Join us for the Holiday Party

Thursday, Dec 15, 2011

6:30 to 8:30

Pot Luck as usual

White elephant gift exchange!

From the Pyramid to the Plate

November 17

6:30 to 8:30

pot luck as usual

Thank you to Patricia Graff

and all the peer parents

who attended and participated

in last nights in-service.

We had a very informative discussion.

Keep those ideas flowing for the new curriculum!

In Services - Revised Schedule

November 17- Nutrition from the Pyramid to the Plate
December 15 - Holiday party
January 19 - Our program and spirituality
February 16 - Going to court
March 15 Activities from the Resource room
April 19 Get those kids outside and moving !
May 17 - Expectations of a case worker
June 20 Individual Evaluations

QCR Protocol

October 20 Inservice

QCR* Protocol

If you don't know

what QCR even is

YOU NEED TO BE HERE!

if you do -

YOU NEED TO BE HERE!

6:30 to 8:30

Fashion Place

pot luck as usual

* Qualitative Case Review - Very thorough BI- Annual review on randomly selected cases.

Important news about new Curriculum

At the last State Coordinators meeting it was decided that rather than buy a new curriculum we will be revising and updating the STEP BOOK.

We are going to really make it our own.

We will begin in January looking at the format, graphics, needed new skills, and the first skill Abuse and neglect.

Your input is Vital. We will be discussing this at In-services but please

• 
  
  send me materials you are using,


• 
  
  call to chat about what you would like to see or


• 
  
  add your two cents in the comment section here.


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  How ever you do it. Connect with me!

Thank you to every one

who attended the Appreciation dinner.

I had a great time!

I hope you did too!

The Magic I Know

I know we all wish we had magic wands that make everything alright for everybody. Here are magic wands but 'alright' is a state of mind.

Being a firm beliver in science here is the magic I know;

A magic eraser to get rid of those crayon marks off, but the real magic is in forgivenews and every days opportunity to begin fresh and new.

An apple to represent the magic of taking physical care of your self. Eat right and Move more. We magically feel better when we take care of ourselves.

A crystal to remember the healing power of beauty.

A button that says "Nothing you do for children is ever wasted." Because of the magic of a bighter future created by taking care of a child today.

Butterflies to remind us of the magic of nature and transformation.

"Tu It" tokens because any magic takes action and getting around to it.

Kindness coins (and caught you doing good coins too) because really there is no greater magic than kindness.

Inspiration tokens because of the magic in a really inspiring quote.

Blue birds of happiness to remind you that any magic even happiness takes practice.

Bravery Stickers because sometimes bravery is the only magic to get us through the scarey times

And business cards for the simple magic of staying in touch.

The magics that are in red are available for clients in my office. Please allow a week for business card requests.

I am working on getting the jeopardy game onto the blog.

Checkout this new web site with some great videos on brain development that has been adapted for parents.

www.changingbrains.org

Next In-service - Be prepared for QCR. Oct. 19, 6:30 to 8:30 Pot Luck

Note  We have new journals for our clients
Also new in the resource room- wipe off boards
                                        to do lessons on
                                        to entertain small children while working with their parents 
                                        to create plans or lists or illustrate how something connects to another thing.

"Because of the Magic You Do"

Peer Parent Appreciation Dinner

September 22, 6:30 to 8:30

Dinner is NOT Pot Luck Tonight!



New Step Books

• 
  
  We have a new supply of Step Books courtesy of the State office.


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  They are in black binders on the bottom shelf on the short book shelf in my office.


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  White ones will be in Spanish.


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  As these binders are thinner than the previous ones,


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  I am going to leave it up to each of you as to which extra handouts you include.


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  I do want you to include extra handouts however.


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  They are still in the tub next to my desk.


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  Also remember that there are


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  dividers to better organize their books


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  and the glossy Emergency Preparedness Booklet.


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  Each book should come with those.

The Tentative schedule for In-services for the coming year

September 22 - Peer Parent Appreciation

October 19 - Supporting QCR

November 17- Nutrition from the Pyramid to the Plate

December 14 - Holiday party

January 19 - Our program and spirituality

February 15 - Going to court

March 15 Activities from the Resource room

April 18 Get those kids outside and moving !

May 17 - Expectations of a case worker

June 20 Individual Evaluations

July's in-service was small but informative.

Thank you Linda for

providing the videos and

great information about meth.

We chose to honor Faye pilcher as

this months Case Worker Extraordinaire

Don't tell her.

I will be presenting her with a

certificate at her staff meeting next week.

There will be NO

In-service in August

due to low summer turn out.

How ever there will be an opportunity for interested peer parents to participate

in a special "Team meeting" with me as the subject and you guys as my support system.

The Adminstration has been conducting these meeting

with all the supervisors and their teamsin the Region.

In other words the Adminstaration will be DCFS

I will be a 'client' and you are my team

as we talk about strengths, concerns,

what is going well and what can be improved about our little Peer Parent Family.

( I hope it wn't be like some of the mock ones we had in our in-service)

We don't have a date yet

but I anticipate that it will be during normal state business hours.

I hope to see lots of you there.

And finally I will be out of the office

between July 22 thru July 26, over the Pioneer Day Holiday.

I am going back to Santa Fe to pick up my granddaughter!

In-service

Thursday, July 14

6:30 to 8:30

Linda Cannon Presenting

Meth Use

Signs and Effects

Pot Luck as usual

Great Meeting

And the Oscar goes to Linda Cannon

for her insightful rendition of a tweaking parent

at a family team meeting.

The Oscar for best supporting role

goes to Cheryl Lee

as her inappropriate friend.

We had a great turn out. Eight Peer Parents were there.

• There was a demonstration of a genogram.


• We talked about when a team meeting might be called.


• We discussed a glossary of terms that are used in team meetings.


• We went over the structure of a team meeting.

Then we had some fun but disruptive mock team meetings.

I want to appreciate everyone who participated.

And as usual there were great things to eat as we learned.

Remember June's billing

must be on my desk by July 5th!

This includes mileage!

I will be on vacation from June 16 until June 27. Contact Wendy Hamner for assistance.

Tenative date and topic for July meeting

July 14th.

"How to spot meth use in a parent."

presented by Linda Cannon

Participant in survey below about the need for an August In-service as many people are out on vacation then.

In-service

Getting the Most Out of Team meetings

Thursday June 9

Pot Luck as Usual

6:30 to 8:30

Many of you have only one in-service so far this year so be sure to make this one to get in the two a year that are required! Call me if you need to know if I Mean You!

If you haven't scheduled your annual review besure to call or e mail me and get it scheduled.

Wonderful In-service

Thank you to

Holly Willard

and everybody

for the shared goodies

and ideas!

Thirteen out of twenty peer parents attended. Holly gave a great presentation. Copies of her handout will be in the extras box in my office. I always look forward to the excellant sharing of ideas that happens at our in-services. Sharing challenges and successes are important to mainitaining quality interactions and relationships. I guess it works for peer parents just like it works for families.

Quote of the Evening;

"You can pretend to care but you can't pretend to be there"

Thank you to Janette Barker for that one.

A few announcements and reminders;

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  I will be putting together a peer parent directory. Please send me contact info, a blurb and a picture that you want to share . If you don't send me a story I will be forced to make up some wild stories.


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  June In-service will be Thursday June 9, 6:30 to 8:30, Pot luck as usual. Tentative topic, "Participating in Team Meetings" Remember this will be you last chance to get an inservice in this fiscal year. Two are required.


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  June is the time for anuual reviews. Send some times in June that you have time for me to come over and reminice about the last wonderful year in peer parenting.


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  The fiscal year is over June 30th. June billing will be due on my desk no later than Tuesday July 5th. There will be a small prize for the the first billing submited in july. Turning in your billing late in july will result in piles of paperwork the attainment of impossible signatures and extensive delays in payment. Consider yourself fair warned!

Teaching Empathy

with special speaker

Holly Willard

Wednesday May 11

6:30 to 8:30 PM

Pot Luck as usual

Important info, Read

As the fiscal year comes to a close, we are faced with some additional budget restrictions. At this time I will only be assigning court ordered cases. I will also be factoring in mileage costs in the assignments. Closing cases on time is also an aspect of managing the budget. I will need an extension form and a court order to extend a case past the 90 day deadline. Rest assured we are looking for funds to fully assign all cases. We know that peer parenting is a fundamentally cost effective service. The transformations that take place in families because of this program is often what makes the difference! Hopefully this slow down will be a short-lived one.

Inservice

Thursday April 14

6:30 to 8:30

It's more than saying you're sorry.

Teaching Empathy to Children (and Their Parents)

Pot Luck as Usual

A large number of books were donated to our program. Please take a selection of books to your families and let the children pick one to be their very own. While most of the books are picture books, there are some for older readers.

Thank you to Manuel for arranging for this donation.

Step books stuffed with extras are available.

Immediately to the left when you walk in my office door is now a tub filled with handouts to supplement the curriculum:

SOS Soups or Sauces cookbook

The Truth About Lying: "How It All Begins" and When Lying Signals a Bigger Problem"

Top Ten Ways to Handle Disciple Dilemmas

10 Ways to be a Great Parent

Family Activities fo No or Low cost

12 Alternatives to hurting your child/ Safety Rules (for children alone)

Please look again at some of the billing reminders, below. I am still seeing some of them.

Linda shared these training opprotunities with me. Hope some of you can make the one tonight "There is a great training on Tuesday the 29th that a lot of Peer Parents might need and especially new ones. It is on ADHD. It is from 6-8 PM and will be held at the Utah Foster Care Foundation. 5296 S Commerce Drive (4th floor), Murray 84107. It is also good for 2 hours training credit for re-licensing for foster parents. Foster parents should RSVP through the foundation or by e-mailing Liz Rivera at: liz.rivera@utahfostercare.org or they and non foster can just let me know they are coming. I am sponsoring this training. Another one to come in April that I am also sponsoring is on the 20th from 6-8 PM and also at the foundation. It is on Nutrition and is being offered by the Utah State Extension service."

At The Inservice

It is great to be back. We had a great turn out. Thanks for everyone who brought something to eat. Bonnie's chicken was scrumptious and Robert's chili was yummy.
It was announced that on April 13th, 12:00 to 2:00, Peer Parenting will participate in a Provider's Fair. It will be at the Oquirh office (which is almost to 201 on Bangerter.) Case workers from around the region will be there for a dessert contest. I will be there with materials from the Resource room and brochures. This will be a good time to get to know the case workers. The more the case workers know about our program the more they will refer clients. And the more than get to know YOU the more you will be requested on cases. Anyone wanting to participate contact me a head of time so that we can stagger times to cover the table.
We had a good discussion on why and how to close a case.
The biggest change is the need to have a team meeting before you close any case. In cases that aren't going so well, it is important to try to make sure you have the support of the team, and have exhausted all the avenues to making it a successful case. . In 'great' cases, it is time to have a celebratory meeting and/or a party.
The other change is that I will be generating certificates form this office. There is a form of course. I have also developed check list for both opening and closing cases. As soon as possible those will be included here on the blog but for now I will email them to you when needed.

Gentle reminders

I am so glad to be back. I feel better than I have in years but my stamina is still pretty low. It is my plan to use this blog more with ideas and resources.

and with efficiency in mind

Here are a few common mistakes that are made at billing time.

• The mileage sheet is meant to be oriented as 'landscape' rather than 'portrait'. I get more of your info that way and it is easier to read.
• Mileage is to the nearest mile NOT tenth of a mile. Pretty sure, on average it is going to even out and I need to be consistent.
• Face to Face time with clients includes initial meetings, court (while the client is there), phone calls, anytime you are actual in contact or presence of the client. You should be mentoring during times you are not actually teaching a skill.
• On the 520 we can't round up the cents (if the total comes to say$87.129 write $87.12). This is how the state counts it and I need to be consistent.

Thanks for letting me nag right off the bat. February bills came out late because (and now I'm quoting) "jeez it's a short month".