2023 Protect Award Presented to Kaitlyn Shrove and Chris Ferrari
Learning to navigate the child welfare system and the foster parent’s role within it, adjusting to significant life changes, and managing the many emotional loops on the foster care roller coaster is not for the faint at heart. Chris Ferrari and Kaitlyn Shrove have put their knowledge, training, and hearts to the test by welcoming a unique 10-year-old girl into their home in a unique foster care situation. They have been able to maximize both of their individual strengths as parents through tending to emotional needs by approaching difficult conversations with empathy, building trust with transparency, communicating clear behavioral expectations, and excelling in the less glamourous need for discipline by being dedicated to their child’s learning in her adjustment process. Chris and Kaitlyn have received multiple reports regarding their child’s academic and social improvements in school due to their efforts and support at home. They have made the physical and emotional space for a 10-year-old to let go of some of the worries and stress that children in care often carry with them and have allowed her to enjoy being a kid! Chris and Kaitlyn take their role as foster parents very seriously and are invested in meeting the needs of children in their care. They do not shy away when there is a concern and are willing and open to approaching problem solving as a team to ensure that any child in their care gets what they need. We are grateful for their consistent communication, dedication to learning, and willingness to endure all of the unknowns on the path of foster care.
They have provided this kiddo with the opportunity to see herself as the smart, kind, and creative girl she has always been. Gateway-Longview is beyond grateful to have foster parents like Chris and Kaitlyn. Here’s to Bright Beginnings!