Regional Resources

Mentors help you by providing emotional support, sharing their experiences, and connecting you to regional and state resources.  They are experienced caregivers who are familiar with the supports and services available in your region. Mentors are generalists who can help all types of caregivers statewide find the resources and support they need for successful placements. Mentors do not  offer legal, medical, or mental health advice.

April Burrer

aburrer@uw.edu
Lead Mentor, CaRES Mentor Region 1

April has been a licensed foster parent for 15 years. She has spent the last six years recruiting and supporting foster families. She enjoys encouraging caregivers and helping build caregiver support communities. She began her career working in child welfare as an intern for DCYF, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the dependency and foster care process (as well as heavy use of a copy machine!). April and her husband are nurturing a host of kiddos (bio, adopted, and foster).

Collette Bise

cbise@uw.edu
CaRES Mentor Region 1

Collette has been a licensed foster parent for 5 years and a kinship care/suitable other for 5-6 years prior to that.  Collette and her husband Troy have lived in the Spokane area for 23 years and have 6 grown children and have fostered at least 14 others (mostly teenage girls).  Collette is an Early Learning Provider and works in the ECEAP program.  She is enthusiastic about supporting all families but especially young families, families who are CPS involved and families who are caring for children that are not their own. She and Troy own a small farm in Newman Lake and raise beef cattle and sheep.

Mary Robinson

mrobin6@uw.edu
CaRES Mentor Region 1

Mary has been a licensed foster parent for 12 years. Her fostering journey has opened up many opportunities for Mary to support and encourage foster parents. She served as an Assistant Recruitment Coordinator and Recruiter Peer Mentor (RPM) with FosteringWA for five years. She and her husband have three adult children and they have provided a home for countless others. Mary works part time at an alternative high school teaching reading.

Sarah Thayer

smthayer@uw.edu
CaRES Mentor Region 1

Sarah and her husband Chad have been licensed foster parents since 2013. During that time, they opened their home to several drug-affected and medically fragile children and now have two children who were adopted through foster care. Sarah obtained her bachelor’s degree in Children’s Studies with minors in Early Childhood Education and Sociology from Eastern Washington University. Sarah brings 16 years of experience working for the State of Washington including the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and Spokane County Head Start. Her entire career has been catered to working with vulnerable children and families to provide services and support and advocate for those who need it most.

We know relatives and foster parents feel more successful in their journey when they are connected to others who “get it.”  That is why Alliance CaRES is in the community to help you get connected with local foster and kinship families to share common challenges, feel heard, and solve problems.

CaRES Connectors are foster and kinship caregivers themselves; they organize in-person events and community groups to bring families together for support, resource sharing, and connection. You might even build a new respite opportunity! Meet your region’s Connectors below.

Jenny 
CaRES Connector
Chelan-Douglas Counties

Lori 
CaRES Connector
Moses Lake Area

Caregiver Continuing Education (CCE)

Visit the Caregiver Continuing Education (CCE) webpage to learn more about the ongoing training requirements to maintain your home’s foster license and find training recommendations. 

Topic Support Groups

Topic-based conversations bring caregivers with similar needs together to find solutions while earning training credit. Caregivers’ knowledge is the foundation for shared problem-solving and self-advocacy skills.
Check the calendar below for current listings or, for a complete list of our Topic Support Groups groups, click here.

Join us for a CaRES Book Club!

TBRI Book Club: Relating through the senses (The Connected Therapist): This 3-week book club is an extension of the Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) modules or the TBRI book clubs: The Connected Child and The Connected Parent. Based on selections from “The Connected Therapist” by Marti Smith, discussions during the three sessions will focus on understanding sensory processing challenges, developing sensory processing strategies, and the practical application of those strategies in everyday caregiving. This TBRI book club is an encouraging and welcoming space for foster parents and kinship caregivers to engage in a next step in peer-to-peer support, problem-solving, and learning facilitated by a TBRI practitioner. 
Caregivers who have completed either both TBRI book clubs or the TBRI modules can register. Register here!

And

Dancing with a Porcupine: The CaRES team leads you through a reading and discussion of “Dancing with a Porcupine” by Jennie Owens. This book shares the compelling story of the author’s struggle to save her own life while caring for three children she and her husband adopted from foster care.
During the three sessions, you will discuss themes including: self-care; trauma-informed care; expectations and hurt feelings; compassion fatigue; and balancing real life with the outside pressure to look like you are doing it all well.  Register here!

Most of these are available to foster and kinship families, some require proof of caregiver status, usually in the form of a foster care license. This is noted whenever we are aware of it. The Alliance CaRES program does not support or endorse any of the listed items; they are compiled for your convenience. We make every effort to keep these up-to-date, if you know of a correction or an item not listed, please let us know by emailing notifycares@uw.edu

Click here for resources available statewide, special event recordings, guides for licensure, and more.  

Check out these places in your area that offer discounts or free opportunities or items to families in the care system:

Blue Zoo | Spokane’s First Interactive Aquarium: Enjoy an interactive aquarium experience at Blue Zoo located in Spokane. Children in out-of-home care are free. Their caregivers can access Blue Zoo for the discounted price of $16.95 and any other children who are not in out-of-home placement have a discounted admission of $10.95. These discounts apply to kinship and licensed foster families and to families from outside of the Spokane area who would like to visit.

Community Foster Closet: The Community Foster Closet is located inside Eastpoint Church at Sprague & Sullivan in Spokane Valley. They offer donated clothing and new socks, underwear, and shoes as well as diapers and wipes to foster families in Spokane and surrounding areas. Families can shop once per month and select up to 10 clothing items per child. This also includes families’ biological children in need! The closet also stocks some seasonal items that can be selected outside of the 10-item limit. Sizes range from preemie through men and women’s XXL+. Free shopping appointments are on Wednesdays between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and one Saturday per month from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Families can schedule a thirty-minute appointment through https://calendly.com/fostercloset. If you have more than 3 children, feel free to schedule 2 appointments back-to-back so you don’t feel rushed.

Embrace Washington: Embrace Washington offers several programs for children experiencing foster care. Through their education program, Embrace Washington can provide financial and practical support to help children access tutoring. Their other programs can provide beds and bedding and will also sponsor a child’s special wishes. Available to all children residing in Eastern Washington (DCYF Regions 1 and 2). Caregiving families can self-refer but will need to indicate their child’s DCYF worker’s name for verification of their status as a foster child.

The Hope Chest: The Hope Chest is a clothing closet in Wenatchee. It is available to families and children in out-of-home placement in the Wenatchee and surrounding areas. To find shopping hours and updates, follow them on Facebook.

Mobius Children’s Museum: Mobius Children’s Museum is located in the heart of Downtown Spokane. They offer $2 off admission tickets for all kinship and foster families on Wednesdays. This discount is available for families living outside of the Spokane area, too.

Stephanie’s Closet: Stephanie’s Closet is a clothing boutique serving adolescent and young adult girls within the foster care system. It is in Colville and stocks casual and formal clothing and shoes. Foster and relative caregiver families can reach out directly to Stephanie’s closet via their Facebook page to set an appointment for free shopping

Spokane Angels: Spokane Angels serves children placed out of their homes residing in Spokane and Stevens Counties. Caregiving families are matched with a volunteer or group of volunteers who provide support to all members of the caregiving family via a monthly “Love Box” based on their needs and wishes. The Dare to Dream program offers personal mentorship to youth aged 11-22 in out-of-home placement and empowers them to develop skills, pursue passions, and achieve their goals. Mentors meet with youth at least twice a month to offer support and supportive guidance. Foster and relative families can self-refer via the Spokane Angels webpage to get connected.

Teen & Kid Closet: Teen & Kid Closet is a clothing store stocked with new and gently used clothing, shoes, seasonal clothing, and hygiene items for children birth-22. Teen & Kid Closet makes appointments for shopping and a referral is needed from a child’s social worker, advocate, counselor, or other professional. All goods are offered free of charge and a child can shop once every six months, as long as a new referral is submitted. Two locations are available, one in Downtown Spokane and a second in North Spokane. The closet is available to families who have foster and kinship placements anywhere in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, provided they can get to the store(s) in Spokane

Mentors and Specialists can help you by providing emotional support, sharing their experiences, and connecting you to regional and state resources. Specialists can help caregivers by providing emotional support, sharing their experiences, and connecting them to resources.  They have an area of dedicated knowledge that may be especially important for a caregiver looking for understanding.  Mentors and Specialists do not offer legal, medical, or mental health advice.

Would you like to have one of our wonderful mentors reach out to you for individualized support? Send us an email or leave a voice mail with your contact information, a sentence or two about what general areas you need support in, and if you need language support or interpretation.  

If you are sending a referral on behalf of a caregiver, please also let us know if they are expecting a call from us. Mentors will respond within 48 hours.

alliancecares@uw.edu or call 206-221-4913

If you are a caregiver going through an investigation, be sure to visit our page on support for allegations and investigations.

If you are a caregiver experiencing challenges in your fostering journey, visit our page on caregiver challenges for training suggestions.