Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.

Are you a professional working with kinship caregivers? You need to listen to this interview with Dr. Tyreasa Washington, is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar specializing in kinship care families (e.g., grandparents raising grandchildren). She is a Distinguished Senior Scholar for Child Welfare at Child Trends, the leading research organization in the United States focused solely on improving the lives of children, youth, and families.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Advantages of keeping children with extended family when their parents are not able to raise them.
• How do kids who are raised temporarily or permanently by relatives fare compared to kids placed with unknown foster parents?
• One of the biggest questions we receive from professionals is how to engage kinship caregivers. They tell us that they set up programs to support kinship caregivers, but few show up. This seems universal. Why does this happen?
• We also hear about institutional trauma-(law enforcement struggles/foster care system struggles- leads to lack of trust--not feeling safe in their community, not trusting DSS.) How does this impact kinship caregivers? How does it impact those of us trying to serve them?
• What types of support are the most helpful?
• What are some cultural differences you've observed in Black relatives raising children within the family, and how do these differences impact how professionals interact with kin raising children?
• What have you found in your research on the impact of caregiving on the health of kinship caregivers?
• Need for training for kinship caregivers.
• How can professionals support self-care with folks who are so busy just getting by?

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.

Question: How can prospective parents manage their thoughts and emotions while waiting to be matched with a child (especially in cases where the waiting period is a long one)?

Resources:

• Suggested Books for Adoption
• Coping Mechanisms for the Waiting (Article)
• Creating a Family Online Support Group

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Click here to send us a topic idea or question for Weekend Wisdom.

Are you considering adopting from foster care or becoming a foster parent? Join us to discuss this topic with Dr. Lindsay Terrell, a pediatrician and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center, as well as the Clinical Director of their Foster Care Clinic. She and her husband are licensed foster parents.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The common risk factors that foster parents and those wanting to adopt from foster care need to be aware of include physical, emotional, developmental, educational, and behavioral problems rooted in childhood adversity and trauma.
• What types of trauma are foster kids exposed to?
• What percentage of children in foster care have been exposed to drugs or alcohol prenatally? Creating a Family’s Prenatal Substance Exposure Workshop for Parents
• Impact of trauma on physical health.
  • Foster parents and caseworkers often have little information about prior health history.
• Other common physical health issues that are common in kids in foster care that are not necessarily connected to trauma.
• Impact of trauma on mental health.
  • Those areas of the brain most affected by trauma, especially early trauma, are those involved in stress response, emotional regulation, attention, cognition, executive function, and memory.
  • What types of behaviors are common as a result of trauma?
• Medication and over-medication of foster children and youth.
  • Research has found that the average number of psychiatric diagnoses and psychotropic medications prescribed were significantly greater for youth and children in foster care.
  • Children in foster care are likely to be kept on them longer than other Medicaid-enrolled children who are not in foster care.
  • What are psychotropic drugs, and why are they so often prescribed for children in foster care?
• Who has the authority to make healthcare decisions for foster children and youth?
• Sleep issues common to children in foster care.
• Food issues common to children in foster care.
• Impact of trauma on a foster child’s education.
  • Children in foster care need educational advocates.
• Risk factors to consider for children already in the home.
• Children can heal, and foster parents can make a difference!

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building