by | July 18, 2011

Daisy Camp – Video Interview with Founder Jennifer Morris

Click for Daisy Camp website

I’m especially excited about this post about Daisy Camp founder Jennifer Morris. Not only is it regarding a great topic, Daisy Camp. It’s also one of the first interactive videos that we’ve recorded through Skype. We hope this will be a start to a series of interviews with helpful people like Jennifer Morris regarding helpful divorce/separation topics, like Daisy Camp. If you have ideas for future videos, let me know by commenting below or emailing me at arnoldlawandmediation@gmail.com.

In the video, I ask Jennifer Morris how Daisy Camp started, what Daisy Camp is about and who is a typical Daisy Camper, among other questions and answers that will give you a good sense for whether Daisy Camp is right for you!

Here’s a Daisy Camp Seminar Aug 2011 retreat.

From the Daisy Camp website:

Daisy Camp was founded in 2006 by Jennifer Morris, a local realtor who emerged from her divorce with a belief that women need more support to help them through this important transition. Jennifer’s unique idea of helping women through a “camping experience” has captured the attention of local and national media and has changed the lives of many women. Today, hundreds of “Daisies’” throughout Minnesota and beyond continue to gather regularly and help each other make the most of their new, “ever-expanding lives”.

You can go to the Daisy Camp FaceBook page by clicking here.

To contact Daisy Camp, email daisy@daisycamp.org or call and talk with Marlys Ousky at 952-405-2060.

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by | July 14, 2011

Child Care Support BACK IN BUSINESS By Court Order

I’m happy to report that Child Care Support–which was shut down as part of the Minnesota State Government shutdown–is back in business by court order dated Wednesday, July 13, 2011.

See the relevant article at Minnesota Public Radio, here.

Here’s the Child Care Assistance page on the Minnesota Department of Human Services Website (but I don’t see the news listed here, just basic Child Care Assistance info).

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by | July 11, 2011

Mediation Works North Offers Online Parents Forever Course

When ending a marriage, sharing custody of your children means learning to work with your ex-spouse. Sometimes this can be difficult, especially during — and after — a long divorce process. Luckily a new non-profit called Mediation Works North is making it easier than ever to build strong co-parenting skills – and now you can build those skills without the hassle of driving out of town. Check out my recent interview with the founder of Mediation Works North, Lois Warner:

Minnesota law requires parents going through divorce to take co-parenting classes. Here’s the punch line: in many Minnesota counties, these classes aren’t even offered. So to comply with the law you’d have to find one of these classes in another county. You’d have to make a long drive (in the snow if you aren’t lucky enough to get a divorce in the summertime.) You might have to miss work and pay for childcare.

Or, instead you could take one of the online Parents Forever classes offered by Mediation Works North. These classes offer informative content and skill-building, but without having to leave the comfort of your home and without having to drive to another county. They are interactive classes with a live facilitator teaching in real time. Classes are two hours long, and it takes two class periods to complete the course.

And remember: this is a genuinely valuable resource, not just a court order. You’ll learn to avoid putting the children in the middle of conflicts you might have with the other parent, to adjust your finances to the changes brought on by divorce, to communicate with the other parent, and more. The Founder of Mediation Works North, Lois Warner, started this non-profit because she realized that the law is quite a blunt instrument for dealing with co-parenting conflicts. Her Parents Forever program allows parents to learn to resolve potential conflicts outside of the context of a legal battle.

So if you are going through a divorce and would like to get some advice on how to peacefully resolve co-parenting issues but need more convenience than the traditional classes offer, then check out the Parents Forever online classes from Mediation Works North.

Here’s their contact information:
Mediation Works North
Mediationworksnorth.org
Phone: (218) 263-7307

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by | July 10, 2011

Child Care Assistance Victim of Minnesota State Shutdown

07/14/2011 – SEE UPDATE HERE

Child Care Assistance is one of the victims of the Minnesota State Shutdown.

From a Friday, July 7, 2011 article from Minnesota Public Radio:

Twenty-six thousand Minnesota families received notice from the state that their child care subsidies would be cut off in a government shutdown. But the money comes from a pool of federal, state and county dollars. A judge could decide if those dollars can be sorted, and possibly distributed toward child care.

The article continues…

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton did not include child care subsidies in his original list of what he considered essential government services.

Ramsey County judge Kathleen Gearin agreed with Dayton in her ruling last week that state child care subsidies are not critical core services. But she also ruled the state was obligated to deliver programs paid for with federal dollars. Dayton this week amended his list of essential services to include child care subsidies. Gearin hasn’t yet ruled on this request.

As it stands, Gearin’s current ruling complicates the issue, because Minnesota uses federal dollars from a program called Temporary Aid for Needy Families to partly cover child care subsidies. Mary Nienow with the statewide advocacy group Child Care Works, hopes for a decision soon.

“Where the confusion lies is that all child care assistance has elements of TANF funding within it, and it’s mingled with state and local dollars and there’s just no way to separate the funding pools in order to provide child care assistance,” Nienow said.

The court-appointed special master, Kathleen Blatz, will hear more testimony Thursday on the child care issue. Families and their providers in the meantime are figuring out who pays.

Cisa Keller, of the Minnesota Child Care Association and New Horizon Academy, said some centers are still accepting children whose parents receive subsidies, but the families must pay if the state doesn’t.

It is unclear when a judge will rule on the request to begin payments for Child Care Assistance and it is unclear — when that ruling is issued — whether Child Care Assistance payments will be one of the few government programs that will be granted special status to continue operation even while the rest of the state government is shut down.

Click below for the audio or go directly to the article at MPR.org.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/syndicate.php?name=minnesota/news/features/2011/07/06/childcareassistance_20110706_64

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by | July 3, 2011

Minnesota Fathers and Families Network: Making Fatherhood a Little Less Scary

“Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” That truism is from a speech by Barack Obama on Father’s Day 2008. Fatherhood means taking responsibility for the development of another human being, and that takes guts. This is especially true for people who hadn’t planned on being a dad, or who are separated from their spouse, or who — like the President — didn’t know their own father. But luckily there is a growing network of dads and people who love them who are trying to make fatherhood a little less scary: the Minnesota Fathers & Families Network (MFFN), which encourages healthy father-child relationships by giving “men-with-children” the resources to become fathers.

Kids don’t come with an instruction manual …until now. MFFN has a whole list of free guidebooks with tips on how to be a dad. Like “The Daddy Book.” For each month of your baby’s first year in the world, this helpful guide offers: parenting advice, developmental milestones you should expect, and safety tips –plus fun stuff like games you can play with your baby and toys you can make from things you’ve got laying around the house. And The Daddy Book is just one of the many parenting resources offered on their website.

But in this rough economy, dads who are struggling to pay the bills are going to need more than a guidebook. That’s why MFFN is connecting fathers across the state to a whole host of services that help dads support their families: employment assistance, childcare, housing and more.

This Father’s Day, Obama called being a dad “my hardest, but always my most rewarding job” — and that’s coming from a guy who’s other job is no walk in the park. The struggle against terrorism is easy compared to the struggle to get a young child to sleep peacefully through the night. Arguing with John Boehner is nothing after you’ve tried arguing with a teenager. But at the same time, raising a child is the most gratifying endeavor you can ever engage in– that is, if you’ve got the courage to be a father.

For more information check out mnfathers.org.

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by | June 1, 2011

Readeo.com Rocks for Remote Reading to Your Children

Click on photo to go to Readeo.com

Click on photo to go to Readeo.com

A few decades ago we imagined we’d have invented teleportation by now. Well we’re not there yet, but we may have just gotten one step closer: a parent can now read his or her child a bedtime story even from the other side of the world. Readeo, a new web service, makes it possible to share story time with your kids regardless of the distance between you. That’s good news for today’s parents on the move.

Here’s how it works: select a children’s book from Readeo’s extensive online library, sorted by age-appropriateness, then you and your child can view the book and each other while you read aloud over Readeo’s real-time video chat. Turn the page on your computer and the page will turn on the child’s screen as well. It’s like Skype plus eBooks, combined in an elegant and totally user-friendly viewer. A membership costs $9.99 per month (only one of the two parties has to be a member to chat), then you get unlimited access to the Readeo online library and unlimited chatting time.

The front page of Readeo.com boasts “better than Skype.” Ever try reading a book to your child over Skype? You have to hold the book up to the camera, making it difficult for the child to read along. In contrast, Readeo offers clear, colorful children’s books right there on the computer screen. And sure, it’s great to see and talk to your kids when you are away, but sometimes young children don’t have the attention span for a long conversation.With Readeo, you and your child can participate in a fun activity together.

Of course free is still good, right!?  For free video conferencing, keep using Skype, as well as other video chat services such as Google Video Chat.  But, you also get what you pay for.  So, if you want the real deal for reading to your child remotely, you need Readeo.  There’s really no comparison.  Readeo clearly beats these other services for this specific activity.

We may not have teleporters (yet), but our kids are definitely going to grow up with a totally different understanding of the limitations of space and time. Nowadays, just because Mommy or Daddy is on a business trip doesn’t mean she/he can’t also be right there to read a story.

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by | May 24, 2011

Minnesota Adoption Information

I recently received a call about adopting in Minnesota and thought I’d post some links about the topic. I did a search online and found some helpful resources on the Minnesota Department of Human Services website. Here are a few of their publications on the topic of adoption in Minnesota:
Answers to Your Questions About Adoption (PDF format)

Completing an Adoption in Minnesota: The Rights and Responsibilities of Birth Parents, Prospective Adoptive Parents and Adoption Agencies (PDF format)

Here’s a link to mnadopt.org, (and their website has a ton of helpful information and links to other helpful websites!), and the organization is:

a program sponsored by the Department of Human Services through the Minnesota Adoption Resource Network (MARN), a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization. MN ADOPT is dedicated to supporting and sustaining the families who adopt Minnesota Waiting Children by providing the following services:

• Online, searchable database listing children in Minnesota available for adoption
• Referrals to pre-adopt orientations and trainings offered by private and county agencies
• Post-adopt trainings (in person and online) designed for parents and professionals
• Information on parenting children with special needs and adoption assistance
• Resources and support services offered by private agencies, counties, tribes and individuals for families who adopted Minnesota Waiting Children
• Events celebrating diversity and designed for recruitment

For more information call our information line at 612-861-7115 (866-303-6276 toll free) or email us at info@mnadopt.org

Here’s a link to the mnadopt.org page for public (county) adoption agencies.

Here’s a link to the mnadopt.org page for private adoption agencies.

Here’s a link to a mnadopt.org fact sheet on choosing an adoption agency.

Here’s a link to the website of a really cool project called Adoptees Have Answers at aha.com.
Do you have any helpful adoption links? Post them by commenting below!

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