Being trauma informed is crucial if you are engaging with foster care. Learn who is impacted by trauma and how to view behaviors.
Nothing prepared me for fostering teens!! I was given nine weeks of training from the Children's Home Society before taking my first foster child. There was a great deal of information to digest in a short span of time. It left me with the innocent...
The presence of a single sign does not mean that child maltreatment is occurring in a family. However, it may be necessary to take a closer look at the situation...
My son doesn’t remember being hungry — but his brain does! The trauma from infant neglect can cause lasting impressions in the memory bank of a baby. My son was just 8 months old when he came to live with us. Even in those short months, he had experienced serious neglect that unknown to anyone […]
Short film ReMoved raises awareness about foster care.
Are you looking for helpful resources for adoption and foster care? Here are 50 books about adoption, foster care, and healing child abuse.
When we became were in the process of becoming foster parents, I voraciously read everything I could find about foster children, how to help children who have experienced trauma, and working within the foster care system. While this understanding didn’t prepare me for all the tough realities of the foster care system, I’m so thankfulContinue Reading
As a trauma mama to a traumatized child, I can sometimes feel so overwhelmed and hopeless when experiencing the secondary trauma from my child’s past. {Have you joined our private Facebook community?} At our new church home in the Texas Hill Country, I joined a women’s Bible study based on The Warrior Mom Handbook. For the […]
We see kids all over the place that act wild, hyperactive, and excessively energetic, and we often assume they have ADHD. We need to realize, with great compassion, that the symptoms of ADHD and trauma look very similar.
Foster care is just as much about us pulling a child out of a broken story as it is about us being pulled into one. Every story of abuse, neglect and brokenness dismantles a piece of the dividing wall that once separated their normal from ours and extends the opportunity for both normals to
Middle Grade Gets Real - 25 Titles About Tough Topics that are age-appropriate and a great starting point for discussions at home or at school!
If you bring traumatized children into your home, the traumatic events that they suffered through can take its toll on you, the caregiver, even to the point that you can begin to suffer from secondary traumatic stress (STS). Read more on STS and stress management tips. Secondary traumatic stress occurs when someone is repeatedly exposed,
Whether an evening knock on your front door or an interrupting call, in a heated child custody case, you may deal with a false CPS accusation. Child Protective Services is a great and necessary organization that investigates reports of abuse and neglect of children; provides services to children and families; places children in foster care;
Resources for policymakers, practitioners and communities working to mitigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences, and help every child have a healthy start in life.
Trauma histories can have lasting impacts on a child, this can be especially notable during a trauma anniversary.
Parenting a child with a trauma history is hard. Incredibly hard. But unless you are in the inner circle of the parents, you likely have NO IDEA just how difficult our days can be, though that's no fault of yours.
Jaw-Dropping Film Will Change The Way You Feel About Foster Care
PEORIA, AZ – Johann and Kimery Jorg have been accused of abusing two of their oldest, adopted daughters – subjecting them to a laundry list of cruel and unusual punishments. The couple have fostered and then adopted four girls – ages 7 to 13 – over the last five years, but have had some disciplinary issues with two of the oldest. When no form of punishment seemed to keep the two in line, the couple visited a behavioral health facility. It was there that the couple described the issues they have been having with the two girls lying and stealing, and the punishments they have doled out in order to correct them. These punishments included making the older girl live in the backyard naked. “The 13-year-old daughter was put in the backyard in what they call ‘deep prison,'” Peoria police spokeswoman Amanda Jacinto said. “She would live in the backyard. She would be forced to wear a diaper or sometimes not even a diaper. They would have bathroom facilities out there that involved a bucket. She would live out of a tent.” Other punishments included running for an hour or more barefoot in the heat, getting swatted with a wooden paddle and shaving off the 13-year-old’s hair. The older girl admitted she had stolen some food because she was hungry. Her actions seem to be warranted as she stood nearly 5-feet tall and weighed only 61 pounds. Staff at the facility listened to the couple before calling CPS who then called police. When police went to the couple’s home, they found Post-it notes all over the kitchen reminding the couple of punishments that still needed to be doled out to the girls. According to court documents, Kimery Jorg explained that the girls have so many punishments she often can’t get through them all so she writes the notes to remind herself of the remaining punishments the girls “owe” her. The Jorgs were arrested and charged with four counts of child abuse and are being held on $100,000 bond each. “When we brought them in, they again stood by the fact that this was in the best interest of the girls,” Jacinto said. All four girls were removed from the couple’s home and placed in protective custody. The 13-year-old remains in the hospital due to severe malnutrition.
We recently got an external hard drive for our computer. I’ve had the wonderful task of going through all our CD’s and up loading them onto the hard drive. As I’ve gone through all these CD’s with pictures and documents I found some I totally forgot about. I was notorious about typing up all the info and incidences that happened with Ben, Madison and Isaac! It was crazy going back and reading what I wrote. I was a slacker with Emma and Joey. Well, I guess I did have a list of things going on with Emma for the first month. Things like when she had nightmares, when she had visits, how the visits went, how she acted afterwards, if mom didn’t show and so on. With Chandler I’m recording everything. He had a weird rash like dry spot, who knows, on his hand, so I took a picture. I made a list of areas of concern along with things he can do. When I sat down with the caseworker, even after I had made my list, he asked for concerns, my mind went blank…. What are they again? List and records come in really handy!
Our home is a dual-licensed foster home meaning that we are licensed for both foster care and adoption; however, we are currently only open for legal risk placements. This week, our foster home worker sent us these FAQs on legal risk placements. Does this answer your questions or create more? LEGAL RISK PLACEMENTS Some Questions
SPECIAL MAY NATIONAL FOSTER CARE MONTH LIMITED DESIGN BY ARTIST ANNIKA MAREK-BARTA Annika Marek-Barta is a freelance graphic designer and photographer who is also a former foster youth and adult adoptee. Her heart is to advocate for the foster care and adoption realms and to see seats added to tables as the lonely are
Here are some sad facts about our foster children and the foster care system. How many foster children are there? How long do they stay in foster care? Who are they staying with? What race or sex are foster kids?
Before becoming a parent, a person should understand the four attachment parenting types. Specifically, foster parents should study the disorganized attachment style. Why? Because 80% of abused children come from a home with a disorganized attachment style - an attachment based on FEAR. (Parenting from the Inside Out by Dan Siegel) How is Disorganized Attachment Developed?
Today I wanted to stop by and share something that’s been on my heart for a few months and I finally feel like I have the words to say! As […]
The National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) / Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Association for Children, together with state and local member programs, supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy so every child who has experienced abuse or neglect can be safe, have a permanent home, and the opportunity to thrive. National CASA/GAL Association
There are more than 500,000 children in foster care in the United States and nearly 30,000 young people “age out” of the foster care system each year. Aging out increases the risk of poverty, unemployment, poor education, early pregnancy, substance abuse, and future incarceration, but there is hope. Pro bono attorneys can help these young […]
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Does even adoption from birth affect children's development? This post highlights the many ways that adopted children might suffer in utero.
We met her for the first time in a downtown courtroom - the same place we would see her for the last time nearly one year later. Although we most likely will never know her beyond that, a piece of her will always be a part of us - literally. It was the first court hearing since her
The Foster Care Crisis: The Shortage of Foster Parents in America
