As foster parents, the worries arise as they are preparing a room for the new child they received a brief description of. They ask themselves: how do we ensure they feel supported; what resources will they need on days like this; how can we ease the stress they might feel; how do we create a welcoming environment and create a positive transition?
In honor of National Foster Care month, we wanted to share a list of books and workbooks for youth in foster care or in adopted families that are a wonderful way for children to explore other people's life experiences, while at the same time seeing their own stories represented and know they are not alone in their feelings.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
My 3-year-old granddaughter lives with her mom across state lines. She has been taken away from her for a 2nd time and now my granddaughter lives with a foster family. We were her foster family the first time. We are trying to get her back with us because there is no reason for her to be with a strange family. What can we do to help get her back with our family?