Blog

HOW TO BOOST YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

YES it is POSSIBLE!! One of the 6 Keys to mental health is making social connection a priority – especially face-to-face. Anyone can suffer from mental or emotional health problems—and over a lifetime most of us will. This year alone, about one in five of us will suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. Yet, despite…

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Minority Mental Health Month

July was designated as Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in 2008 to bring awareness to the unique struggles that underrepresented groups face in regard to mental illness in the United States (US). Mental health doesn’t discriminate based on race, color, gender or identity. Every year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a…

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7 Things to Immediately Quit Doing If You Want to Improve Your Life

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Reflections On Medicine, Shame And Stigma

Families First of Florida recognizes the need for those with mental illness to not only have access to mental health services, but to feel empowered to talk about mental health without stigma or shame. National Association of Mental Illness ( NAMI) provides support and education about Mental Health. The struggles with mental health crosses through…

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The Importance Of Foster Parents

Families First of Florida believes that foster care is about more then a child “doing their time”.  It is about creating life time relationships for these children: people they can trust to give them guidance and safety.  We understand that we heal from the supportive relationships. Even if the home is temporary, the relationship is…

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How A Family Looks To Me

How a family looks is different to everyone. A family can be “blended” in many ways. My family growing up included children who were placed in foster care. So the word “foster”, family, child, sibling, son and daughter is normal to me. Though the word foster itself has little meaning in my eyes, the children…

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Five Common Misconceptions About Foster Parenting

Families First of Florida agrees with Family Care for Children and Youth of Pennsylvania. Families sometimes will be hesitate to consider becoming a Foster Family because of these and other misconceptions. If you are interested in learning more please join us on our next Foster Parent Information Night (date pending) and please bring your questions…

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5 Steps in becoming a Therapeutic Foster Parent

So, you have been contemplating becoming a foster parent, and you are not sure where to start. Families First of Florida has defined the first five steps on how to get to your goal of supporting and helping youth in need of a family. We recommend you attend Eckerd Connects’ Foster Parent Orientation Night. This…

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The Washingtons

We have great Foster Parent’s at Families First of Florida. We have grown over the years and our foster families stay with us. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent please to not hesitate to reach out to us at 813-290-8560 or come to our website at familiesfirstfl.com. You can even read more…

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Building a Family One Color at a Time

Families First of Florida identified a great website for foster children, www.adoptionworld.net. This website has great stories and tools families can use and learn about if they are thinking about becoming a foster parent, adoption parent or just a support to children in foster care. The story below is one story that the website shares…

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Impacting Lives, Strengthening Families

Traumatic experiences make a significant impact on how people cope, learn and interact with others. Families First of Florida’s experienced mental health clinicians provide best practice mental health services with the goal of helping those in our care grow and develop, despite their obstacles.