In our dynamic Foster Parent S.Y.S.T.E.M (Successful Youth Services Training Every Month) we hope to not only just show you the basics of becoming a foster parent, but how to do it well and wise! How do we do this? By having ACTUAL foster parents teach & lead you through the passage into not only becoming a foster parent, but becoming a great foster parent! We are so excited to present our team of contributors to share with you their expertise and experiences to better serve you on the front line! We strive to equip new foster parents AND veteran foster parents to keep a strong, life giving foster home for years to come!

As a couple we have been doing fostercare since 2005. We look forward to getting to know and interact with you more in the future, as well as share more about our experiences and story of being foster parent. Although we have learned much over the years and have been helped in many ways by many great people, the biggest thing we noticed missing was training and support for current or prospective foster parents ? by actual foster parents themselves who are ?in the field? day to day. That is what this site is all about!

Becoming A Foster Parent

Becoming a foster parent is something that should be considered with great care. In today?s tumultuous society, the needs are becoming greater and greater. There are children tossed aside like trash and who will pick them up? Who will train them into the contributing members of society we so need to slow the cycle? How can we whine about the criminal justice system ?not working? or being ?too expensive? when we refuse to address the systemic cause of crime? It is clear through hundreds of studies that child abuse, neglect, lack of love, family deterioration, introverted communities and lack of societal value on early interventions- start the #1 cause of addictions, crime and incarceration. Crime is something we all pay for as citizens no matter how high up or removed we may be from such travesties.

I chose becoming a foster parent because…

After many years of working with the incarcerated we felt compelled to do more. It seemed that at the core of EVERY single inmate?s story was some child hood abuse or trauma. Even when we look around at global issues we see grave injustices against children and the effects it has on society. In America there are attitudes of just sucking it up and not being a cry baby. Children are emotionally neglected while parents stuff their issues with booze and or detachment- those are kids that rarely meet the criteria for foster care though they don?t escape unwounded. Then there are the severe cases of outright assault on children by parents that will sell their little bodies to get high, leave them for weeks at a time w/ no food and even start up Meth houses (Bio hazard zones deemed by health authorities to be condemned) to make a buck- meanwhile a toddler crawls on the floor. Literally?

Not every child in foster care should have to be in the system but not all kids who should be in foster care are. Sadly there are many left behind as the system and its resources are smaller than the problem. Case management has to return kids to still inept parents gambling that things will be better than before. Kids slip through the cracks and some have ended up re traumatized or even murdered because of this. Unfortunately a situation like that was experienced with a niece of a teen I cared for. No one followed up, there wasn?t enough hard ?evidence?, the system blew it by ignoring the obvious and a little girl was murdered by her mom?s boyfriend- just a year after an initial report with the Department of Human Services (DHS). Who was advocating for her?

If you’ve been considering becoming a foster parent

 
If any of these things rock you at your core and you?ve been considering becoming a foster parent then I encourage you to read on. It?s a bit ideal to believe that just because you care about kids being abused that you should be a foster parent. There are specific questions you will need to have answered to be able to see if you can handle the tough job of becoming a foster parent. It?s a very underpaid, under appreciated, over-worked type of assignment, but the rewards are also very high. I wish I could say all these kids need is ?love? but sadly they need a lot more than just our definition of love. These kids have to actually want love, accept love, know what love is, and be willing to let you love them first BEFORE any of your ?love? can work. That process is exhausting and a load of work that requires time and training. Making it through long enough to get to the l.o.v.e. part of foster parenting is where so many people ?quit? or drop out of the race. This is the hole we hope to fill, the bridge we want to gap, and provide you with the fuel to keep on going!

Enter your name in the form above to be directed to our main site. You will also receive the 3-part audio series “Sequential” for free ($37 value). Once at our main site, you will also find TONS of other helpful articles, videos, templates, and other community resources.