Forever Family highlights foster-parent recruitment, social worker appreciation

March 20, 2019

Stuart -

Forever Family, a national program that leverages the power of the media to help children find adoptive homes, took a slight detour from its primary mission this month to help Communities Connected for Kids highlight its need for foster parents.

"It's all connected," said Christina Kaiser, CCKids community relations director. "The majority of children go home to Mom and Dad, and we really need safe and loving foster homes for them in the meantime."

So when a few spots on the News Channel 12 Forever Family segment became available, CCKids jumped at the chance to highlight St. Lucie County foster parents Mariel Zen and Jamie Franks.

Both foster moms were interviewed by News Anchor Liz Quirantes during a video shoot earlier this month at Jupiter's Busch Wildlife Sanctuary. Their stories, which include information about the local Guardian ad Litem program - another important element of the child-welfare community - will run sometime in April.

More than 720 children in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties have been removed from home, Kaiser said. Most of those children live with relatives, but the rest - about 250 - live in foster or group homes.

So what does it take to be a foster parent?

"It takes an open heart and a little extra space," Zen said.

This month's Forever Family video shoot wasn't all about foster parents. Since March is National Social Worker Appreciation Month, some of the interviews featured CCKids staff Caitlin Hassan and Melanie Kranker.

"We wanted to highlight the people behind Forever Family," said Gia Tutalo-Mote, Forever Family founder and director. "Social workers are all about strengthening human connections, whether that's meeting the behavioral and mental-health needs of children in foster care or helping them bond with adopted family members."

Of course, Forever Family's primary focus is finding new homes for abused, neglected or abandoned children. This month's video shoot was no exception and included interviews with a brother and sister pair.

"I love my brother," said 13-year-old Mya, whose interview is available at News Channel 12. "I go where he goes."

Her brother Da'Shawn's interview, the foster-parent recruitment segment and the social worker piece, are in production and will begin airing later this month. Follow us on Facebook to watch their videos or check them out at Forever Family.

Interested in becoming a foster parent? Call Jerra Wisecup at (772) 249-3188 or click here. Or, if you are interested in being a Volunteer Child Advocate, call Nicole Hughes at (772) 785-5804.