As we hope you have already heard, the Wisconsin Family Connections Center (WiFCC) is in the process of creating a unified program that will provide services to parents and caregivers raising children and youth through kinship care, foster care, and post-permanency, including reunification, guardianship, and adoption. These services were previously offered through two different organizations: the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families through the Foster Care and Adoption Resource Center (FCARC) and Catholic Charities’ Wisconsin Adoption and Permanency Support Center (WiAPS). The Coalition and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of La Crosse are now working collaboratively to have new and enhanced services for families and professionals fully functional by October of 2023.

What does this mean to you, as Foster Care Coordinators? The Coalition staff is still available for continued support and guidance for you and your families. That is staying the same! Here are a few changes that we want you to be aware of:

• The Coalition will not be hosting the Foster Care Coordinators’ Conference this year. Please direct any questions regarding this to DCF.
• Recruitment campaigns will be streamlined significantly to promote and prioritize Wisconsin DCF’s vision of family preservation. The focus will be on family connections and transitions to placement with family, relative and sibling relationships, cultural sensitivity, reunification, debunking myths and negative views of birth parents, and permanency.
• All WiFCC trainings for caregivers will be free.

We want to reassure all of you that although there will be a new name, the vision and mission of the Wisconsin Family Connections Center remain the same. Please know that, during this transition and beyond, our Resource Team will continue to be available to answer questions, provide information and offer resources for all families and child welfare professionals. You can continue to reach us via phone at 414-475-1246 or toll-free at 1-800-762-8063 and via email at info@coalitionforcyf.org or info@wifamilyconnectionscenter.org.

You can also start following the Wisconsin Family Connections Center on Facebook or Instagram.

Coming soon: The Wisconsin Family Connections Center website at https://wifamilyconnectionscenter.org.

We hope this information is useful! We also want to remind you that we are here to help and support you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the Resource Specialists at the Coalition.

info@coalitionforcyf.org | 414-475-1246 | coalitionforcyf.org