Foster the Family


Book Description

There are great rewards that come along with being a foster parent, yet there are also great challenges that can leave you feeling depleted, alone, and discouraged. The many burdens of a foster parent's day--hurting children, struggling biological parents, and a broken system--are only compounded by the many burdens of a foster parent's heart--confusion, anxiety, heartache, anger, and fear. With the compassion and insight of a fellow foster parent, Jamie C. Finn helps you see your struggles through the lens of the gospel, bringing biblical truths to bear on your unique everyday realities. In these short, easy-to-read chapters, you'll find honest, personal stories and practical lessons that provide encouragement and direction from God's Word as you walk the journey of foster parenting.




It's Okay to Wonder


Book Description

"I'm excited to be a sister in our foster family, but I'm worried about new rules. I feel happy and sad at the same time. What about when our help isn't needed anymore?" 'It's Okay to Wonder' is a story about Avery, a loquacious girl whose parents have decided to become foster parents. While Mom and Dad attend another foster training class, Avery shares with her Nana and Pop about her mixed-up feelings. She and her grandparents learn together what it might be like to become a foster family--that it's okay to feel two emotions at the same time and that it's okay to wonder! 'The Joy of Avery' series offers resources for foster care families and brings the world of foster care to life by exploring Avery's feelings as her family welcomes foster children into their home. 'It's Okay to Wonder' is the first book in the series.




No Way to Treat a Child


Book Description

Kids in danger are treated instrumentally to promote the rehabilitation of their parents, the welfare of their communities, and the social justice of their race and tribe—all with the inevitable result that their most precious developmental years are lost in bureaucratic and judicial red tape. It is time to stop letting efforts to fix the child welfare system get derailed by activists who are concerned with race-matching, blood ties, and the abstract demands of social justice, and start asking the most important question: Where are the emotionally and financially stable, loving, and permanent homes where these kids can thrive? “Naomi Riley’s book reveals the extent to which abused and abandoned children are often injured by their government rescuers. It is a must-read for those seeking solutions to this national crisis.” —Robert L. Woodson, Sr., civil rights leader and president of the Woodson Center “Everyone interested in child welfare should grapple with Naomi Riley’s powerful evidence that the current system ill-serves the safety and well-being of vulnerable kids.” —Walter Olson, senior fellow, Cato Institute, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies




A Child's Journey Through Placement


Book Description

Originally published: Indianapolis, IN: Perspectives Press, 1991.




The Foster Care Survival Guide:


Book Description

Foster parenting is often seen as a calling and a mission of love. At the same time, foster parenting can be both very difficult and exhausting. When caring for children who have suffered abuse, neglect, and traumas, foster parents face their own set of unique challenges each day. The Foster Care Survival Guide is a must have for today’s foster parents. It is a guide to surviving the lifestyle of a foster parent filled with personal stories, practical tips and advice, and even humor and emotions, The Foster Care Survival Guide is an essential guide for both novice and experienced foster parents. Leading foster care expert Dr. John DeGarmo combines his own wisdom with that of fellow foster parents. Tackling issues such as helping children with disorders and anxieties, how to best manage the lifestyle of a foster parent, working with birth parents, getting the help you need, addressing your own marriage while caring for children in need, and balancing the needs of your biological children with your foster children, The Foster Care Survival Guide delivers experienced and sympathetic wisdom and advice that every foster parent, advocate, and professional needs today as they care for children in care.




A Guide to Magical Creatures Around Your Home


Book Description

RECOVER WHAT TRAUMA HAS STOLEN FROM YOUR CHILD Children from traumatic backgrounds (including foster and adoptive children) have often been asked to give up pretend, play, and childhood in order to survive in an adult world. This is unfortunate as we tend to learn crucial lessons about the world and ourselves within the confines of childhood play. While children might be removed from the cause of chronic trauma, the concept of play will not come naturally for them. This book (along with the complimentary parent activity guide) will help you and your child to discover a world of pretend where your child can also conquer issues in relationship.




A Different Home


Book Description

A sensitive picture book to help ease the anxieties of foster children aged 4 to 10 entering placement. In A Different Home, Jessie tells us her story of being placed in foster care. At first she is worried and has lots of questions. The new home is not like her old home -- she has a different bedroom, different clothes, and there's different food for breakfast. She also misses her family. When Jim and Debbie, her foster parents, answer her questions she begins to feel better and see that this different home is kind of nice. Written in simple language and fully illustrated in color, this storybook is designed to help children in care, or moving into care, to settle in and answer some of the questions they may have. Accompanied by notes for adults on how to use the story with children, it will be a useful book for foster parents and caseworkers, as well as social workers, teachers and anyone else working with children in foster care.




Engaging Adolescents


Book Description

Parenting teenagers can be tricky at the best of times. But when the tough issues arise - behavioural problems, unacceptable risk-taking, bullying, alcohol abuse - things can get extremely difficult and parents can struggle with what to do. Drawing on psychologist Michael Hawton's 30 years of experience, Engaging Adolescents is a practical guide to help you steer your teenager through the challenging times with confidence. The book covers the following areas: teenagers and what helps them develop personal control; how to sort out behaviour so you don't over react; what we can learn from watching professionals who manage emergencies; and, proven, practical methods for managing tempestuous teenagers. Using case studies and based on universally-accepted mediation principles, this is a highly practical, skills-based book that gives you the tools to resolve conflict and build better family relationships. Engaging Adolescents offers a clear, method-based approach to ease the distress of parents experiencing difficulties with their teenagers' behaviour.




Beyond the Best Interests of the Child


Book Description

Three distinguished authorities in law, psychiatry, and child development critically evaluate current child placement laws.




Attachment and Separation


Book Description