Biological families, or families of origin, are often painted with a broad brush and in a terrible light.  The fear of family work often is one of the factors that holds potential foster families at arms length and dissuades them from becoming foster parents. 

Let’s take a moment to talk about what family work looks like and how foster parents can build bridges, not fences, between themselves and families.

Who are Families Involved in

She hoists her backpack on her shoulder and scans the room.  Is anything left in a drawer?  Beside the bed?  Did she leave her toothbrush in the bathroom?   It is barely morning, her brain hasn’t quite shaken the fog of restless sleep, but she can’t forget anything.  She doesn’t know if she’ll be coming back.

Elisa gets into the gray sedan parked in the driveway, the headlights making ghosts in the shadows of the early

A question that I always get: “Why do you always hear that the need for foster parents is great?”

• Do we not open new homes?
• Do we not receive applications?
• Where do existing foster homes go?

These are all great questions, so let’s dive in.

Retirement

The average age of an applying JRI Foster parent is 51 years old. That means they are often empty-nesters who are ready to parent a new group of children

Thanksgiving: a time for gratitude, family, and gathering.

For children and youth in foster care, holidays of all sorts can be triggering.  Thanksgiving can have additional layers of difficulty. 

As caring adults supporting children and youth in foster care, it is important to understand these complexities and offer meaningful support.

Thankful

“Adoption loss is the only trauma in the world where the victims are expected by the whole of society to be grateful.”-

“It is kind of a lot. I’m not looking to get that involved.”

This was the voice on the other end of the line on Monday.  She was the thirty-seventh call I made, the third to pick up (others received voicemails, texts, or emails).  I sighed. It is true, I thought, fostering is “a lot” but being involved is where the magic happens.

We need people who want to be that involved. 

We need parents

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, foster means “to encourage something to develop.”

Fostering a child is not simply providing shelter and meals.  It is so much more.  So what exactly does a parent foster?

Foster parents foster healing.

Foster parents foster self-esteem.

Foster parents foster healthy relationships.

Foster parents foster emotional intelligence and empathy.

Foster parents foster joy and curiosity.

Foster parents foster positive childhood memories.

Foster parents foster success- achievements along the way

Supporting a Child through the Goal of Adoption:

Typically, when children are removed from their families by the Department of Children and Families, their first goal is to be reunified when and if it is safe enough to do so.

As a result, reunification is the most common goal for children in foster care. However, this is not always the case for the 32% of children in our program. Unfortunately, when parents are not meeting

As you walk into my home for the first time, I watch as you tentatively inspect your room deciding where to put your shoes and which one of your beloved stuffed animals you would like to sleep with. I help you put your clothes in the dresser and pick out some comfortable pajamas. As you lay your head down on your pillow, which is covered by a cotton pillowcase don’t think twice as to what

He was so small!

Allison’s hands fluttered over of him, not sure where to touch.  He had a tube going through his nose and down the back of his throat, allowing him to eat.  He had a respirator to breathe, which he was weaning off of but still needed most of the time.  He had bandages on his legs where his IVs had been placed. 

The nurses took time and demonstrated how to hold him

Stacy and James Lopes were empty nesters when they decided to foster again. They had previously fostered and took guardianship of their son’s teenage friend years prior. As a stay at home mother, Stacy enjoyed being present for her biological children as they were growing up and felt she and James still had the ability to make a difference in a youth’s life.

After a couple of months, the Lopes’ home ultimately opened in January