Featured Resources
From Paperwork to Placement
As a new foster parent who just completed mountains of paperwork and all the necessary training, you may wonder what exactly is next. Cherie Johnson, Foster and Adoptive Parent, shares her experience as a new foster parent with some action steps you and your family can take to prepare.
What Teens Need: Parenting Both the Inner Child and the Emerging Young Adult in Your Teenager
Am I doing anything right? This question could easily be muttered by my teenagers or by me. Daily. Hourly. Parenting teenagers is no easy feat, especially parenting teens with traumatic backgrounds. Learning to parent your teenager's inner child while they emerge as a young adult can help you navigate this difficult stage.
8 Reasons to Foster Teens
A common misconception of teenagers in foster care is they did something bad or wrong to end up there, but many teens end up in foster care at no fault of their own. Just like any other age group, teens in foster care want a secure, loving family. There are several benefits of becoming a foster parent that are unique to this age group.Additional Resources
What Teens Need: Parenting Both the Inner Child and the Emerging Young Adult in Your Teenager
Am I doing anything right? This question could easily be muttered by my teenagers or by me. Daily. Hourly. Parenting teenagers is no easy feat, especially parenting teens with traumatic backgrounds. Learning to parent your teenager's inner child while they emerge as a young adult can help you navigate this difficult stage.
8 Reasons to Foster Teens
A common misconception of teenagers in foster care is they did something bad or wrong to end up there, but many teens end up in foster care at no fault of their own. Just like any other age group, teens in foster care want a secure, loving family. There are several benefits of becoming a foster parent that are unique to this age group.
Staying Healthy When You’re Stretched Thin
Let’s talk about self-care for foster parents, shall we? It’s a hot topic that is beautiful and necessary in theory and often feels impossible in practice. When each day is unpredictable, especially as many of our children deal with night terrors and other nighttime disturbances, how do we find the time and mental, physical, and emotional space to take care of ourselves?
A Foster Mom’s Gratitude List
When I became a foster parent, I had some grandiose mission statements about what I would do, how I would help, and the way in which I would serve vulnerable youth… but I look back now, seven years later, and see I had it all wrong. Well-intentioned, but wrong.
Walking Alongside Birth Families
Families do not set out to put their child in foster care but simply are in a situation that makes it untenable to maintain parenting safely and confidently. People often look at a foster youth and think “those poor kids.” That thought, although maybe well-intentioned, breeds contempt for loved ones. When we reframe the way we look at why a child has entered care, we can be better equipped to care for the youth, and in turn, learn to walk alongside birth families.
Dear Foster Parents, Give Them a Chance
It was Christmas Eve, 2016. The snow was coming down outside the Social Services office where my foster kiddo and I sat. A big storm was on its way, and I was nervously sitting in a dim meeting room, waiting for this sweet angel’s birth mother to join us for the first time. My foster youth was snuggled in a warm blanket with me, snoozing away. Mom was already 25 minutes late. The air hung nervously as my mind raced with negative thoughts and emotions, asking myself how was I going to get home in this snow?
Gale's Story - An Open Mind to Foster Care
Giving back to her community has always been a major factor in Gale’s life, but the question was how could she make the most meaningful impact? After experiencing a personal loss, her question was answered as she felt called to open her heart and home to foster care.
When the Only Solution Is to Just Be There
Some days feel full of doom and gloom, others are full of light and humor. As soon as we get used to what we think will become the “norm,” he reminds us that there is still a lot that he is silently dealing with. I have yet to find “normal” as a foster parent.