Media Resources

Quality Parenting Initiative bridges gap between foster and biological parents – February, 2024

A new effort in our community called “Quality Parenting Initiative” is helping foster parents work in conjunction with biological parents to be reunited with their children.

“It takes a village to raise a child, and that is exactly what QPI is doing,” says Christina Kaiser from Communities Connected for Kids.

CT family’s open adoption: One example of a growing movement – February, 2024

Encouraging open adoptions is a growing movement both in Connecticut and nationally to help maintain relationships for children. Everything shifted after Raeyn Bailey Perri’s birth — at least it did in the lives of the adults who love her.

When foster care ends, 18-year-olds still need support – February, 2024

The “financial umbilical cord” between American parents and children is getting longer. Fifty-seven percent of people ages 18 to 24 live with a parent— as do 21 percent of 25-to-29-year-olds. And 31 percent of young adults rely “a great deal” or “a fair amount” on their parents for emotional support. For many American kids, the gradual glide path to adulthood comes with an ample parental safety net.

But there’s one group of young people who enter adulthood much more abruptly, and with much less support…

Minnesota works for quality parenting in foster families – March, 2022

When longtime foster parents Darlene and Curtis Bell welcomed four kids into their home in Brooklyn Park, they took a crash-course in preparing pepper soup and fufu. And within 24 hours of arriving at the Bells’ place, the siblings were served their favorite dishes.

Marrero woman wins national award for her work providing necessities for children in the foster system – April, 2022

There’s a shift in thinking about the role of foster parents. While they’re typically asked to provide emergency or short-term child care, they’re also helping create the kind of lasting relationships that children need.

A couple from Ventura County has been nationally recognized for outstanding work as foster parents – January, 2022

Jacqueline and David Mesa are among just 22 people nationwide to receive a 2022 Quality Parenting Award as resource parents.

Mandeville foster mom receives quality parenting award – April, 2022

There’s a shift in thinking about the role of foster parents who are typically asked to provide emergency or short-term care to children removed from their homes, all thanks to an initiative that seeks to help foster parents create the kind of lasting relationships that each child needs in his or her life. [Must subscribe to read the full article]

‘All about family’: Movement to reform foster care takes root in Minnesota – June, 2018

As state seeks to change foster care, it looks to Brooklyn Park couple getting it right. 

Power in Partnership Series – August, 2022

This story series Power in Partnership: Elevating Shared Parenting Policies and Practices Through The Lens of Lived Experience highlights policy and practice changes across QPI sites to support birth and foster parents working together for what is in the best interest of each child and youth.