Foster Care & Adoption

t can be easy to write off foster kids as “bad kids” but I hope anyone reading this will understand the loss and trauma these kids suffer daily and how truly resilient they are to even be functioning in a society that sometimes disregards them. Being a foster parent is so much more than giving them a safe place to sleep, food to eat, and clean clothes to wear. In fact, most of these kids couldn’t care less about those things. It’s about helping them grow each day, dealing with every hard moment they go through that other kids don’t have to, validating their feelings while teaching them how to move on from them, and making it a priority to show them how worth it they are.

With celebrations, graduation parties, and preparing for college in the fall, many young adults completing high school are itching with anticipation to leave “the nest.” These young adults may feel a newly found freedom and take for granted their intricately woven support system that helps them along the way.  For young adults in foster care who are graduating from high school, this transition often looks much different. 

The idea of providing foster care may be an exciting thought for some, but may bring about feelings of nervousness and discomfort for others.  Nexus-PATH Family Healing foster parent, Mike Romans, and social worker, Megan Bjone, put those feelings to ease through sharing their stories and experiences in building families through foster care on the podcast, JJ Meets World.

There are many myths about becoming foster parents that people believe to be true. Some of these myths may even stop an amazing potential foster family from inquiring because they do not believe they would qualify. We are here today to debunk what tend to be the top five myths of foster care and set the record straight!

Youth in foster care often have traumatic histories that put them at greater risk for anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues throughout their lives. These emotional, developmental, and behavioral issues can also affect their lifetime school experiences, including their attainment of a college degree, which can have long-term implications on lifetime earnings.

Bringing a new member into the family, whether through foster care or adoption, can be an adjustment for your children. Your child is most likely used to having his or her parents all to themselves. To help your child adapt to having a new family member, you can discuss their concerns and involve them in the foster/adoption process.

Foster parents share the amazing characteristic of selflessness. But, not all foster parents share the same lifestyle, family dynamic, or beliefs. Welcoming a child into your home is a big decision and one that needs to be thoroughly analyzed.

Foster care seems to be a mystery to many people, with quite a few myths following the name of foster care around. In this post, Bridget Leonard, Operations Director with Nexus-Kindred, debunks the myths.

Taking the first step in becoming a foster parent or learning about adoption can be intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start and who to contact. Sonja Stang, PATH’s Director of Community Relations, writes about the initial steps to becoming a foster and adoptive parent.