Children waiting for their forever home
fAMILY support services
HATW is proud to provide supportive services for families and children across their lifespan. If you are interested in these services or would like to know more, please submit an inquiry form here.
For general questions, please contact our office.
Post-Adoption Support
During the six month transition period between when a family takes a child home and when the adoption is finalized, our staff will arrange home visits and develop reports describing the child's and family's transition, adjustments, progress, and needs. These reports are filed with the court, which will finalize the adoption.
Hands Across The Water will assist families in locating any necessary services for their child and/or entire family and provide monthly education workshops that we encourage you to attend.
Parent Support/Training
In 1999, Hands Across The Water was originally founded as a support and educational resource agency for parents. Today, Hands Across the Water maintains that commitment to educational opportunities and support for the parents we serve, past and present, through regular parent trainings, educational panels, a lending library, family and individual counseling, one on one support and referral to community services as needed.
Teen Support Group
Hands Across the Water hosts an annual 6-week Teen Support Group (TSG) program for adopted and fostered children who have experiences of being involved in the child welfare system. The TSG program discusses a range of topics that apply to experiences and emotions stemming from involvement in the child welfare system. Previous TSG groups have addressed topics such as empathy, social skills, identity, self-esteem, self-care, etc. The TSG program is designed to help teenagers process their adoption/foster care experience and meet with other peers who may be familiar with how they feel. Teenagers will be able to interact with peers, gain a deeper understanding of their families, and build a network of social supports with each other and HATW interns.
Trauma Sensitive Yoga
Hands Across the Water’s Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Family Seminars support and empower vulnerable children and their caretakers by teaching them about the effects of trauma on the brain as well as practical skills to mitigate the effects of trauma in their own lives. Up to eight youth and their caretakers attend one of four, one-day, small group seminars focused on psycho-educational training as well as mindfulness/meditation/yoga practice, focused on fun activities, connection, and skill-building. Participants will receive the necessary tools to continue to practice what they have learned at home. The goal of the program is to equip caretakers and youth with concrete skills and tools aimed to heighten body awareness and promote self-regulation, decrease emotions of stress and anxiety, and increase feelings of physical and emotional well-being.
Annual Back to School Celebration
The annual Back to School Celebration provides an excellent opportunity for the community and
HATW to connect and provide for the adopted and foster care kids that the agency supports. Through extensive community outreach done by the agency, as well as amazing community involvement from local businesses and individuals, HATW is able to provide numerous children involved with the agency backpacks, pencils, coloring materials, lunchboxes, and many other amazing materials necessary for them to be successful in their educational endeavors. This event not only supports these children, but also supports the adoptive and foster parents who are caregivers for these children by doing what we can to help support their overall success as a family, as well as to lighten any burdens they may be facing.
Enrichment Funds for Youth
The Enrichment Funds for Youth Program offers up to $250 to foster care families to support their ability to provide their foster youth with diverse and exciting opportunities to promote their skills, abilities, self-esteem, and over-all well-being. Past opportunities kids have participated in due to the support of these funds has included registration fees for art and music camps, summer camps, sports teams, school fieldtrips, among others. While HATW would like to support every foster family and child with these funds, priority is given to families who have exhausted other means of financial aid and to those who are in most need. If you believe you qualify for or are interested in the Enrichment Funds for Youth Program, please do not hesitate to reach out to HATW to seek more information.
Please contact us here.