Exciting Kansas Updates Await!

Welcome to the TFI Family Services

Quarterly Newsletter!

INSIDE:

We believe keeping our community informed of what is happening in Kansas is important. In this issue, you will find the following:

Foster Parent Highlight - A look into one of our selfless foster parents' lives.
Program Highlights - Stay up to date on some of TFI's Kansas initiatives.
Staff Highlights - Meet some of the individuals who make up our amazing staff.

Maria Blazek

Mariah Blazek is one of our current foster families out of Salina that has been licensed with TFI since 2022. Mariah has always been motivated to foster “since she was little.” She always wanted her mom to foster when she was a child. Her mom became a licensed foster parent when Mariah went to college and shortly after graduating college, Mariah made the decision to license as well. She has fostered many youth over the past four years and two of them have led to adoptions. She reports that the “adoption days” are two of the happiest days of her life! Her joy is helping youth and watching the growth the youth make from the first time they step foot in her home.

KANSAS PERMANENCY

Permanency Case Management Changing Lives...

Our Permanency Case Management program continues to keep kids safe while in care with both Area 4 and Area 8 exceeding outcomes regarding maltreatment in care. Both areas have continued to meet this goal throughout the year.

For the first time this year, both case management service areas in Permanency have exceeded the outcome regarding permanency for youth who have been in care for 24 months or longer.

Area 8 Family Finding Event

Area 8 held a Family Finding event focused on 10 youth. During two concentrated days of work, we identified relative or non-related kin (NRK) placement options for four youth and made several significant family connections.

The team successfully located three biological parents, including a mother who responded emotionally to the outreach and two fathers who are now being assessed as potential resources. One father had previously been difficult to locate and resides out of state. These results highlight the value of dedicated time, structured focus and intentional family-finding efforts.

Below is a summary of the level of effort and outreach completed during the event.

Family Finding Activity Summary

Phone calls made: 76
Phone calls resulting in contact: 18
Letters sent: 72
Facebook private messages sent: 14
Facebook responses received: 8
Possible relative/NRK placements identified: 4

Area 4 is in the process of having their family finding event, so more exciting results to come!

GROW NURTURING FAMILIES

GNF Making a Difference...

In June 2026, Anna Brown, Director of Kansas Grow Nurturing Families (GNF), and Ashley Storrer, Supervisor for Kansas Family Preservation, joined eight other Kansas child welfare leaders at the National Citizen Review Panel Conference in San Diego. The event brought together more than 200 professionals from 27 states and the Dominican Republic to share strategies for strengthening child welfare systems and supporting children and families.

During the conference, Anna and Ashley participated in discussions on child welfare policy, Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requirements and effective practices from Citizen Review Panels across the country. They returned with new ideas to help inform future improvements in Kansas’ child welfare system.

The Kansas Citizen Review Panel is currently seeking additional professionals for the upcoming fiscal year. Those interested should contact swinthrow@teammns.org for more information.

Special Info on GNF for the quarter:

Macy Wade, GNF Therapist, received Employee of the Year
Stephanie O'Shea, GNF Family Support Worker, received Employee of the Quarter
GNF has maintained 99% of children served in the home for FY26
GNF was awarded $40,000 to continue serving a pilot program in the Wichita Region for FY27 called Prevention Boosting Reintegration, partnering with Ember Hope, where we provide PCIT therapy to families in foster care within 90 days of reintegration in order to boost them to complete permanency.

To learn more about Grow Nurturing Families and the difference it is making, check out the video below.

Family Success Story

A family participating in our GNF program has made significant progress on their reunification journey. This family was referred to us for Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and in-home support through a collaborative pilot initiative DCF began last fall, focused on safely reintegrating children with their families.

After the children were temporarily placed in kinship care, their mother remained committed to creating a safe and stable home environment. Through consistent participation in services, she strengthened her parenting skills, improved communication with her children and worked to build healthier family relationships.

Program staff also helped the family prepare for reunification by providing essential household items to support the transition home. Today, the children have been successfully reunified with their mother, and the family continues to make excellent progress toward completing the program.

Their story highlights the impact of collaboration, dedication, and family-centered support in helping families overcome challenges and achieve lasting positive change.

KANSAS CLINICAL

Kansas Clinical Building Connections...

Kansas Clinical has been able to provide mental health and SUD services to parents with an active reintegration plan. This allows parents to access services that will help reunification faster and not have finances impend the process.

All therapists are working hard to provide services to as many children, parents and families as possible to help support reunification as well as placement stability.

We also continue to provide Parent Management Training (PMTO) services to children and families involved in the juvenile offender sector. We were recently awarded a grant and continue to network to generate more referrals.

KANSAS PREVENTION

Our Prevention Programs have experienced success in supporting children to remain safely with their families. See below vital performance measures:

KS Family Preservation Services - Northwest

Families are engaged in a timely manner with 97% of those referred for services.
No OOH referrals made for children to be removed to foster care at time of case closure and 30 days following, in 97% of families served.
Has successfully kept over 300 children out of foster care this fiscal year so far.

KS Family Preservation Services - Southwest

Has met the allocated number of families served at 250+.
100% of families referred for services were engaged in a timely manner.
Safe at home 30 days following case closure in 97% of families referred.
Has successfully kept over 600 children out of foster care this fiscal year so far.

Grow Nurturing Families

100% of families referred for services were engaged in a timely manner.
Maintains children at home in 99% of families referred for services.
Has successfully kept over 109 children out of foster care this fiscal year so far.

To date this fiscal year, approx. 1,081 children have been kept out of foster care and maintained safely at home with family.

Andrea Boatman

We truly don’t know what we’d do without Andrea. She consistently goes above and beyond to support families, youth, and her team. Over a holiday weekend, Andrea stepped up to help coordinate respite care for a high-needs teen, ensuring the youth could remain local, finish the school year, and attend prom. She even volunteered to assist with transportation after prom at 3:00 a.m., explaining that she wanted the youth to have the opportunity to feel like a typical teenager and not miss out on this important experience.

Andrea is always willing to help—whether covering visits and calls, supporting families during crises, or assisting with foster parent support groups and training opportunities. She is a dependable, compassionate team player who can always be counted on to get the job done. As one supervisor shared, “Andrea is an absolute rockstar! She goes above and beyond for both her families and team. I always enjoy being able to work with her when the opportunity arises.”

Jessica Navarro

Jessica Navarro, Aftercare Supervisor, continues to live the TFI values in her work with families and her staff. She brings a fresh perspective and looks for unique ways to help families overcome barriers.

Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Social Work degree at Fort Hays State University. Recently, she was nominated by a faculty member and received the Social Work Writes Award at Fort Hays State Universityin April, in recognition of her article published in The Kansas City Star. Jessica also received the Top 150 Emerging Leaders in Kansas award through the Kansas Leadership Center.

Stay tuned for our next Family Focus Newsletter in September!