Regional Support

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.

Amanda Merriman

amerr7@uw.edu

Amanda and her husband have been foster parents since 2015. They have welcomed many children into their home and helped to facilitate successful reunification. Amanda strives to maintain supportive relationships with families during the course of their case and after reunification.  In doing so she has gained great perspective on the importance of nurturing relationships between biological families and their children. This became a passion of hers after the adoption of her daughter in 2020. She now hopes to use her experience to support fellow foster families in their journey through foster care.

Nathan LaChine

CaRES Mentor Region 5, 6, & LGBTQIA+ Community Specialist
nlachine@uw.edu

Nathan has been a therapeutic foster parent with Community Youth Services serving BRS Youth for the past 16 years. He has held a variety of roles within the foster care community and has been a strong advocate within the LGBTQ2IA+ community. Through his teaching and public speaking, Nathan hopes to elevate and provide a voice for system involved families.

Racheal Turner

rturner4@uw.edu

Racheal Turner is from Port Angeles, WA. She is married with two biological children, two adopted children, and guardianship of one. She and her husband have been foster parents since 2007. They specialize in teenage foster children. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management, a master’s degree in teaching, and currently holds a teaching certificate in Washington State. She and her family enjoy racing, camping, hunting, fishing, and the outdoors.

We know caregivers feel successful in their journey when they are connected to other caregivers. That is why Alliance CaRES is in the community to help you come together with other local foster and kinship families to share common challenges, feel heard, and solve problems.

Our Community Connectors are foster parents and other supporters who coordinate local in-person events to bring together caregivers in their communities. Say hi to your local Connectors Mindi and Brittany, at the next event you attend!

September

Vancouver Park Play Date
Join our Community Connector Brittany at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, at Columbia Tech Center Nature Play Area (17701 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver). Bring your own picnic dinner if you’d like. RSVP appreciated but not required: caresvancouver@gmail.com.

La Center Caregiver Walk and Talk
Join our Community Connector Mindi for a walk and talk through Holley Park! Meet at 5:10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, in front of the La Center Community Library (1411 NE Lockwood Creek Road, La Center). RSVP appreciated but not required: lacentercares@gmail.com.

Vancouver Community Group
 Join foster parent, CaRES Community Connector, and Cloth+Foster director Brittany Clapp on Tuesday, September 26th, from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., for an evening of connection and support. Spend the evening with other relatives raising relative children and with seasoned and new foster parents. Share resources and spend time with people who “get it.”  Children are welcome however no childcare is provided. Fosterful Office, 101 E 8th St Ste 270, Vancouver, WA, 98660

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, click here.

Join us for a CaRES Summer 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!

Drop-in Discussions

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

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

Bridge the Gap: Bridge the Gap provides funds to cover activities, summer camps, etc. for kids in Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania Counties.
Cloth+Foster: Meeting the needs of families and children experiencing foster care through tangible goods, in SW Washington and surrounding areas.
Capital Kids Connection: Christmas gifts, School supplies, $100 wishes for youth to go towards an item or experience of their choice. For children in Thurston, Mason and Lewis Counties.
Compelled to Care: Provides graduation gifts, Care Boxes, and school supplies for kids entering the foster care system. Support dinners in Thurston and Grays Harbor counties. 
Dry Tikes and Wet Wipes: Supplements the diaper needs of low-income families. Serving the Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and surrounding area.
Foster Supports of Jefferson County: Services include clothing closet, Kicks for Kids, and Academic Success for Kids Program.
Hands On Children’s Museum: Offers a $25 membership to youth with a PEBT card. *Also available to families outside the region.
Olympic Angels: The Love Box program provides fostering families with community and holistic support. The Dare to Dream program provides one-on-one mentorship to youth in care.
Pizza Klatch: Offers support group for LGBTQ+ youth and their allies; held in classrooms during lunchtime at participating schools in the following districts: North Thurston, Tumwater, Olympia, Rainier, Tenino, Rochester, and Yelm Community Schools.
South Sound Foster/Adoptive Clothing Closet: Free clothing for ages 0-12, shoes, gear, strollers, toys, etc.
The Wishing Well Foundation: Provides clothing, supplies, and experiences to children currently placed in the foster care system in Thurston County.
Youth to Teen Essentials: Clothing closet in Shelton.

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
Check out the full guide with even more Free and Discounted Resources for Foster and Kinship Caregivers:
Boys & Girls Club: Members ages 6 to18 years-old get a no-cost Boys & Girls Club basic membership, covered by Coordinated Care.
DCYF Who to Contact Resources for Foster Parents and Kinship Caregivers: Knowing who to contact for different needs can be really hard for foster parents and kinship caregiver in a large child welfare system. This guide lets caregivers know who to contact about different topics. 
DSHS Reduced Cost Service Guide: The Reduced Cost Services Guide highlights a variety of products and services available in or near Washington state that are offered at reduced cost for people meeting certain income levels. 
Fosterful: Through trauma-informed care practices, provide nurturing environments and basic necessities to kids entering foster care. Located across the state and expanding.
Foster Parents Association of Washington State (FPAWS): Support and advocacy organization representing adoptive/foster/kinship and birth parent voices at the Regional, State, and National levels. They offer a multitude of supportive services, trainings, and opportunities.
IFoster: A free, members-only community supporting children in or at-risk of entry into child welfare, to access the resources and opportunities they need to become successful, independent adults.
Imagination Library of Washington: Enroll your child online. In 6-8 weeks, your child will receive their first book in the mail, ‘The Little Engine That Could’. Books arrive in the mail monthly until your child’s 5th birthday.
Treehouse: Offers many programs to youth across the state including educational support, holiday gifts, driver’s assistance, a clothing closet and just in time funding program.

CaRES Statewide Mentors & Specialist

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.

Camille Hereth

CaRES Trauma-Informed Caregiving Specialist

Camille has worked in foster care for over 16 years in many different capacities, including being a foster parent, a foster home licensor, providing in home counseling to foster kids, and teaching evidence based parenting classes to foster parents and post adoptive parents. Camille is passionate about supporting families with newborns, helping people understand how trauma impacts function, and supporting families who have children that are neurodivergent.

Christa Murray

Post-Permanency Specialist
christa6@uw.edu

The time spent in kinship care as a youth, started Christa’s awareness for the needs of families within the foster care system and opened her heart to becoming a foster parent. Christa has received support and encouragement from many during her foster/adoptive mom journey. She is honored to be able to help others as they navigate the system. Christa has written several articles on supporting foster children in child care. Her family spends much of their time exploring the outdoors or cozily tucked inside reading.

Christina Urtasun

CaRES Statewide Mentor
Curtasun@uw.edu

Christina has been a licensed foster parent, in Oak Harbor, for twenty years. She has been involved in many aspects of the foster care community including providing liaison services with Fostering Together program for 13 years and being a co-trainer with the Alliance for Child Welfare. Christina is excited to join the Alliance CaRES program as a mentor so she can continue supporting and encouraging families as well as help them navigate the system. Christina has four sons and one daughter. In her spare time, Christina loves to be hiking, camping, reading, and spending time with her family.

Deshanna Brown

CaRES Mentor Region 3, 4, & Culturally Conscious Caregiving Specialist, Caregivers and Children of Color
dbrown27@uw.edu

Deshanna has been working in the Foster Care field in various roles for six-plus years. She has been a visit supervisor, a case manager, and is a current volunteer Child Appointed Advocate in Pierce county. Most recently, she worked at Amara as a Foster Care Specialist. Along with these roles within the system, she is also a kinship caregiver. Deshanna’s passion for working with children and families in foster care comes from her drive to help every child find permanency. She loves helping families find the resources they need to help a child in their home thrive and helping foster parents and kinship caregivers navigate the world of foster care.

Emmanuel Camarillo

Spanish Speaking Community Specialist
Ec2643@uw.edu

Emmanuel Camarillo holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Washington Tacoma. His research focused on understanding the connection between the training that therapeutic foster parents receive and placement disruption. In addition, his research provided recommendations to foster care agencies looking to retain skilled foster parents and increase the quality and stability of children’s experience in therapeutic foster care programs. Prior to working in child welfare, Emmanuel worked in higher education for six years. Emmanuel and his fiance Francisco have been foster parents for the last three years. He has volunteered at The Foster Closet in Bellingham since 2018. He also serves as a board member of Foster Hearts, an organization that strives to improve the lives of children in foster care, ensuring each child has their basic needs met and providing life-enhancing opportunities. Most recently, Emmanuel was selected as a 1624 Region 3 representative to serve as a liaison between caregivers and DCYF.

Francisco Javier Contreras Alvarez

Spanish Speaking Community Specialist
Fc886670@uw.edu

Francisco is currently a licensed foster parent. Francisco and his partner have fostered over 13 children and youth in their home and are currently fostering a 14 yr old boy for about 2 years now. Francisco obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services with a minor in Spanish from Western Washington University. Francisco currently holds the position as case manager which brings skills and knowledge working with and for families by supporting and providing sources to help them reach their goals and meet their needs. Francisco is also a volunteer for the Foster Closet in Bellingham since 2018 and serves as a board member of Fosters Hearts, an organization that strives to improve the lives of children in foster care, ensuring each child has their basic needs met and providing life-enhancing opportunities. Francisco is passionate about supporting and advocating for marginalized and underrepresented communities where families and children from these communities can reach their potential by providing resources to further the knowledge and education of the community.

Nathan LaChine
CaRES Mentor Region 5, 6, & LGBTQIA+ Community Specialist
nlachine@uw.edu

Nathan has been a therapeutic foster parent with Community Youth Services serving BRS Youth for the past 16 years. He has held a variety of roles within the foster care community and has been a strong advocate within the LGBTQ2IA+ community. Through his teaching and public speaking, Nathan hopes to elevate and provide a voice for system involved families.

Sarah Rachael Edwards-Strode

CaRES Mentor Region 5 & Medically Complex Caregiving Specialist
Srstrode@uw.edu

Sarah and her husband David have been licensed foster parents for nearly 15 years. Before changing her goals to pursuing an education in nursing, Sarah was a ballet director for 20 years. While originally the Strode’s were focused on caring for drug affected infants, their concentration morphed into a focus and advocacy for medically complex and medically fragile foster children. The Strode’s have 8 children. Two biological, four adopted through foster care, and currently two medically fragile foster children. Sarah has a passion for advocating for the unseen and unheard. She specializes in burn survivor care as well as caring for those with intellectual and chronic illnesses and diagnosis. Sarah is thrilled to be part of Alliance CaRES and working along side other families wanting to care for the medically complex foster child as well as those just starting their foster care journey.

Sylvia Cardenas

CaRES Mentor Region 2 & Spanish Speaking Community Specialist
sylviac1@uw.edu

Sylvia obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration through Central State University.  She has lived in Eastern Washington all her life and really enjoys the large variety of outdoor activities. Sylvia and her husband became kinship caregivers in 2017.  This experience lit the fire in them to do more and both decided to become licensed foster parents. She has a passion for helping others understand the need for foster parents in our communities. She noticed there was a need to assist limited English speaking individuals who wanted to become foster parents. This is when she began to serve as a foster parent recruiter/mentor for monolingual Spanish speaking individuals. She understands not all individuals can become foster parents, but there is always a way to support our children in foster care.

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.