Tommy Andrade’s mantra is: “If you want to make an impact, you don’t have to change the whole world. You can plant a seed in your own community.” For him, this means supporting kids and families in foster care. Tommy is a barber and will offer free haircuts to kids in foster and kinship care
Category: Kinship Care
The Power of Community-Centered Program Design
Amara has launched several new programs to serve kids and families lately. One of the key “ingredients” in these new programs is the wisdom of people with lived experience. Their input infused each program so we could find ways to best serve kids and families, and ways to reduce possible barriers to reaching the programs
Amara Presents to Pierce County Council Human Services Committee
We love being in community and sharing about our work for kids and families. Nicole Mazen, Amara’s Chief Program and Policy Officer, and Julie Hoffman, our Pierce County Early Childhood Court Program Coordinator, recently presented about our programs and impact in Pierce County to the Human Services Committee at the Pierce County Council. Amara and
Sometimes Timing Is Perfect – Generous Gift Helps Kinship Family
It takes courage to reach out for help. And we’re honored a grandparent caring for their two school-aged grandchildren in King County entrusted us to help their family through our new Kin Connections program for support. Soon after reaching out to us, the grandparent shared that one of their family’s greatest needs was new tires
Speaking of Change: How Parent and Caregiver Partnerships Can Help Children Thrive
“Relationships are what change people.” Shrounda Selivanoff, a parent and kinship caregiver who also is the Director of Public Policy at the Children’s Home Society of Washington shared this important truth as a panelist at our Speaking of Change conversation on “How Parent and Caregiver Partnerships Can Help Children Thrive.” Amara’s Speaking of Change
Kin Connections to Serve Kinship Families in King and Pierce Counties
One of the new programs Amara is launching this fall will directly help kinship families in our King and Pierce county communities. Kin Connections will help kinship caregivers connect to the resources and supports they need to parent relative children, many of whom often arrive in their caregivers’ homes with little notice. To help ease
Washington Will No Longer Pursue Parents of Kids in Foster Care for Child Support
The state of Washington will no longer attempt to collect child support payments from parents whose children have been placed in licensed out-of-home care. The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families ended this practice as of September 1, 2022. A recent study found that referring parents to child support collection lengthened the time
State Begins Child-Specific Licensing for Kinship Caregivers
The state is taking steps to make it easier for extended family and close family friends to receive monthly foster care payments when they care for children in foster care who cannot live with their parents. This kind of caregiving is called kinship care. It is often preferred for kids in foster care because these
Meet the Amara Kinship & LGBTQIA+ Support Team!
Our incredible team brings years of professional and personal experience in supporting kids and families experiencing the child welfare system. Trey Rabun, Associate Director of Kinship and Community Services Trey is the Associate Director of Kinship and Community Services at Amara. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Hampton University, a master’s degree in Human Development and