Celebrating & Supporting Men in Foster & Kinship Care

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Join us for a conversation about why men in foster and kinship care matter - to the family unit, to the system, and most importantly, to the kids. Our guest is Tony Craddock, a Prevention Social Worker in Wake County, NC, with more than 25 years of experience supporting families. For the past decade, he has engaged kinship families and fathers through his co‐facilitation of the Kinship In Action Support Group.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What first drew you to working with families, and later to engaging fathers and kinship caregivers?
• Why is it so important that we intentionally engage and celebrate men — fathers, grandfathers, uncles, mentors — in foster and kinship care spaces?
• What positive differences have you seen in children’s lives when men are actively supported and involved in caregiving?
• What unique strengths do men bring to families in foster and kinship roles?
• What are some ways that normalizing men as caregivers helps not just families, but the larger community?
• What are some of the reasons you hear men sharing about their hesitation to step into these caregiving roles or to seek support when they take on such a role?
• Do you see common themes of how they describe their experiences of being welcomed — or not — into support spaces?
• What strategies have you found most effective for inviting and retaining men in support groups and similar caregiving networks?
• What role do their peers who are already plugged into their roles as caregivers play in encouraging or retaining engagement with newer father figures in your groups?
• What have you noticed in children’s emotional, behavioral, or developmental well-being when there’s consistent male involvement?
• How does having a balanced caregiving network, one that includes a multi-generational approach and welcomes both men and women, strengthen a family’s resilience?
• Who are the men — in your work or your life — who inspire you as caregivers and supporters?
• What advice would you give to a man who may already be a foster or kinship caregiver, but who also wants to step more intentionally into that role to make a difference for their child?
• If you could change one thing about how the system engages men in foster and kinship care, what would it be?
• Looking ahead, what gives you the most hope about supporting men in these spaces?
• What’s one message you’d like every listener — caregiver, professional, or community member — to walk away with today?

Resources

• Father Engagement Strategies
• The Vital Role of Men in Foster Care
• Finding Male Role Models for Kids of Single Moms
• Normalizing Men as Caregivers Helps Families and Society

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Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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