Mary is a foster parent in Region 3 who cares for Developmentally Delayed Treatment Foster youth. Mary is the voice at the end of the FPAWS 800-391-2273 line. She talks with over 2000 people per year. Mary is a volunteer on the task force for educating foster families concerning the mental health system through the Bright Futures grant. She has been a therapeutic foster parent for over 13 years and has fostered over 35 children specializing in developmental delays and mental health issues. She developed and coordinated a respite program for children from families impacted by mental health issues with Compass Mental Health. She has been a trainer and advocate for families with special needs children; assisting with resolution of Special Education and IEP issues, since 1977. Currently, she is developing a foster family support program, “Heart Beat” in Snohomish County for foster/kinship families with Native American children.
Shala and her family fostered over 50 children and are the adoptive family of a sibling group of 3. In serving as the Program Director of Fostering Together, Shala was able to serve foster parents in a wide variety of ways. Including trainings, events, support groups and other resources. Advocating for foster parents and helping them to keep fostering. In addition Shala served for 10 years as a representative for Region 3 for Washington State’s 1624 Foster Parent Consultation Team and recently became a board member for the Foster Parent Association of Washington State (FPAWS). Currently she is the Executive Director of the non-profit organization Foster Hearts, who serve foster children in the PNW.to
Jac is a professional programmer and foster parent in Seattle. After she and her partner were licensed in 2018, she reached out to FPAWS hoping to turn fpaws.org into a broad source of information for everyone involved in foster care in Washington. She has also volunteered with Treehouse for several years.
