Choices for Life To Honor Local Leader In Support Of National Foster Care Month

CHECOTAH, OKLAHOMA — March 31, 2008 — Choices for Life Foster Care, Inc. will recognize Richard C. Hatfield Jr. at the second annual Leave Your Mark event to be held at 229 West Gentry, Checotah on May 13, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. The event is intended to raise awareness of the month of May as National Foster Care Month, and pay tribute to a local leader for work done with children in the foster care community and for creating a positive partnership with the organization’s Therapeutic Foster Care program.

Hatfield, a superintendent with Wilson Public Schools in Okmulgee County, has been involved in the education industry for over 27 years, and has held positions of secondary teacher, coach, assistant principal and principal over his career. In his current role as superintendant, Hatfield accommodates many of the foster children in local schools in the district, allowing them access to education while they receive necessary therapy for abuse or neglect.  

 “We are so grateful to Richard Hatfield for the compassion, understanding and commitment he has shown to our foster children,” said Douglas C. Fellrath, CEO of Choices for Life Foster Care, Inc. “Richard goes above the call of duty to ensure that these children receive the best possible school experience, while accommodating extraordinary challenges that they face while receiving therapy on the program.”

As part of the awards ceremony, Hatfield will be given a bench decorated with handprints of the children on the foster program, and placed in a location of his choice. The bench will serve as a reminder of the need for therapeutic foster care, while encouraging the public to consider becoming foster families or as they are otherwise known, Treatment Parent Specialists.

The Choices for Life Therapeutic Foster Care program combines professional foster homes with an intensive and personalized therapy program. Subsequently, children and adolescents are able to benefit from the stability and support provided by a trained foster family, while at the same time, they receive professional therapy from qualified counselors.  The program is designed specifically to help children with severe emotional issues that may be the result of previous abuse. More information on the program will be readily available at the event.

“Attendants at the Leave Your Mark event will be given the opportunity to learn what community leaders are doing to provide greater assistance in therapeutic foster care, and they will gain valuable insight into the journey of a child who has successfully completed our foster program,” said Fellrath.

In 2006, 58.02% of the 27,172 children who experienced neglect or abuse in the state of Oklahoma were under six years of age.

Choices for Life Foster Care, Inc., which was established in 1997, is an active member of the Oklahoma Therapeutic Foster Care Association, the professional association of all therapeutic care provider agencies in Oklahoma. The organization has also been a national member of the Foster Family-based Treatment Association since 2001 and is accredited by the Council of Accreditation. The organization, which was founded in Oklahoma and has served over 1,500 children in the state, now also operates in Georgia. Visit cflfostercare.com or call (405) 751-0800 for more information.