Artist Statement

Artist Statement

Going into this course I was not aware of the service learning aspect of it and when the final project was introduced on the first day of class I was already dreading it. Fifteen hours, of what essentially to me seemed like community service, was assigned and I was hoping it wasn’t going to cut into my other class’ work load. I am taking 3 other film classes, one of them being a production course so I knew the work load in that class was going to be great. So that was my main basic reason for dreading it: the time consumption.

I have never done service learning before and when we found out we would be working with Kids Matter Inc. I thought we would be playing babysitter for kids for 15 hours. After further explanation and after the 3^rd assignment, in which we got to interview a foster parent, I found out that we were going to be able to take the project in anyway we wanted. The topics that the other students were working on: transitioning out, stereotypes in foster care, why become a foster parent etc didn’t really intrigue me and I don’t like doing what others are doing so I decided to focus on how to become a foster parent and more specifically concentrate on the training aspect of it. I was curious as to how they train people to become parents of potentially troubled kids.

I started my research on the Kids Matter website and looked at what they had under training. It didn’t say much, just a quick statement of what they cover, the hours needed and then a schedule of the upcoming sessions so I knew I would have to dig deeper and by that I mean I used Google! I typed in “Foster Care” and “Foster Care Training” and got a lot of information just on the first returned page. After compiling what I thought was relevant I decided to try the library which didn’t have much information on my topic. I thought this was going to be a problem with only using web sources and one hard copy booklet but I pressed on.

And then trouble strikes. It took awhile to get my interview set up because at first I wanted to get footage of an actual session in progress but Megan, the associate who works with Kids Matter and helped our class get interviews and such, told me that I wouldn’t be able to film a session but I would be able to sit in on one. I told her I would rather get an interview with somebody that had knowledge of training because at this time there was about a little less than 2 weeks left of the semester. So after waiting for a week I finally got my interview scheduled and filmed. After that I went straight home and uploaded my video to my computer and tried to edit it in my choice of editing software, Vegas, but again trouble struck. It didn’t recognize my video because it was an AVI and not a WAV or MPEG. So I searched and searched online for a converted and couldn’t find any free trials that didn’t put a watermark on my converted video. Finally Dale, the tech guy that helped us through technical problems, told me how to solve the problem and got my video edited and done with.

All in all it was a great experience, minus the technical difficulties. I learned that being a foster parent can be troublesome and that becoming a foster parent is a long process but I was inspired by the project and got to meet some admiring people. I love kids and think that they shine a much need innocent light onto this world.

Training

I wanted to learn more about how you get trained for Foster Caring because it raised some interesting questions like how to discipline the child and the topic of religion. In my interview with Tiffany Meredith, a Training Manager, I asked her some general questions about the certification process as well as what goes into the training sessions and the discipline and religion topics. She gave me some great info on the subjects and below is the interview and below that is the list of training components that are covered in the sessions.



Module 1: Orientation & Overview
Module 2: The Parent as Part of the Child Welfare Team
Module 3: Abuse & Neglect
Module 4: The Effects of Abuse & Neglect on Child Development
Module 5: Attachment & Separation
Module 6: Discipline
Module 7: Cultural Issues in Placement
Module 8: Primary Families
Module 9: Caring for A Child who have Been Sexually Abused
Module 10: Effects of Care Giving on the Family
Module 11: Permanency Issues for Children
Module 12: Permanency Issues for Families

Update

Searching the web and other resources I found that there isn't too many details on what they actually teach you at the training sessions. So to further my exploration of training I set up an interview with a social worker who actually helps instruct the training courses that are required by the organization to make you a licensed foster parent.

**This is where I would put my interview. Though I have hit a speed bump. I imported my video to my computer and tried to upload it to one of my video editing software I have (Vegas, Windows Movie Maker) and it failed to recognized the codec (the extension on the file). The extension it has is .AVI and I tried downloading some converters off the internet and all are trial software so a water mark comes up in the middle of the frame after it is converted to an editable extension. I am still working this out and will probably keep trying all night so I can show something tomorrow during class updates but it is not looking good. Hopefully Dale can shed some light on this problem.

Where Do I Start?

So you are interested in becoming a foster parent but you aren't sure where to start, well this blog Kids Matter, Indeed will tell you how to get started in becoming an important volunteer for your community and go into detail of the training process that happens at Kids Matter, Inc. as well as certain aspects of my personal journey for this project.



First Off: Apply!
The first step to becoming a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer is filling out 4 page application which covers such issues as educational background, volunteering experience, employment history, criminal background etc. You can find the printable application here.

Kids Matter requires a background and reference check so make sure you fill it out with reliable sources. They do not accept online applications because they require an original signature to be on the application. The original signature is used for the Authority to Release Information section of the application.

After they receive your application it will be processed and then you will be reached to set up a personal interview. Once you are accepted as a future CASA volunteer you will have to choose when you can come in and start training for certification.

Sources
"Kids Matter Casa." Kids Matter Inc. -http://www.kidsmatterinc.org/volunteer/kids_matter_casa/index.html-

Update

I have been compiling research on training and have still yet to get an interview but Megan emailed me today and said she is working on that.

Some questions I will pose in my interview are:
- What is the average time one spends in training?
- Is there online training available?
- How do you train for disciplining kids?
- How do you deal with teaching of religion, if any is allowed?
- What is the basic outline of training? What all goes into it?
-and more to come..

My current feelings with this project is uneasy because I haven't got any footage for the project and we are coming into the final stretch of the semester pretty quick. I have a good amount a research so hopefully I will be able to knock the artist statement out fast so I will have enough time to edit the footage I get.

Primary Criteria

For Becoming a Foster Parent
The ability to provide a safe, nurturing home; sufficient income to support a child; and good mental and physical health. You can own or rent your home; be single or married; male or female.
In Addition, you must:
Be at least the age of 21, and pass tuberculosis criminal background checks; have adequate space for a child; and be emotionally stable and mature enough to work with children who have been through trauma.
You Will be trained
Volunteers are required to go through a thirty-two hour training over several sessions. This training covers the roles and responsibilities of CASA, the history and laws of child abuse, cultural awareness, and understanding families and children. A court observation is also required. At the end of the training, there is a swearing-in ceremony.