I talked about when foster children struggle with biological parents being unable to experience the holidays with them during my last post. Truthfully this is something that will pop up from time to time and does not have to be during the holidays.

When you take your foster children to the park for a picnic, or any other family outing, the feelings about wishing their biological parents could also experience this, can surface. Most foster children in time have talked about this to different degrees while in my home.

The common thread with most if... more

Telling Foster Children That Your Home Is Not a Permanent Placement

Questioning the Idea of a Placement Becoming Permanent for Your Family

Reasons Why It May Not Work as a Permanent Placement

Talking to your foster child or children why your home... more

Telling Foster Children That Your Home Is Not a Permanent Placement

Questioning the Idea of a Placement Becoming Permanent for Your Family

When choosing to parent a child through adoption, especially from foster to adopt, we have to be honest with ourselves about our family’s needs and our abilities, to make the right decision. We cannot be a benefit to... more

When a foster child is placed in your home and they are legally up for adoption, questioning if it could be permanent is something the child most likely will start asking. Heck, truthfully when you are fostering children that are up for adoption, this can be a common question for a lot of people to ask you.

I have fostered a few children that were up for adoption when they came to my home. It was clear that we were only doing foster, but once the children get... more

Some foster children will come into our lives hoping and looking for a forever family to call their own. Occasionally a foster child will come into care starved for a family to care for him or her, seeking love and acceptance. This foster child can latch onto a foster family rather quickly hoping for things to become permanent.

Before we know it, we are faced with the question: “Can I stay here (meaning your home) and be part of your family?” This is a difficult question to answer and has no easy answer. Granted it is not question you will be answering every day, but... more

Foster Parents Dealing With Children Living in Limbo

Foster Parents Helping Children Living in Limbo

I fostered a little boy (five years old) for a little over a year he was mentally retarded and autistic. In your mind, picture the worst child and his behaviors, then magnify that times five that is probably close to what he was like.

He had so many issues... more

Foster Parents Dealing With Children Living in Limbo

These children are not concerned about therapy, counseling, or dealing with what is happening because in their mind foster care is just a short stay until they go back home. When children spend weeks then months believing any day they are going to walk out the foster home door to return home this does not benefit them to move forward in their life. The caseworkers make it sound like all the parents have to do is work their plan and the children return but the truth is most parents do not want to work the plan. At every visit, some... more

I am responding to a comment left here about what needs to happen with foster children and what foster parents need to be doing.

As soon as the foster child comes into care there is a service plan set up to address the child’s needs. The service plan covers a six month period. The first six month service plans is very basic because no one knows the kiddo and the biological parents are not too helpful in providing information. Mostly it will cover medical care, getting immunizations... more

A hot topic in the foster care circle is how long foster children are left to live in limbo with the hope their parents can get themselves together so they are able to parent their children. I think most of us can agree that a large number of issues (drugs, violence, relationships, mental issues, poverty, etc.) that these biological parents are facing, do not disappear overnight. But do we have the right to ask young children needing a family, structure, security, etc. to wait months and even years in the hopes that their biological parents will step up to the plate and do what... more

While I do understand that there are a few cases throughout the United States in which children are removed from their homes without just cause, those cases are the exception. "What does not even begin to address the 100,000’s of children being placed into foster care and their need to be in foster care. When I write about foster children, biological parents and others, I am writing about the thousands not the few exceptions.

Of all people foster parents do understand the foster care system has major problems, we live it every day. That does not mean that children do not deserve... more