Aug 30, 2022 | Adoption Resources
We previously wrote about things to consider when you’re transitioning a child to your home as a pre-adoptive placement. But, there’s also another perspective on transitions – when you’re transitioning a child from your home into what will be their adoptive family. That process can bring with it as many questions as if you’re bringing a child into your family, but sometimes, the families who have been fostering the child don’t get as much attention or support because they’re “just” foster parents.
Aug 19, 2022 | Adoption Resources, Indiana Adoption Program
The transition from summer to school isn’t easy for most kids (who really wants to say goodbye to summer?!), but for children who have experienced trauma, this transition can be especially fraught. As a parent, you’ve probably got some anxieties about your child’s ability to transition back into a school setting. We’d like to offer some tools to navigate this transition and advocate for adoption sensitivity.
Jun 16, 2022 | Adoption Resources
National Reunification Month may not seem like a perfect fit for a program that’s designed to find adoptive families for children who can’t be reunified with their birth parents. But foster care, adoption, kinship care, reunification…they all have the same end goal: to ensure that children grow up in safe, loving, stable families. The specifics of how we reach that end goal might vary a little, but we’re all heading in the same direction.
May 12, 2022 | Adoption Resources
You’ve completed your home study, aced that training, and been matched with a child! You can’t wait to shower your new family member with love, gifts, and attention. And since that child has been waiting for a family, they will readily embrace all your affection and voila! Instant family, right? Of course not. Although families are often eager to speed through transition periods, kids may have mixed emotions that they don’t know how to process. Embracing change can take time, which is why a transition plan is key.
Apr 29, 2022 | Adoption Resources, Indiana Adoption Program
If you follow our blog, then earlier this month you already learned about what autism is and how it can be different for each person. Even if you don’t feel like an expert yet, that’s okay! You don’t need to know the ins and outs of the neurological disorder to be a good parent. You just need to know how to advocate for your child and find the best resources for them. And in case you don’t have an arsenal of resources yet, we put some together for you!
Apr 18, 2022 | Adoption Resources, Indiana Adoption Program
How much do you really know about autism? Maybe what you know is based on prime-time dramas, a news article here or there, or some posts from a Facebook group. But how can you be sure that what you know is accurate? If you’re contemplating whether your family could be a good fit for a child with autism, don’t let uncertainty scare you away. This blog will go over the basics of what to expect when parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder.
Mar 31, 2022 | Adoption Resources, Teen Adoption
Ask anyone who’s raised children through the teenage years, and they’ll tell you, parenting a teen is not for the faint of heart! Maybe you have a pre-adoptive placement who has just entered adolescence and you’re finding it challenging to connect with them. Or maybe you’ve just been matched with a teenager who is about to move into your home and you’re panicking about how to relate to them. You are not alone! We’ve put together some tips on how to make the teen years a little more enjoyable (or at least a little less daunting) for everyone involved.
Jan 12, 2022 | Adoption Resources, Teen Adoption
For teens in foster care, turning 18 offers a very different reality. They don’t have that safe place to call home. The home most of us can go to when things get hard, or family to call when we need advice. While nothing compares to the forever family every youth deserves, there are resources in place for Indiana teens at risk of “aging out” of foster care.
Aug 24, 2021 | Adoption Resources
It’s that time of year: first day of school pictures are flooding social media and children everywhere are returning to the classroom. For a parent of an adopted child, your excitement might be matched with a little anxiety. Navigating the challenges can be hard, so we put together some tips to help you head into this school year prepared and excited to watch your child grow!
Jun 29, 2021 | Adoption Resources, Indiana Adoption Program
Often, birth parents and foster parents feel as though they’re put in an adversarial position, instead of being encouraged to work together. But in the best scenarios, foster parents serve as a strong source of support for birth parents, and birth parents learn to trust foster families as part of their team. To celebrate Reunification Month, we put together some ways that foster parents can work with birth parents toward reunification!
May 18, 2021 | Adoption Resources, Teen Adoption
Last week, we wrote briefly about brain development and identity formation as they relate to parenting adopted teens. This week, we’re tackling another big topic that may be familiar to a lot of you already: parenting a teen who is nearing adulthood. Chances...
May 12, 2021 | Adoption Resources, Teen Adoption
In many ways, parenting an adopted teenager is no different than parenting a biological teen. There are also some key differences, though. In this post, we look at two elements of parenting adopted teens: brain development and identity.
Nov 18, 2020 | Adoption Resources, National Adoption Month, Teen Adoption
While we focus on celebrating adoption during National Adoption Month, it’s also important to hear what young people in foster care are saying about what they need in a family, what they want, what’s most important to them. Encouraging youth to have a voice in their permanency planning is empowering and keeps the focus where it should be: on what is in the child’s best interests.
Sep 22, 2020 | Adoption Resources, Feature Families
Ann and Rhande had decades of expertise in child welfare, but that didn’t mean they had all the answers when they became foster and adoptive moms. Through their lived experience adopting two daughters, Ann and Rhande learned things they thought they already knew, which was critical to their parenting success.
Aug 7, 2020 | Adoption Resources
Care communities are groups of 6-8 volunteers from local churches who come alongside foster and adoptive families to provide practical, emotional and spiritual support. Each team “wraps around” the family to provide them the support that they need. For some, this may be homework help or running errands. For others, it could be mentoring a foster child or spending time listening to an overwhelmed parent.
