valentines-day-recipes-kids?page=7

https://mykidslickthebowl.com/strawberry-breakfast-bites/

http://www.kiddieliciouskitchen.com/chocolate-dipped-watermelon-pops/

$1 Days in Baltimore City!

We are always looking for fun things to do for our foster families that won’t break the bank. We found lots of cool stuff going on in Baltimore city in December. Some are free and some are paid including a cool Christmas town and $1 admission to the National Aquarium. There are so many fun events going on but make sure that you allow extra time to find parking. As you know, parking usually costs money. However, some of these venues validate which gives you a discounted rate on parking. Whatever you choose to do..be sure to have fun 😊. Check out the link below:

https://www.godowntownbaltimore.com/events/default.aspx?eid=1b98a68a-ee70-e411-a817-000c29c83df1

Do you have any free or low-cost family-friendly event ideas? Let us know in the “comments” section below!

Foster Parent Information Session

A few days ago, we had a foster parent information session. Even though the weather was bad, we still had a few interested prospective foster parents. We hope that they decide to go on this wonderful journey and are looking forward to providing them with the tools that they need to succeed. 

Interim report cards just came out. We are happy to report that our foster children are doing well in school. This is possible because of our Rockstar foster parents and other professionals in the field who create a dedicated support network for the kids. 

If you would like more information on any of our info. sessions or becoming a foster parent, please contact Karen Guilbault  at 443-412-5425.

What's New?

Recently, we were able to reunite two brothers in Harford County, MD.

We have two new foster children which we placed in loving foster homes. We are looking forward to hearing about the new memories that will be created and new relationships that will be developed between these children and their foster families.

One of our foster children recently embarked on a new journey by attending college. We wish her success as she continues her studies and are excited to see the wonderful milestones that she and our other foster children will experience.

A Forever Home

We would like to welcome our newest team member/recruiter Karen Guilbault. We are excited to have her join our team! Our TFC picnic is coming up soon. It looks like we will have a good turnout.

We have lots of fun with our foster families at The Arc. However, we know that often the goal is to find foster children “forever homes”. Whether it is with their biological families or adopted families, children just want to know that they are loved and have a place to call home.

Watch Jimmy’s story (in the video above) about his awesome foster mom and his journey to find a “forever home”. Do you have a heartwarming story? We’d love to hear about it! 

Summertime Eats

We hope that you are enjoying your summer thus far. Often times, parents are super busy and do not have the energy to cook a huge meal after work. Kids sometimes forget that even though they are off for the summer, their parents are not. Here are some quick and easy recipes that parents can make after work; kids can also make these recipes (as long as it is okay with their parents).

Spaghetti Pasta Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Prosciutto

1 lb whole wheat spaghetti

1 red bell pepper

1 medium zucchini

10 asparagus spears

5 slices prosciutto

1 cup basil leaves

1 lemon

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup olive oil

½ tsp each salt and pepper

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Dice zucchini into quarters, halve the bell pepper, and cut asparagus spears into thirds. Drizzle with olive oil. Cook for 25-20 minutes. Let cool.

• Meanwhile, bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add spaghetti and cook based on box directions. Drain.

• Dice the roasted bell pepper into small diced pieces. Cut the prosciutto into small slices.

• Add the roasted veggies and prosciutto to the pasta.

• In a blender or food processor add the basil, juice from 1 lemon, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

• Pulse until smooth for about 30 seconds

• Toss 3/4 the dressing with the salad while the pasta is still warm.

• Mix the remaining 1/4 of dressing in with salad when ready to serve (either that same day or at a later time!)

This recipe and all related images and content can also be found at: "Foodista.com – The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit".

Click for Foodista.com Recipe

Morning Glory Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
3/4 cup oat bran
3/4 cup organic coconut sugar, Swerve, or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or a bit more if you like them spicy like I do!)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cup whole milk
2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup carrots, grated
1 large apple, grated
3/4 cup raisin or dried fruit of your choice (chop the larger ones into raisin-size pieces)
Optional: 1 cup walnuts or pecans, or a mixture of nuts and seeds, such as sunflower

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

• In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. 

• Combine milk, eggs, and vanilla. 

• Add the grated carrots, apples, and raisins. 

• Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Be careful to not over mix. Note: the consistency will be more like a dough than a batter.

• Fill muffin cups almost full. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes for regular size muffins or 12-13 minutes for mini muffins, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe and all related images and content can also be found at: "Foodista.com – The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit".

Click for Foodista.com Recipe

Congrats!

We would like to congratulate our newest high school graduate J.H. We wish her continued success as she embarks on her journey. We would also like to acknowledge our upcoming work program graduates. We are proud of all our TFC children. We would like to thank them for reminding us that anything is possible with perseverance.

Please help us welcome our newest temp. TFC team member DeShanda Johnson. Although her time here will be brief, we are confident that her expertise will have a lasting impact on our department.

Please remember to subscribe to our TFC blog for the latest goings-on in all things TFC!

TFC Updates!

Thanks to our TFC families who attended the meeting with Shawn and Kevin. We truly appreciate your hard work, dedication, and feedback. Together we can continue enriching the lives of our foster families in order to ensure a brighter future.

UPDATE: We are hosting a TFC picnic for our foster families and prospective foster parents. Be sure to look for our email and let us know which day works best for you. Please respond no later than 7/7/17 via the email link.

Hope to see you there!

Thanks Troop 750!

We would like to thank The Girl Scouts (Troop 750 in Havre De Grace) for their generosity.

 We appreciate their hard work and sacrifice. 

We have already been able to use several of the donated items/bags for our foster children. 

One of our newest children practically came in with nothing. 

Thanks to the Girl Scouts, we were able to provide her with a bag full of clothing and lots of other goodies!

Sometimes, when we volunteer or donate, it is difficult to know whether or not we are making an impact.

 However, thanks to these young ladies and others with giving hearts we can see the impact firsthand.  

Our Winners!

Congrats to the winners of our FOSTERtration game! Thank you Sara G. for helping. Foster Care month isn’t over folks..you never know what we’ll have up our sleeves.!

Kate W.

Angeline H.

Thank You Parents!

We had such an awesome time at our Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner at the Greene Turtle in Bel Air, MD. When you put great people + a good cause + food together.. good things are bound to happen.

We can’t wait for next year! We want to say thank you to all our parents who go out of their way to make our kids’ lives a little brighter each and every day.

It's National Foster Care Month!

Did you know that May is National Foster Care Month?

To celebrate, we are having an awesome dinner for our foster parents as well as other activities that will create awareness about treatment foster care. We have set up a donation box in our lobby for our foster children. We are requesting items such as:

•    Feminine products
•    Fidget cubes/spinners
•   Journal or diaries
•   Board games
•   Barbie dolls
•   Gifts cards for clothing or food (ex: Wal-Mart, Target, Subway, etc.)

Please make sure that all items are new or “gently used”. These children are often removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect and placed on an emergency basis through our TFC program and come with little or no personal care items. All donations are greatly appreciated by the staff and our foster children who are in need.

In June, we will be having a seminar by Dr. Girio-Herrera from Towson University entitled Strategies for Improving Parent-Child Relationships and Preventing Noncompliance and Misbehavior. Be sure to come back as we will be providing more details about this event.

If you have questions on donating or Treatment Foster Care, please contact Wendy Kelly at wkelly@arcncr.org or 410-836-7177, ext. 335.

Welcome to our Treatment Foster Care (TFC) Blog!

Welcome to our new Treatment Foster Care (TFC) blog! We are excited about all of the great things that we have planned for the next few months. We will be having several seminars, workshops, and even a dinner for our foster care families!

Are you interested in becoming a foster parent? Please let us know. We are always looking for loving homes for our foster children. Please subscribe to our mailing list for more information on blog posts, upcoming events, and all things TFC!