• ADOPTION PROJECTS:  With Title 1V funding, SAFF has designed and facilitated daily projects for encouraging adoption of foster children, including kinship adoptions and those of medically fragile, delayed-disabled, and short-life span children in foster care. Support groups for foster parents, correspondence to courts, participation in court adoptions, consultations with social workers, on-going presentations to community agencies, organizations, faith-based communities, media presentations, training sessions, a state-wide newsletter, and a weekly email blast to all foster parents in Northern Nevada.
  

• In the past four months, 45 adoptions have taken place in Washoe County and in the past year a total of 105 adoptions, with 30 adoptions pending. Washoe County Services is magnificent to work with and includes SAFF in daily undertakings to achieve the goal of family permanency and preventing family disruptions.
• In November 2008, SAFF began consultations with Washoe County Social Services to jointly design and facilitate an important new resource POST ADOPTION PROGRAM SERVICES.
•  With grant funding from the Leonette Foundation and the Terry Lee Wells Foundation, SAFF has continued working on the production of a 58 minute CD-Rom on fostering and adopting medically fragile, delayed-disabled, and terminally ill children in Nevada. Profiling 4 families in both rural Nevada and Washoe County, as well as social workers, a pediatrician for foster youth, and the Honorable Family Court Judge Scott Jordan, this project is now in post-production stages and will be completed and ready for distribution throughout Nevada at the end of December 2008.

• WASHOE COUNTY AND RURAL NEVADA PEER MENTORING PROGRAM: SAFF has received a grant from the Nevada Supreme Court to design and facilitate a peer based mentoring program for newly licensed foster parents. In the past four months, SAFF has trained 23 volunteer mentors in Washoe County and 14 mentors in rural areas of Northern Nevada who are now offering mentoring services to 76 foster parents. Recently a newly licensed foster mom who spoke limited English was preparing to give up her license and disrupt the fostering of a toddler in her care. With a email blast from SAFF asking for help, within 2 hours, 18 foster parents offered to assist the newly licensed foster parent; disruption has been prevented and the toddler remains with the foster mother.

• KINSHIP PROGRAM: SAFF has received a grant from the Nevada Supreme Court to design and facilitate a Kinship Support Group throughout Washoe County and rural Nevada. Currently there are 80 kinship foster families SAFF is offering assistance to support, encourage, and advice for a result in adoptions and/or successful re-unifications. One major achievement is the increase in the number of Kinship providers visiting SAFF to work on LIFE BOOKS and receiving guidance in healing from grief and loss about family issues including that experienced when the foster youth returns to the biological parents; foster grandparents experience a confusing mix of joyful and sorrowful emotions about re-unification.
  
  
• AFTER-SCHOOL/IN-HOME TUTORING: SAFF has received a grant from the Doyle Foundation to create and facilitate an after-school and in-home tutoring program to prevent academic disruption of foster youths. Currently, SAFF engages 8 tutors who are providing services to 25 foster youth in grades 1-12. A recent email from a foster mother of two teen boys who have been struggling academically states “FINALLY! With SAFF’s tutoring, (name) made the Honor Roll and (name) made both the Honor Roll and the Dean’s list!”
  
  
• ADVANCED TRAININGS: SAFF has facilitated four advanced trainings for foster parents in the past calendar quarter. Trainings included: HEALING FROM GRIEF AND LOSS DUE TO DISRUPTION, PREVENTING ACADEMIC DISRUPTION OF FOSTER TEENS, KINSHIP FOSTERING AND ADOPTING, and POSITIVE DISCIPLINE.
  
  
• TEEN SUPPORT GROUP: SAFF has facilitated the monthly TEEN SUPPORT GROUP providing arts-in-education programs to foster teens ages 13-18. Once a month 20-30 youth in foster care attend the 3 hour sessions where they participate in painting, drawing, and creative writing programs with themes related to the prevention of academic disruption. This program is made possible by a grant from the Hawkins Foundation.
  
  
• EDUCATIONAL PACESETTERS: SAFF has created the Foster Youth Newsletter EDUCATIONAL PACESETTERS. This is a participatory project whereby foster youth in elementary, middle and high school submit art work, essays, poetry, achievements which are included with essays by professional educators for presenting compelling reasons to stay in school and prevent academic disruption. This project is made possible by funding from Wells Fargo Huth Scholarship grant.
  
  
• The Carson City Foster and Adoptive Home Recruitment and Support Coalition: SAFF has co-created with CASA the CCFAHRS Coalition. Once a month, SAFF and CASA of Carson City meet with foster and adoptive parents, community agencies, and DCFS to design programs/projects for recruitment, training, and retention of foster and adoptive parents in Carson City, Douglas County, and other rural Nevada areas including Pahrump.
  
  
• HOW FOSTER FAMILIES CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD CELEBRATION. SAFF is producing a Christmas celebration for the foster families in Washoe County and rural Nevada. With the theme “How Foster Families Celebrate Christmas Around the World,” SAFF has been doing media presentations as well as speeches to various organizations to generate donations. Entertainers at the celebration have been selected: McQueen High School Choir, Nevada Dance Academy, Dance Works, Kidscape Children’s Theater Company, Psyche Hip Hop Dance Company. Local stores, faith-based organizations, and ethnic communities are contributing holiday cuisine. Boy Scout Troop 15 is offering 25 boy scouts as volunteers. Best Buys Store is offering large screen TV and electronic games.
  
  
• BORDERS BOOK CAMPAIGN FOR FOSTER YOUTH. In Sept and October of 2008, Borders adopted SAFF as a community partner. For 1½ months, Borders asked customers to purchase a book for foster youth in Northern Nevada. During that time, over 3,000 books were purchased by residents and delivered to SAFF for distribution to foster youth.
  
  
•  OFFICE DEPOT CAMPAIGN FOR FOSTER YOUTH. In the past four months, 3 Office Depot Stores in Reno and Sparks donated thousands of dollars worth of back-to-school supplies to SAFf for distribution to foster youth.
  
  
•  BACK-TO-SCHOOL CELEBRATION: In August 2008, SAFF hosted the Back-To-School Celebration with an evening of swimming and food at the Grand Sierra Resort. 301 youth and their foster parents attended.
  
  
•  RENO COMMUNITY REMODLES SAFF OFFICE: In October, over 10 businesses in Reno donated $15,000 worth of labor, paint, carpeting and furniture to re-model the SAFF complex to make it “more child and family oriented.”
  
  
•  NEW LIFE BOOKS PROGRAM: With the help of volunteer foster mother and Washoe County Services, SAFF has a new Life Books Program. Foster parents –INCLUDING FOSTER FATHERS – meet every Monday to work on Life Books with and for their foster children.
  
  
•  NEW ARTS-IN-EDUCATION PROGRAMS: With a grant from the Wells Fargo Huth Scholarship Foundation, SAFF has been diligently designing a new Arts-in-Education program beginning in January. Projects will include:  a weekly Hip Hop dance class, weekly singing lessons, monthly percussion instrument classes, pottery classes, and activity money to finance educational school programs such as band and cheerleading projects, Girl Scout and Boy Scout uniforms, community theatre attendance, and sports including soccer, basketball, football, swimming and volleyball.
  
  
• FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES: Along with raising money for the 2008 Christmas party and gift campaign, SAFF has been designing two fund raising-educational projects to be produced in January and April 2009. 1) A television studio production for an invited audience of a 90 minute program on HEALING FROM GRIEF IN THE WORLD OF FOSTER CARE including a Chattaqua performance on the life of CHARLES LORING BRACE, considered to be the founder of the American Foster Care System. This project will be distributed for sale nationwide and at the May 2008 National Foster Care Conference in Reno. 2) A WHO DUN IT MURDER MYSTERY DINNER THEATRE production at the Historical Mansion. The storyline focuses on a mystery in Virginia City in the mid-1800’s and includes educational information about the beginning of the Nevada foster care movement by a group of Irish nuns, President Abraham Lincoln and orphaned children of miners. Proceeds from both projects will be used for SAFF’s operations.
  
  
•  NATIONAL FOSTER CARE CONFERENCE: SAFF is a co-sponsor of the May 2008 National Foster Care Conference to be held in Reno. An expected attendance of 3,000 foster parents, social workers, therapists, etc. from around the country.