Springs of Love Chapters: Next Steps

Once you have started your Springs of Love Chapter with L.O.V.E., you should have the foundations of your team in place: awareness in your community about the need for support of foster families and their children; a group of volunteers ready to help; and a list of families and/or agencies in your area that you can serve.

Now it’s time for next steps! Get your Chapter organized using these steps as a guide.

Set up an email list, a text thread, or a private group via Facebook or another online service. You will want to have a way to quickly and easily contact all members of your Chapter, or to add new volunteers.

Use your contact list to remind Chapter members about meetings and events, answer questions, and communicate any needs that might arise for your foster families.

Set up a parish ministry webpage on your parish website. Personalize it with your Chapter’s or parish’s email and any specifics you can offer. Make sure to check it fairly regularly (every month or two) to make sure it still accurately reflects what your team is doing. You can also use this page to promote any events that parish members might volunteer for or participate in – like an Advent Giving Tree or school supplies drive.

• First, plan a schedule for serving your foster families. Plan for monthly check-ins, regular meal delivery (at least once a month), and any other services you want to provide on a regular schedule, like a play date on the first Saturday of every month or a support group for parents.
• Second, plan your big events for the year. This might be just two events a year, or one every month! Determine what your group and parish can handle. At a minimum, aim for two events: an awareness event and a donation drive of some sort, whether for school supplies, new clothing items, Christmas gifts, or other. A list of project ideas is available.

• Check in with your foster families at least once a month; find out if they have any needs, and encourage them to let you know if anything comes up that your Team can help with. Need a new twin bed? Ask your care team to help! Need homework help for a teenager taking algebra? Ask your care team to help! Families can contact a point person in your Chapter to let them know any needs they have, and that member can use the contact list (step 1) to find someone in the group who can fill it, or ask out to the parish community if necessary. You could have one contact person for each family, or one Chapter member check in with all families.
• Run meetings with your team to check in and plan for your bigger events throughout the year. These meetings can be in person or via Zoom, but you will need a Chapter member to lead the meetings, remind members of the time and date, and send out a summary of the meeting afterwards to all Chapter members, including those who could not attend the meeting.
• Supervise bigger projects and activities that your Chapter has planned for your families.
• Remind your parish of the work you’re doing and invite them to join your Chapter or help out with a specific project! You can do this through announcements at Mass, promotions in your Sunday bulletin or social media, or a parish email. 
• Keep track of finances. Whether you have a budget through your parish, collect dues, or accept donations from your parish, you should have a Chapter member keep track of that money and what you spend it on.

• Training. Working with children in foster care requires a certain amount of discretion and an understanding of their privacy and particular needs. For example, you should avoid taking photos or video of children in foster care. Contact us to find out when our next training session is and invite all members of your Chapter and parish who are likely to interact with your families to join.

• Background checks. Chapter members should go through the VIRTUS Protecting God’s Children training at their parish, which is required for all parishioners who work with children. This training includes background checks, which are also necessary to work with children in foster care. An example of the background check process, from the state of Ohio, is outlined on their website. Background checks are typically good for 5 years.