Bonus Babies
The Anthem Award winning BONUS BABIES podcast is the only one of its kind that features the compelling true-life hard-hitting stories of those with a lived foster care experience and the people who care for them––all via the unique 360* lens of a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. Through raw first-hand accounts, BONUS BABIES reveals the daunting complexity of the foster care world while documenting the challenges, failures and successes of the system as well as the people and the agencies involved. The creator and host, Jayne Amelia Larson, is a CASA - a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer for youth in foster care. In the same way a CASA works, she explores all things in the foster care maze by talking to kids, parents, caregivers, attorneys, social workers, therapists, adoptees, adoptive parents, members of community and social programs...anybody and everybody who will speak to her to keep the conversation open and the information flowing about all things CASA––to give a forum to help people understand what it's like to have a lived foster care experience. Original music by Christina Apostolopoulos. Emma Karpman is our Social Media Manager. Audio engineering and mixing by Adam "Yukon" Harr of Blue Oak Mastering. Executive Producer is Jake Eberle. Cover art by John Crowther.
Bonus Babies
Megan Elizabeth Ward: Reunification Is The Priority, However There Comes A Time When Permanency Needs To Outweigh Reunification
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Jayne Amelia talks with Megan Elizabeth Ward. Megan and her wife, Amanda McMillan, started fostering in the Fall of 2017 as a kinship family via ICPC. Following a successful reunification, Amanda and Megan transitioned to a DFCS partnership home and haven’t looked back since. Fast forward almost 5 years and 40+ placements, Amanda and Megan have provided a loving home to kiddos of all ages, backgrounds, and needs – sometimes for just a few hours and sometimes for many years. They have been most dedicated to a sibling set of toddlers and a sibling set of teenagers that have been with them long-term and who will always fill their hearts – even when they no longer fill their home. Amanda and Megan believe in the importance of reunification and partnership parenting and build incredibly strong bonds with the biological families.
The Region 5 Foster Care Community is incredibly important to Amanda and Megan and so they have recently joined forces with other local families to launch The Five Hive – a partnership initiative with DFCS. The Five Hive aims to establish a peer support network for foster families and a swarm of support for the entire Region 5 Foster Care community. Long-term, Amanda and Megan hope to not only impact the lives of the children in their care but also find ways to strengthen the Foster Care community throughout the state of Georgia.
"Originally from Jupiter, Florida, Megan fled the gator state to be a double-dawg, earning both her Bachelors and Masters in Public Relations from Grady College at the University of Georgia. A New Media Institute alumna herself, Megan has worked with the NMI since 2011 and has served in a variety of capacities. Currently, Megan serves as the Administrative Director of the NMI, overseeing all daily operations for the largest undergraduate certificate at UGA. She also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses for both the NMI and the Emerging Media Master’s concentration. As TEDxUGA licensee, Megan has served as mama to all things TED on the UGA campus since 2013. Megan leads all organization and curation efforts for the annual TEDxUGA event in March."
Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)
The Five Hive on Facebook
Want to learn about becoming a foster parent? - click here
National Foster Parent Association
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