Author: StratoServe
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On Netflix- a foster care angle: Chris Rock & Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway
After a productive May National Foster Care Month we thought we would share two recent shows on Netflix to appreciate some of the perspectives of the general public on the foster care system. In case you missed them, both are worth a watch. Some summer fun and maybe something to think about.
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What is the racial composition of foster kids compared to population in the US?
in Administration for Children and Families, Child Poverty, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Children’s Bureau, Foster Care, Foster Care Agencies, Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), Foster Parent Recruiting, Kinship care, May is Foster Care Month, Mother’s Day, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesThe highlighted categories in the table above are racial demographics overrepresented in the foster kid population. This signals that there needs to be a change in how foster care is managed. Fortunately, the Social Work community and all US States (that we have spoken to) generally agree on solution steps like reducing child poverty, emphasizing…
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How many kids in Foster Care in the US- Top ten states
As we celebrate 2023 May National Foster Care month, here is the latest publicly available data. In 2021, an estimated 391,098 children were in foster care in the United States. This number has been steadily declining in recent years, but there is still a significant number of children living without a permanent home. See AFCARS…
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Today is Giving Tuesday!
Today is Giving Tuesday in the US and start of the Holiday Giving Season. If you think about it the entire community of professionals i.e. social workers and foster parents are “giving” people – throughout the year and not just on Giving TuesdayWe salute the entire Foster Care Community for the great work they do…
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Therapeutic vs. Traditional foster care
Broadly there are two categories of foster kids. Traditional Foster Care involves caring for children who are “normal” kids not dis-similar to kids from a regular biological household in terms of behavioral issues. Therapeutic (or Treatment) foster kids are kids that need a higher level of care and attention to help resolve the trauma that…
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National Foster Care Month: Can neighbors be like kin?
May is National Foster Care Month. And this year the focus is on kinship care and reunion with bio families (biological or birth families) where possible. Kinship This post explores the idea that neighbors can be considered as kin for the purposes of “keeping families together.”
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Why plan a party: May is National Foster Care Month
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.
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Who says “I love you ” on Mother’s Day?
Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May coincides with the National Foster Care Month. This year it is on Sunday May 8, 2022. So it’s timely to think of ways how everyone can celebrate Mother’s Day in the Foster Care ecosystem by saying “I love you.” But first some background.
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Kinship Foster Care: Why Culture is important
We are delighted to celebrate the first anniversary of StartFosterCare.org and the May 2022 National Foster Care month. Kinship connections and stronger families is a focus of this year’s foster care month.See the Children’s Bureau and Child Welfare Information Gateway website.In this post we explain why culture is important to the foster child.
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Why Foster Parent Training ?
The foster parent recruitment process involves compulsory foster parent training. It is after training that a foster parent becomes a licensed foster parent in a US state. This is an important professional credential for us at StartFosterCare.org. As social work/foster care professionals always explain at StartFosterCare meetings, there are different levels of needs of foster…