Brandi Sweet, Native American Foster Family Recruiter for Utah Foster Care
By Mike Hamblin,
Director of Foster Family Recruitment
Utah Foster Care
Utah Foster Care is pleased to welcome Brandi Sweet as our Native American Foster-adoptive Consultant. Brandi will work closely with the Native community in getting our message out to tribes throughout Utah.
Brandi has a lot of experience working on Native issues, including time at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC. She is knowledgeable about the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and has an understanding of issues facing Native children in foster care, Native foster families, and the challenges of recruiting Native foster families.
Brandi can be phoned at 1 (877) 505-5437, e-mailed at brandi.sweet@utahfostercare.org, or followed at @BSweetNative on Twitter.
The need for Native foster families in Utah is urgent. Along the Wasatch Front alone, there are 83 Native children in foster care and only six licensed Native families! In the entire state, there are currently 127 children in foster care. We are glad to be stepping up Utah Foster Care’s efforts with the addition of Brandi to our staff.
“I’m excited to join Utah Foster Care’s team and to be part of Utah’s innovative work in the area of Indian child welfare”, says Brandi, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. “I hope to make a lasting difference to improve the life outcomes for other Native families and children.”
We’re looking forward to utilizing her expertise and knowledge as we strengthen our efforts to provide the best families to meet the needs of all children in foster care.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can help Native children in foster care, visit utahfostercare.org/tribes.
