Our agency has been working with Families Connected for many years to support the needs of our foster and adoptive parents. Angie’s and Melissa’s therapeutic skills, their supportive nature, and their experience with foster care and adoption-specific issues have made a huge difference with our families as they have navigated the sometimes-difficult path of foster parenting. In addition, Angie has provided group clinical consultation to our social workers to discuss challenging families and the best ways to engage with them and assist them in making progress towards the family goals for safety and permanency. This has been a tremendous benefit to our agency and has helped enhance the skills of our social workers. Families Connected has been a pleasure to work with and a wonderful support to our agency that we look forward to continuing.
Being a foster parent has been both the most difficult and the most rewarding thing I have ever done, and Melissa’s support and expertise has been invaluable, both to me and my family, and to so many other foster families in our county. As the facilitator of our foster parent support group, she listens, she affirms the difficulty of the work we are doing, and when appropriate, she provides practical, do-able suggestions based on a wealth of knowledge and experience. When we decided to launch an adoption support group earlier this year, and a support group for older kids in foster care this past summer, Melissa was the obvious choice to help develop and facilitate these groups. She’s also the first person I recommend to anyone looking for trauma-informed, adoption- and foster care-competent therapy for themselves or their families.
When we first decided to foster we really had no idea what we were getting in to. It’s a wonderfully positive, life-changing experience, but nothing can prepare you for the utter complexity of it all. From the beginning, Melissa has provided critical support for our family by being there week after week, not only to provide expert guidance but also to affirm and relate during times of struggle and moments of doubt — to let us know we are not alone. They are dedicated to helping us navigate the difficult times and to strengthening our connections. Their sincere commitment has been a Godsend to us as we adapt and grow together as a family.
Our experience at Families Connected has been a positive from the very first meeting. As soon as we started working with Angie, I knew she was a good fit for our adoptive family. Within the first month of our visits, she seemed to really “get” our 14 year old daughter, gave us clarity on the most important issues we needed help with and developed a remarkable plan of treatment that gave us comfort and inspiration.
The clinical staff from Families Connected has been a valuable resource for our Resource Families and foster children through their in-home therapy services, in-service training, and facilitation of our Resource Parent Support Group.
Being a foster parent has been both the most difficult and the most rewarding thing I have ever done, and Melissa’s support and expertise has been invaluable, both to me and my family, and to so many other foster families in our county. As the facilitator of our foster parent support group, she listens, she affirms the difficulty of the work we are doing, and when appropriate, she provides practical, do-able suggestions based on a wealth of knowledge and experience. When we decided to launch an adoption support group earlier this year, and a support group for older kids in foster care this past summer, Melissa was the obvious choice to help develop and facilitate these groups. She’s also the first person I recommend to anyone looking for trauma-informed, adoption- and foster care-competent therapy for themselves or their families
Families Connected, LLC has provided an array of services and supports to the Harford County Department of Social Services, including training for supervisors, community partners, resource families and staff, and individual case consultation. Their knowledge of child welfare practices, child and adult trauma, child development, the challenges faced by resource providers, and the critical role of the child welfare professional is immense and sets them apart as experts in the field who easily develop rapport and credibility with their audience. Our practice across the child welfare continuum has improved and become more responsive to the individualized and unique needs of children and families involved in child welfare services as a result of the information presented and the support of both Angie and Melissa.