May is National Foster Care Month. And it’s a great idea for Foster Parents to plan a party with Birth (Biological) Parents of the foster child. This can work wonders for foster kids where reunification is a possibility. Reunification is a core goal of the 2022 National Foster Care Month.
Everyone loves planning a party and here are some tips!
This post explains why good working relations between foster parents and biological parents can help the foster child.
Foster Kids feel worse when foster parents don’t get along with birth parents
A Dutch study from 2016 by Anne M. Maaskant, Floor B. van Rooij, Henny MW Bos, and Jo MA Hermanns in Journal of Social Work Practice suggests that if the foster child guesses that their birth parents and foster parents don’t get along, they feel worse. The Dutch people (Country : Netherlands also Holland) are considered some of the happiest people in the world. You can be sure if they report negative feelings for the foster kid – you can expect the same in the US.
Dr. John DeGarmo of the Foster Care Institute in Georgia explains this wonderfully:
Better foster parent to birth parent contact can improve child behavior
A recent 2022 study in the US by Lenore M. McWey, Ming Cui, and Armeda Stevenson Wojciak in Journal of Social Work Practice, finds that externalizing behavior (“acting out” i.e. aggression, delinquency, and hyperactivity) reduces when foster youth has more contact with the biological family.
To summarize: during this National Foster Care Month everyone involved in foster care should encourage contact between foster parents and birth parents. Even if reunification is not possible the foster child will be happier and you should see a reduction in externalizing behavior.