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.

Rae Cook

RCook3@uw.edu
CaRES Mentor Region 3

Rae and her family have been a licensed foster and adoptive home for seven years, and were able to adopt their son in winter 2018. Rae began volunteering to speak on foster parent panels and with her local foster community groups. She was also able to be one of the original satellite families that formed a Mockingbird Family model in her area. She has dedicated herself to building a community of support to all foster families.

Stephanie Reid

SDReid@uw.edu
CaRES Mentor Region 3

Stephanie and her family have been fostering since 2018 but were introduced to kinship care in 2014.  She has worked in communication for the last 15 years and holds a Bachelors degree in Social Science. She also worked in a foster care receiving shelter, as a volunteer grief group facilitator, and is active in advocacy for rare disease research and support. Stephanie has experience caring for medically fragile children, kinship care, transracial adoption, and child loss. As the wife of a retired veteran, she understands the ins and outs of military life. Stephanie is passionate about supporting children in the foster care system as well as their families and understands the value of foster parents being seen and heard members of the team. Stephanie is a mother through biology, adoption, and foster care. Most of her free time is spent with her husband and four daughters.

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.

Sarah
CaRES Connector
Snohomish and Skagit Counties

September

Imagine Museum Community Access Night 
When: 3-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17 (CaRES will be present 4- 6:30 p.m.) 
Where: Imagine Children’s Museum, 1502 Wall St, Everett 
RSVP: Deshanna at DBrown27@uw.edu or 206-484-0695 

A free evening of play, connection, and hands-on discovery at the Imagine Museum for families with children ages 12 and under. Stop by to say hello and pick up some CaRES swag! 

Meet CaRES at the Bellingham Sportsplex 
When: 12:30-2:30 p.m. Saturday Sept. 19 
Where: Bellingham Sportsplex, 1225 Civic Field Way, Bellingham  
RSVP: Deshanna at DBrown27@uw.edu or 206-484-0695 

Come play soccer, jump in the bounce, and connect with other caregiver families. This event is open to community foster families and kinship caregivers. CaRES swag, light snacks, and bottled water will be provided.  

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!

Big Baffling Behaviors Book Club, Introduction: This 2-week book club is an introduction to the concepts detailed in Robyn Gobbel’s book, “Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors.” The weekly discussions are focused on section one of the book. Throughout the guided conversations, you will have the chance to consider how the neuroscience of behavior can help you better understand your child’s actions and needs. This book club is an encouraging and welcoming space for foster parents and kinship caregivers to engage in foundational learning about trauma, behavior, connection, and regulation. Participants may participate in this group as a mini-book club or as the pre-requisite for the Topic Support Group: Big Baffling Behaviors Book Club, Continued. Register here!

And

Big Baffling Behaviors Book Club, Continuing: This 4-week book club is an extension of the Topic Support Group: Big Baffling Behaviors Book Club, Introduction. The weekly discussions will cover sections 2 and 3 of Robyn Gobbel’s book, “Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors.” Throughout the guided discussions, you will have the chance to consider how the concepts of the Owl, Watchdog, and Possum brains impact your child’s behaviors, develop parenting strategies tailored to your home, and build your own self-regulation toolkit. This book club is an encouraging and welcoming space for foster parents and kinship caregivers to engage in the next step in peer-to-peer support, problem-solving, and learning facilitated by a TBRI practitioner or CaRES Mentor. 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, 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 Skies for Children: Blue Skies for Kids offers a Little Wishes enrichment program which provides ongoing financial support of extracurricular activities for children in youth in foster care. They also offer one-time Little Wishes which fund special items like camp registration, bicycles, or school-related equipment that children need to thrive. They also have an instrument loaner program, a shoe and backpack distribution, and the Winter Warm-Up program which offers warm clothing to foster youth in need. The child must reside in Whatcom or Skagit County and be aged 6-18.

Clothes for Kids: Clothes for Kids in a clothing closet located in Lynnwood which provides clothing for children ages 4-18. Children should reside or attend school in Snohomish County or the Northshore School District.

DCYF Caregiver Supports Project: YouthNet can provide a caregiver support plan based on the needs of the child or youth in your care. For placements at level 3 or above, case-aid hours are available to help meet the needs of the child or youth. A 24-hour on-call line is available to all caregivers in their service area. YouthNet serves Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom Counties and can be reached at 360-336-1610 or 888-996-8846 (toll free). 

Foster Hearts: Foster Hearts provides apparel, shoes, coats, hygiene products, toys, bedding, and supplies for infants, children, and youth and those in Extended Foster Care residing in Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, Island, and San Juan counties. The Foster Hearts Store is in Bellingham. They also offer foster and kinship families beds or other donated furniture on a case-by-case basis if needed. 

Kids First: Kids First serves children placed in Island and San Juan counties with gift boxes, birthday and holiday gifts, or special gifts such as bicycles or funding for a back-to-school outfit. They also provide sponsorships for extracurricular activities on a case-by-case basis. 

Love Beyond Blood Foundation: Provides support, resources, and community for kinship caregivers and their families. This includes key services such as mental health support, financial assistance, and local trainings and events. 

Skagit Children’s Museum: Children in out-of-home care and their caretakers are offered admission to the Skagit Children’s Museum at a discounted rate of $3.00 per person, for up to 4 people. This is also available for children and families across the state.

Snohomish Aquatic Center: Snohomish Aquatic Center provides scholarships for swimming lessons for children in out-of-home care, which covers 20%-50% of the cost for lessons.

Threads & Treads: Threads & Treads is a clothing bank providing Northshore School District students and their families as well as surrounding communities with free, quality donated clothing, shoes, and accessories for school-age youth, teens, young adults, parents, and others living in the home.

The Treasure Chest: The Treasure Chest is a kids’ clothing closet located inside Cascade Community Church in Monroe. It is open to shop weekly by foster, kinship, and post-permanency families and stocks children’s clothing size newborn through youth 12/14.

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.

April Burrer
CaRES Lead Mentor
ABurrer@uw.edu

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).

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.

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.

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.