What Foster Care Alumni Want You to Know
Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care
01/22/25
•44m
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Join our panel of four former foster youth to learn what they wished foster parents and others knew about being in foster care.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Tell us the story of your involvement with foster care and the child welfare system.
- What was something that your foster parent(s) did that helped you cope?
- What did your foster parents do that made things harder for you?
- What are some of the myths that you hear about kids in foster care?
- If listeners are considering becoming foster parents, what should they consider to help them decide if they are the right fit to be foster parents?
Resources:
- The Faces of Foster Care Volume 1, 2, and 3
Resources - Dave Armstrong
- Why Me My Fight For Life (Book)
- From Gangs To Greece (Book)
- www.SenseiDave.com (Speaking page)
- www.upna.net (Coaching/Mentoring)
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.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Previous Episode
How to Balance Giving Kids Structure and Control - Weekend Wisdom
January 18, 2025
•3m
Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
Question: First, I wanted to thank you for your incredible podcast. I’m not a parent (I only recently graduated from college), but I have volunteered in group homes for foster care children for the past couple of years. Your podcast has not only helped me to work more effectively with the kids I see but has also given me insight into what I want to do in my career. I hope to research and work with families involved with the foster care system in the future, and your podcast has allowed me to learn from so many interesting and diverse perspectives. My question is: how do you balance giving children who have experienced trauma both a sense of control and structure? From the kids I’ve worked with, I’ve noticed that many of them tend to act out the most when they feel like they don’t have control. This makes sense to me, as I imagine almost all kids in foster care have had a severe lack of control in their lives. However, I’ve also heard that kids who have experienced trauma benefit from having a strict structure in their lives. These two ideas seem somewhat antithetical to each other, but both seem important. How do you recommend parents and practitioners give children both a sense of control over their lives and provide them with structure so they have a sense of safety? Thank you again for your wonderful podcast, it truly has made such a difference in how I think about the foster care system. I look forward to listening to your podcast every week.
Resources:
- Free E-Guide: Parenting a Child Exposed to Trauma
- Helping a Child Heal from Trauma
- Parenting Kids with Challenging Behavior
- Raising Foster Children
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.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Next Episode
My Foster Son Was Put In a Dog Pen. How Do I Help Him Heal? - Weekend Wisdom
January 25, 2025
•8m
Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
Question: My 4-year-old foster son moved in 9 months ago. He will likely remain with me permanently, and the application is in progress. I was his 5th foster home when he moved in. There was neglect at his birth parents and abuse in a previous foster home. Last weekend he was being babysat by my sister and brother-in-law. They went to the basement to show him a toy, and he saw a large dog cage they were planning to sell online. He was immediately triggered, ran upstairs, hid under the pillows in a bed, and it took 10 minutes to feel safe. He was obviously placed in a dog cage at some point. How do I support him, talk to him about what happened, and make him feel safe? How should I support him and help him calm his nervous system if he is triggered again?
Resources:
- A Conversation with Dr. Bruce Perry About Trauma
- 6 Crucial Things Every Adoptive Parent Must Do
- Using Scripts to Build Trust with Foster & Adopted Kids
- Suggested Book List - Kids Who Have Experienced Trauma
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.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
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