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Image from UnsplashCan You Adopt Directly Through Foster Care or Do You Have to Foster First?The answer is yes and only on paper. While foster care exists as a temporary place for children to be safe, not all children in the system go back to their biological families. People, like me, adopted directly through foster care and there are still thousands of children waiting for more people to do the same for them.We Need Adoptive ...

Image from PixabayHow Can I Help? Ways to Get Involved in Foster CareAdopting is a huge responsibility. Not only are adoptive families responsible for their foster child, but they also have the task of ensuring that their new member of the family has the happy and healthy life that they deserve. However, many believe that the only way to help children in need is to adopt, and this is far from the truth. There are ...

Image from PixabayThank You, Free Geek!What do e-waste and the Digital Divide have in common? Free Geek!Free Geek is a nonprofit organization that has a goal of addressing both of these issues through the reuse and recycling of donated tech. A Family for Every Child has been a recipient of their technology donations, and we would like to thank them for their generosity.What is Free Geek?Based in Portland, Free Geek is a nonprofit that refurbishes ...

Image from UnsplashHow to Normalize Talking About Your Family's Adoption Story Within the Family and in the CommunityTalking about your own or your adopted child’s adoption story at home and with family and friends can feel a bit taboo. Is it okay? How do you broach the topic?Start at HomeIn some circles, adoption is kept a secret from the child adopted. But when you adopt children through the foster care system it is pretty rare ...

Photo by Chris Benson on UnsplashWaiting Children: Who They Are and How You Can HelpMaybe you know there are 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system. But did you know 115,000 of these children are considered “waiting children”?Who are waiting children?Most often you’ve heard “waiting children” called “foster children” because they are currently in foster care. However, waiting children are children who will not be returning to their biological families. In fact, waiting children ...

Photo by Paige Cody on UnsplashHow to Prepare Your Home for the Arrival of a New Foster ChildGetting the news that a new foster child is going to enter your home is always exciting. It gives you an incredible opportunity to have a powerful impact on that child’s life. That starts by making them feel as “at home” as possible. If you’ve never had a foster child in your home before, the task of preparing your home can feel ...

Helping Older Foster Children Gain Job SkillsParenting older children is difficult. During adolescence, teenagers’ brains struggle to self-regulate as they experience greater highs and deeper lows. At the same time, your child faces more environmental stress as they make major life decisions while moving through periods of great physical change.Helping your teenager regain a sense of control during this stressful period is important. One way to help them navigate this combination of hormonal fluctuation and ...

How to Model Emotional Intelligence for ChildrenEvery parent or caregiver wants their child to grow up healthy, happy, and successful. And in trying to bring that all-important goal to fruition, we tend to focus heavily on education, equipping kids with the knowledge and skills they need to build a secure, stable, and prosperous life. But raising healthy and successful children is about far more than cultivating their intelligence quotient (IQ). It’s also about nurturing their ...

How Foster Parents Can Help Ease Mental Health StrugglesThere is nothing better you can do with your life than to open your home and your heart to a child in need. But doing so is both a profound gift and a profound responsibility. No matter what your child’s experience, whether it is the death of a biological parent or a court-mandated removal from the birth home, your foster child will inevitably have experienced trauma. And that ...

How to Help Your Foster Kids Pass Their Developmental Stages With Flying ColorsAccording to ego psychologist Erik Erikson, all people go through eight specific stages of development. These psychosocial development stages help to determine self-actualization later in life. As you might expect, healthily going through those stages is important for all children. For foster children, however, it becomes even more imperative. Foster kids have often gone through traumatic experiences or may not have experienced a real ...