(Posted 2022 December)
The Fairfax County Department of Family Services is excited to announce that Maya Mohindroo joined the Foster Care & Adoption, Resource and Support Program as our foster parent recruiter in October 2022. This position has been vacant since Dr. Aviles-Cubillos moved to a different role within Resource and Support.
Mohindroo grew up in Fairfax County. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech where she majored in psychology and cognitive behavioral neuroscience. Mohindroo completed her Master of Social Work from George Mason with a clinical concentration. Her graduate coursework was tailored to the foster care and child welfare populations.
Mohindroo is drawn to child welfare because of the opportunity to support families. She comes to us with experience as a therapeutic foster care case manager, and she has worked with refugee children, survivors of domestic violence, children and young adults with disabilities, and as a substitute teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools.
As the new foster parent recruiter, Mohindroo will be engaging with and educating our community about the need for resource parents, advocating for and sharing the needs of children in foster care, and building and enhancing relationships with our partners. This includes meeting, greeting, and educating members of the community who are curious about our foster care and adoption program; and partnering with outside organizations and special interest groups specific to foster and kinship caregivers.
Mohindroo will also prepare and deliver presentations, trainings, and workshops to community stakeholders as a means of broadening our current pool of prospective foster parents to be more reflective of our diverse community.
Mohindroo will be rebuilding a team of volunteer foster parent ambassadors to assist her. A couple of our past parent ambassadors shared what a positive experience it was speaking at info meetings, attending public events, and helping with the PRIDE Pre-Service Training.
Marla Emmer said “I enjoy being an ambassador as a way to give back. It is rewarding to encourage the foster parents to connect with each other and build a rapport.”
Former volunteer Randy Smith feels that the role of an ambassador in the training is really important, because “there is an element of trust, that parents think we are being honest and telling them like it is.”
Smith explained that “A lot of folks don’t realize that the county needs foster parents, because they think that Fairfax is one of the richest counties in the country, and we don’t really have issues. But in reality there are a lot of kids who need homes, and we always need foster parents because there is turnover.”
Mohindroo has a vision for the future, and she needs foster parent ambassadors to be successful. She shared, “I’m eager to start getting to know resource parents in Fairfax County, and to get the ambassadors program up and running again. I’m an enthusiastic learner and I look forward to learning from of the expertise our resource parents have to offer!”
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent ambassador, then reach out to Maya Mohindroo through email or call 703-324-7480.
This article posting is part of the Foster Family News monthly newsletter designed to keep foster parents informed about all the new and notable happenings in Fairfax County.
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