Last year, we celebrated National Foster Care Month by interviewing the National Foster Parent Association’s (NFPA) Executive Director Arnold Eby, which you can read here. Child welfare, more specifically foster care, is a table FASD United hopes to secure a steady voice in as we intersect with other knowledgeable groups. This year, as our organizations expand and advocate for greater inclusivity, we’re thrilled to collaborate once again. So, pull up a chair as we dive into the second installment of this interview. Let’s continue the conversation as we drive positive change side by side.

Arnie notes that it has been a busy year for the NFPA, spending time and effort on legislation that currently sits in the Senate: ‘The Recruiting Families Using Data Act (S.1313). He expresses the importance of, “partnerships and collaborations with FASD United, the policy team at CWLA, Journey to Success, and as we work towards our conference, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. As you continue to do good work and work hard, you build relationships that matter. Together, our voice is stronger.” You can follow the bill as it moves through the government processes, along with The FASD Respect Act.

As a leader, Arnie feels more confident and comfortable in the position he’s been in for just over two years, “I needed to establish myself. I love doing this job, and I’ve built a set of connections that are mine.” Since last year’s National Foster Care Month, Arnie says he’s learned and continues to learn, “the importance of working together. As we looked at what we wanted to do and think about foster care and all the efforts families put in, there are so many voices from different places. Each of their stories are unique. How do we take those stories and blend them for a voice of change?” He explains that silohs and separation have kept certain things (like FASD and foster care) from being looked at in a more unified way. This lends itself to the theme attached to the NFPA’s 2024 conference (June 21-23), ‘Many Stories, One Voice.’

As a foster parent with four adopted children and a wife who works in education as a counselor, “You see it, you are aware of FASD. I am continually amazed by how different the challenges present. It’s really not something people with FASD can “control.” Arnie is on board with the shift of seeing FASD as a “moving spectrum disorder” and that it’s “not just facial features.” Arnie hopes that by cross-sharing information between FASD and foster care sources, we can improve systems: “If we’re sharing something, it’s accurate, it’s up to date, these kind of discussions that you and I are having open the doors to collaboration.” This collaboration helps promote meaningful, accurate information, “When you’re busy and you’re a parent, and it’s Saturday night at 11, you’re exhausted, you don’t want to search everywhere on the web, you want a trusted source that’s going to give you information and point you somewhere.” The NFPA hopes to be that trusted source on foster care, and FASD United hopes we are on FASD- where can we intersect?

Arnie advocates that within kincare/foster/adoption/ALL families there needs to be core supports: “We’re looking at things like daycare, childcare, early childhood intervention, respite, medical sensitivity, food, transportation, mental health supports.” He also hopes that training across child welfare systems would be meaningful and “push back against stereotypes and misinformation, like you have to have “the look” to have FASD.” Things like up-to-date research and data, peer-to-peer support, and communal connection he lists as ways to combat stigma and inaccuracy. “Those are the things where improvement will pay long-term dividends. If we build an infrastructure that provides that to foster/adoptive/kinship families, at the end of the day it will raise all families.”

Within his area of expertise, Arnie and the NFPA hope to continue refreshing information and education about foster care: “We see parents struggling when they can’t continue to hold it together, not always is it substance abuse or child abuse, but also the exasperation of parents when core supports and needs are not met. The children then end up struggling and aren’t able to be cared for.” So, while removal from abusive environments is still a primary reason for child welfare systems, Arnie notes that other reasons contribute to a child’s needs not being met and put into the foster care system. He also explains that in some states, those who become licensed for foster care also become licensed to adopt simultaneously, which may set an unspoken expectation of foster parents. “We also don’t want to set undue expectations for foster parents, because, our first responsibility is to prepare the child to return home (to a safe environment).”

Arnie expresses that “these efforts are not anywhere close to over, we must keep pushing, I don’t see foster care going away. There are other ways to support children and families, but there will be a need for targeted care in foster care. We need foster parents who are willing to be flexible, to work through the unknown and sometimes difficult situations to provide stability and permanency to those who need it.” Arnie and the NFPA are focused on finding solutions and commonalities to enhance the voices of those with a connection to child welfare.

Amplifying living experiences and supporting those with FASD, both in the foster care system and out, aligns with our mission. Give FASD a seat at the child welfare, foster, adoptive, and kinship tables this month and beyond.