First Time Foster Parent Shopping List
October 19, 2018
How To Prepare For The Holiday Season When Fostering A Child
November 9, 2018
Choosing to foster is a major decision for any family to make. Once the decision has been made and the process has been started, it’s time to share the news with extended family and friends. Explaining your choices can be a bit tricky. Here are a few ways to help you get started.
Keeping It Simple
Opening up about your decisions to provide foster care isn’t always easy. Don’t feel like you have to give away every detail. Instead, give your family and friends the gist: tell them that you and your immediate family have thought about it and decided that fostering is a good fit. Share your excitement with them. Expect the possibility of mixed reactions; not everyone is going to understand your decision. If they seem interested in more information, then consider a deeper conversation about the process and your expectations.
Deciding On Their Role
Depending on how close you are to the family member or friend, you may want to include them in the fostering experience. Grandparents may want to be involved the same way they may already be involved with other grandchildren. If you want them to be more involved, open the conversation early so that expectations can be decided ahead of time — before your foster child arrives.
Being Clear With Communication
If the family member or friend is somewhat distant and not expected to be heavily involved in your foster child’s life, then you may choose to refrain from offering the background story on the child. If you plan to have a person around the child regularly, it is important for them to understand the foster child on a deeper level. Share any past traumas or triggers the foster child may have before interaction takes place.
Surviving The Holidays
Depending on your foster child’s background, the holiday season may be magical, or it may bring bad memories. Feel out your foster child’s feelings toward large family events before making concrete plans. Remind family and friends that your foster child will be included in the festivities. You may want to keep family events more intimate this year depending on your foster child’s experience with the holidays. Try your best to include your foster child, while also making sure to respect their boundaries.
Encouraging Your Foster Child To Make Friends
If your friend or family member has children around the same age as your foster child, you may find a good opportunity for your foster child to make new friends. Encouraging them to form healthy friendships is a great opportunity for them to learn how proper relationships work.
Explaining your decision to foster to extended family and friends is an important step in the fostering process. Give both parties plenty of time to learn about one another before planning an interaction, and then invite those who support your decision to be a part of journey.
Every child needs and deserves to grow up safe and protected from abuse and neglect, and caring foster parents offer children support and stability when they need it most. At Camelot Care Centers, we specialize in higher-level foster care for children and adolescents that need extra support. We partner with our foster parents/homes to provide trauma informed care and additional services, including in-home counseling, parent support and training, tele-psychiatry, and therapeutic mentoring, to maintain children at the least restrictive, yet most appropriate level of care. Camelot Care Centers (“Camelot”) is a Child Welfare Agency licensed by the State of Illinois, a member of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY), and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA).
