Announcements
3/12/2023 - Survey Results!
Recently we asked you to complete 2 surveys for us: one with general feedback on our foster program, and one letting us know if anyone would be interested in further learning about how to care for foster animals. I wanted to share the results with you. First up is the Maddie's FAST 15, which gauges foster satisfaction in our program. If you'd like to skip to the results of the training interest survey, click here.
FAST 15 Foster Survey
The FAST 15 Foster Survey helps to gauge how much people enjoy fostering for an organization. It also highlights areas of improvement and gives suggestions on how to improve those areas. We were all so thrilled to see that the majority of you think we are doing a great job! We scored 96% overall! Feel free to check out the whole report and all results at this link.
Towards the end of the report fosters were able to leave extra feedback and I wanted to pull out some of the thoughts, ideas, or questions a few people had and take this opportunity to give you all some more details on things.
"I would love to see the foster ambassador program receive a little more updating. A lot of these babies are hard to adopt out and receive a more specialized adopter that sometimes have to work a little harder in order to acclimate them into their homes. I would love to see a program that offered more resources or support to these adopters. I have fostered from several organizations and khs has the best overall program!"
Yes, we absolutely want to help our animals settle into their new homes as much as we can. Here are a few ways we try to do that:
We rely heavily on our Adoption Ambassador fosters to be open about the foster they have when talking to adopters. You know your animals best and can really speak to the good things and the challenging things you've gone through. Sometimes we don't want to say anything negative since we really want the animal to find a home, but being up front about the challenges you've had with a foster can help us make sure we offer all the support and preparation an adopter might need.
We have follow up training support that is offered to some adopters with animals that have some long-term issues that need management.
We have also recently partnered with Good Pup, an amazing resource of trainers that do virtual training. They offer 1 week free to adopters and a lifetime discount on training, plus they make a donation to KHS for every person who purchases a training package through the KHS referral link.
If anyone has any additional ideas on how we can support adopters, please let us know.
I would like more communication on when an animal is expected to go up for adoption. I’ve had several (including my current one) who are slated as maybe a couple of weeks but stay a decent bit beyond that. This can be a problem when I’m supposed to be traveling. The staff are great about helping bring them back or find a “sitter” for the trip but I’ve definitely learned to be skeptical about how long I’ll have someone and it can make it hard to be like “oh I shouldn’t have a foster in a month because my current one is slated to return in 2 weeks and I’ll just update my availability” because you may actually still have that animal in a month. I’m sure there are a lot of factors but any help would be appreciated.
I agree with you that this a point we struggle on. I am actively working on ideas with the rest of the foster team to get more accurate timelines and come up with ways to prevent animal from getting "lost" in foster. This has been a bigger problem lately than it used to be, simply because we are so full, but we are actively working on this and I'm so sorry if this has been a point of frustration for anyone.
Awesome, all around! I sometimes wish there was more background info on my foster animal but I know that is not always possible.
I would like to know more about the pets I foster. How did they come in to the facilities care, and also where they go. I appreciate the notices they were adopted. But allowing the adopters to share updates with fosters would be cool
I so wish that we had more info on the animals in our care. We can definitely make sure we look in an animal's history and let everyone know which shelter they came from, or if they were an owner surrender, etc. Unfortunately, with shelter transfers we really don't get anymore info that what shelter they came from. If that ever changes we will be more than happy to pass along the information. As for getting updates from adopters, make sure to always fill out the foster notes. There is a place on there where you can put your contact info and we do give the notes to the adopters. Then it's up to them on if they want to reach out or not, though we always hope they do!
It would be helpful if vet appointments were available later in the day due to work schedules.
I agree! Unfortunately since the shelter closes at 5 or 6, we aren't able to have later appointments. The few times we have tried to scheduled quick appointments at 5:30 they often run late and then we have to close the shelter late. If we ever get the option to extend our hours, or can figure out a way to make that work, I promis we wlll. We are open 7 days a week so once you pick up a foster, we can schedule appointments around a work schedule.
The only suggestion I would make is to define some of the categories for pets you can foster as didn’t know what they all were. (Eg geriatric cat, etc.)
This page might be helpful for anyone wanting more details on the different types of animals in need of foster. If there is anything we are missing, please let us know so we can add it!
More training with medical issues would help. Nothing is more stressful and makes me want to quit fostering more than having a sick animal that I can't help. It makes me panicky, especially when I have to wait several days for the cat to be seen by a vet.
I hear you and I'm working on it. I never want fosters to sit at home and worry about their foster animals. I have a "Common Illness" training almost ready to launch and it will be followed by others. We will include some videos on how to hold an animal to medicate, especially when it doesn't want to be medicated. We also try to work with fosters to make sure we can see an animal quickly when needed. We often have same day appointments available and can squeeze people in if something sounds like it can't wait. We have also let people drop an animal off in the morning and pick up later if a work schedule makes bringing during regular hours too difficult. If there are other ways anyone things we can try to accommodate, please let us know!
Training Interest Survey
I am so happy to see how many of you want to improve your knowledge and foster skills! I'm almost done with the very first training and will start reaching out soon to some of the people who offered to help be beta testers. Here is what we found:
2/3/2023- New Year, New Updates!
Happy February to all of our amazing fosters! We are busy doing trainings and growing our skills here at KHS while we prepare for the ever exciting KITTEN SEASON! I wanted to send out a little recap of last year and get some very important feedback from you.
If you don't have a lot of time to read, scroll to the end and I have bullet-pointed a few things for you.
Thank you for making this a successful year!
This year we:sent 111 more animals to foster than we did last year, for a grand total of 2,539 animals spending time in a foster home! That is 39.4% of all animals who came into KHS that got to spend time in a foster home.
While our cat numbers were down a small bit, we sent 168 more dogs and puppies to foster this year. That is a phenomenal increase and I am so thankful to see so many people opening their hearts and homes to animals in need.
Growing our foster program
The foster department works with some of the most vulnerable animals that come into the shelter and we would like to help fosters grow their skills, feel more confident as foster parents, and save more lives.
In order to provide the best care we would like to know what special experience our fosters already have and what skills they are interested in developing. We are working to develop trainings that fosters can go through on behavior, training and health topics. We would like your feedback so we know if you'd be interested in learning more about certain topics and how you like to learn. Not interested in learning, no problem, we want to hear from you, too! Please click here to complete the survey.
We need your feedback!
We want your foster experience to be a positive one. To that end, we are very interested in your feedback about your experience in our foster program. We are inviting you to complete a brief online survey called the FAST-15 (Foster Assessment System). Participation in this survey is entirely voluntary. That being said, we would like to emphasize that your voice, opinions, and beliefs are very important for making positive change. The survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete and will be open for the next two weeks, ending on 02-17-2023.
Thank you for your time and I do hope you choose to participate in this opportunity to improve our organization.
Complete the survey! Shelter survey code (if needed): AIG1073
Short, short version
This was a great year!
39.4% of animals in our care spent time in foster
We sent 111 more animals to foster on 2022 then in 2021
Let us know if you're interested in learning more about animal care.
In an effort to help animals more, please fill out this brief form and let us know if you're interested in additional foster care training on medical care or behavior and training.
We want to know about your experience with our foster program!
We are very interested in your feedback about your experience in our foster program. We are inviting you to complete a brief online survey called the FAST-15 (Foster Assessment System). Participation in this survey is entirely voluntary. That being said, we would like to emphasize that your voice, opinions, and beliefs are very important for making positive change. The survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete and will be open for the next two weeks, ending on 02-17-2023.
Thank you for everything!
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7/21/22 - NEW Foster Shirts (and more)!
We have almost made it to the end of July which means kitten season is roughly half over. It's a crazy time of year in the shelter world and we are able to survive through the hard work of staff, volunteers, and our fosters. I hope for this email to be the first in a series of monthly foster newsletters to help everyone stay up to date on new info and goings on at the shelter. If there are any topics you'd like to hear about, let me know!
Foster Swag Available!
We are so excited to show you these new foster items. Now you can finally show off to the world the amazing work you do as a foster parent with KHS. I love the design and they come in a variety of styles and colors so there should be something to fit your taste. Click here for more info and to place an order. We will be placing the order in about 2 weeks (August 3rd or so) so be sure to get your order in before then!
How Your Hard Work Helps
I don't know if you love data the way I do, but I love seeing the huge number of animals we help each month/year. This June we sent 420 cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies to foster! That makes a total of 1,254 animals this year. These are animals that may not have had a chance at adoption at a shelter without a foster program and I hope seeing these details really shows you how valuable you are. We know when you are cleaning up yet another accident on the floor, or wiping off a kitten with diarrhea, it can feel a little not-so-glamorous in the moment. I hope these numbers help you see how important it all is. See more here.
We Need Your Help
We currently have several animals in need of foster including a few dogs we have not been able to find foster for. Please view cats in need and dogs in need to see if there is someone you can help. You can also fill out the foster availability form so we can reach out when we have a good match for you.
If you ever need anything we are here for you! You can reply to this email, text us at 502-208-9155, or submit feedback at this link (anonymously if desired).
Thank you so much for all you do!!
3/19/22 - Foster Program Updates
We have had a lot of changes in the foster program recently and I wanted to fill everyone in on the news.
New Foster Team!
Starting at the end of January, we have had a whole new team working in foster. Many of you already know me (Kelly) as the foster assistant, but I have taken over as manager of the program. I am thrilled to be in this new role and excited for some of the changes we have coming your way. Some of these changes you won't notice, they will be behind the scenes and will help everything run more smoothly. Other changes will be more noticeable, such as the ones mentioned below
I am really excited to have you all meet Oliva, Caitlin, and Jordyn. Olivia is our new Cat Coordinator and has been doing a great job helping the Purrfect Day Café in their mission to find loving homes for KHS cats and kittens. She will be working closely with our kitten fosters during kitten season to keep the café full of adorable fur babies.
Jordyn and Caitlin are the new Foster Assistants and have been busy learning all the ins and outs of the foster program and are doing great. They are both wonderful people and are looking forward to getting to know all of you!
Our lobby is now open!
No more standing in the rain, snow, or blistering heat! Next time you come in for an appointment, go ahead and come inside. Hopefully this small change will help keep you and the animals more comfortable while you are here for appointments.
Same Day Surgery Coming Soon!
If you'd like to pick your animal back up after they are spayed/neutered, we will soon be offering early drop off appointments for animals needing spay/neuter surgery that will be returning to their foster homes after surgery. These appointments will limit how long animals are in the shelter, helping to reduce stress and illness in the animals. Animals will be able to recover in your home and our adoptions staff will contact you to bring them in for adoption at East or Main Campus once we have room.
Kitten Season is Coming!
Nursing and pregnant mama cats have started coming into the shelter which means the young kittens are not far behind. Now is a great time to brush up on your kitten care knowledge by reviewing the information on the Foster Hub website. If you have carriers, scales, or other supplies you have gotten from us in the past and you will not be able to foster kittens for a few months, we would love to get those items back so we can stock up before we are swimming in kittens.
Able to foster?
We have a few nursing/pregnant mama dogs currently in need, have been very short on puppy fosters when we get puppies in, and would love to build a waitlist of people who can take pregnant/nursing mama cats. If you'll be able to foster in the next few weeks, please let us know by filling out the availability form if you have not already done so.
As always, we appreciate you so much! Let us know if you need anything from us or have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions. Thank you!!
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10/25/21 - Exciting Changes to How We Pair Fosters with Animals!
We are excited to announce a huge change to how we send out foster animals. For years we have sent out emails, texts, and made Facebook posts when we have animals in need. This system has led to frustration among foster parents who are unable to reply quickly to messages, and has left some animals languishing in the shelter for weeks. Well no more!
Starting now, we are asking all fosters who are ready to take in a foster animal, to fill out this form. You will be able to give us the information we need to match you with a foster animal. Once we have a match for you, we will reach out to set up a time to pick them up. This should enable us to only contact you about the type of animal you want to foster and help get animals out of the shelter faster.
With this new system comes a few rules, though, to make sure everything runs smoothly.
If you say you are able to foster, you must be able to pick up within a reasonable amount of time once contacted with a match. We would typically consider 1-2 days reasonable.
If your availability changes, you must fill out a new form to update your info. If, after filling out the form, you find you will be unable to foster at all, email us so we can delete you from the "available to foster" list.
Please be realistic when selecting the type of animals you can foster. Just think "if they contacted me for this tomorrow, could I take it?". You can always submit a new form if things change.
We know that some of you may have questions about this and we are here to answer them. Send us an email or give us a call if you have any questions. This system will save time and will benefit the animals tremendously.
Ready to foster? Fill out your form today!
Thank you all so much for being a part of our growth and helping us save the animals!