Blog

Andrea Hendricks Begins Work on WIDE 3.0

06 August 2025

WIDE 3.0 launches this summer with the hiring of Dr. Andrea Hendricks, a consultant who will take our welcoming, inclusive, diverse, and equitable planning toward fully embedded implementation. Dr. Hendricks began her work last month, meeting key leadership, attending the Leadership Summit, and reviewing material of Cornerstones of Care’s WIDE work,...

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How One Missouri School Transformed Student Outcomes with BIST

01 August 2025

During the 2024–2025 school year, a rural Missouri school embraced the BIST (Behavior Intervention Support Team) philosophy building-wide and saw remarkable results. One of the most powerful success stories involved a sixth-grade student facing significant behavioral and academic challenges. He routinely refused to follow expectations, both in the classroom and in...

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Julie Plunkett Walks with Pride and Leads with Love

30 July 2025

The streets of downtown Westport usually move at a leisurely pace on Saturday mornings, but as June 7 was the morning of Kansas City’s highly anticipated Pride Parade, Broadway Boulevard came to life well before the sun reached its peak. Warm smiles greeted those who strolled through the parade lineup in...

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Cornerstones of Care Receives Sanctuary Re-Certification

15 July 2025

Cornerstones of Care is proud to share we have officially been re-certified as a Sanctuary Model organization and our Kansas foster care team has received its initial Sanctuary certification. This is a powerful affirmation of our continued commitment to creating a trauma-informed environment for everyone we serve and for one another. We’re...

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Leading with Care: Spotlighting Our 2024 CARE Award Winners

15 July 2025

The CARE Awards celebrate the heart and soul of Cornerstones of Care. The individuals and teams who won the awards in 2024 were announced on June 23rd. As part of a deeper look at this year’s CARE Award recipients, we’re spotlighting a few of the winners who shared more about their...

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Water Safety Ensures Summer Fun for All

13 June 2025

This summer, many families will look to cool off and have fun at the pool. Foster parents must adhere to Missouri or Kansas regulations regarding water safety, particularly for home swimming pools. Missouri and Kansas regulations differ but have the same intent: to ensure that children are safe around water. Drowning...

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Josie Arens Wins “Illuminating Hope: Rise of Champions” Award

12 June 2025

When Staycee Dixon decided to hold the “Illuminating Hope: A Day of Honoring Foster Care Champions: Rise of the Champion” awards, she knew just who she’d nominate for the “therapist” category: Josie Arens. Staycee is an experienced foster parent and the founder of Rise of the Champions, an organization that...

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