Staff Spotlight: Stacy Latham

A child's journey through foster care is complex and full of complicated feelings and uncertain futures. Similarly, foster and adoptive families also encounter many unexpected twists and turns along their journey. Thankfully, Family and Permanency Specialist, Stacy Latham, is there to provide support, information, and guidance along the way. After more than a decade of serving youth and families, Stacy has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience that she draws from in her work. She is incredibly thorough, making sure that all paperwork is perfectly in order so that adoptions can happen on schedule without any hiccups, but she also truly takes her time to listen to those she is working with and find out what they need most to feel safe, informed, and prepared for whatever is next.

Many of our foster parents won't meet Stacy until they are nearing the end of their journey, when she is providing adoption finalization services. Some may meet her earlier in their journey if she is providing Child Preparation services to children in their care. However, many of the children she works with are not even currently living with foster families - they are in group homes or independent living programs. Stacy is an incredible advocate for these older youth and if you ask her, she will say that teens are pretty amazing!

We are so fortunate to have such an amazing professional on our team - and the countless children and families she has served are a testament to her compassion and skill.

Get to know Stacy:

What is your role at The Salvation Army and what does it entail?

My title at The Salvation Army is Family and Permanency Specialist. I started as a full-time employee in late 2015 and provided all permanency services - Child Preparation, Child Profile, Family Profile, Child Specific Recruitment, Finalization, and Post Permanency. When deciding to grow my family, I began working part-time and now my primary focus is on providing Child Preparation and Finalization, which are services that help children understand their entire journey in care and support families as they prepare for permanency.

What drew you to a career in social work?

In high school I had an acquaintance that was battling depression reach out to me in a desperate plea for help. After extensive conversation he chose to seek professional intervention and over time I watched him begin to blossom again. It was then that I realized that I would want to be in a helping profession where I could support others in recognizing their worthiness in this world.

If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the child welfare system, what would it be?

There are too many answers I could give for this one, but right now given the work I've been doing with teens, I would love to see more accessibility to supportive services for older youth and adults aging out of the foster care system.

What is one piece of advice you have for people considering becoming foster/adoptive parents?

As a parent, give yourself grace and embrace being imperfect. Our children don't need the perfect parent - they need to see their parents make mistakes, seek forgiveness and grow from those mistakes. Likewise, they need parents that will give them the opportunity to make mistakes, will offer forgiveness and unconditional love, and will be there to guide them. Always remain focused on progress over perfection and it will lead to more compassion and authentic connection.

What are you doing for self-care these days?

It wasn't until I participated in Making Sense of Your Past (Worth) with my colleagues that I began to realize the necessity in taking time for myself. I made a commitment to begin taking care of my mind, body and soul again, and have been proudly doing so by reading at least one book a month, rowing for exercise, and getting back into photography where I can capture the beauty in nature. An occasional deep tissue massage also does wonders to relieve any stress and tension I might have!

And just for fun...what are your favorite:

• Animal - my doggo, Lincoln
• Color - all shades of pink
• Food - my mom's spaghetti and meat sauce
• Ice Cream Flavor - Coffee Chip ice cream with lots of chocolate sprinkles
• Sport - swimming
• Vacation Destination - Anywhere with water, sand, palm trees and Jimmy Buffet playing in the background

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