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

Weathering the stress of an adoption with Child Welfare can take a lot out of you. We did enjoy adopting our baby daughter on National Adoption Day with all the festivities and fun excitement of the day. There was a lot more stress and drama because of choosing this date.

Up until Friday evening after 5 o’clock we were unsure whether it would really happen. Waiting to the last minute, no, last second to do paperwork is not my idea of being prepared. Add to that, we live four hours away. This... more

The decision to stay at home with your foster children and have a few relatives over for the holidays is your first option. Spending the holidays at a family member’s home is another option. I really think it has a lot to do with the foster children you have in your home at the time and your family members.

Taking a foster child that has major behavior issues to your Aunt Martha’s house for the holiday may need some extra consideration. How does she feel about children, especially with behavior issues? How is she going to react if the child has a melt down and the... more

The Big Day in a Foster Child's Life

This year for the adoption on National Adoption Day, our area decided to allow each family to have an individual adoption time in the courtroom instead of the mass or group adoption thing. I was not crazy about the idea of the mass adoption so I was quite happy for our own personal time which makes it special.

My sister, dad, my caseworker (which has become a friend) joined my husband, myself and our children in the court room.... more

In my personal experience involving foster children, preparing for Thanksgiving can be a great benefit for everyone. It helps boost their self esteem, while truly making them feel part of things instead of an outsider. Also, I found that keeping them involved with chores (good ones – all chores are not bad) and preparing for the holiday helps keep their behaviors for the most part controlled. Better to have them busy and involved than sulking around or acting out.

We have made placemats before for everyone. I’ve got one to do with the kiddos that helps given the idea... more

Yesterday, on National Adoption Day, we adopted our beautiful two year old baby girl. We have been her foster parents since she was two months old. Up until Friday evening we were not completely sure that all the paperwork would come together for us to be able to adopt on National Adoption Day. I will share in another post about the issues, problems and concerns that we struggled with.

There were over eighty families adopting from the foster care system at the courthouse so it was a very busy place. Each family had a volunteer to guide them through the process which... more

Understanding that they may not necessarily feel very thankful even through they are safe and not being sexually abused, beaten, burned with cigarettes and just completely neglected. These foster children still have their own strong feelings about things and what is happening in their lives. While it may be hard to understand how a child would miss being in an abuse situation, it is still an emotion that they are feeling. Feelings that anyone has are not wrong, we all have the right to our own feelings.

We have a tradition in our family that when we sit down for Thanksgiving... more

This time of the year I always find myself thinking of the children that I have parented through foster care that have gone on to another placements or with family members. It does not matter if I only parented them for a short period of time or a long one. My family talks about different children time to time when something reminds us of them and we find ourselves traveling down memory lane.

These children were a part of my family for time and I truly care about what happens to them. Most of the foster children that have come into my home I have had the chance to... more