Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care
Are you thinking about adopting or fostering a child? Confused about all the options and wondering where to begin? Or are you an adoptive or foster parent or kinship caregiver trying to be the best parent possible to this precious child? This is the podcast for you! Every week, we interview leading experts for an hour, discussing the topics you care about in deciding whether to adopt/foster or how to be a better parent. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are the 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, and resource pages on all aspects of family building at our website, CreatingaFamily.org. We also have an active presence on many social media platforms. Please like or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
Episodes
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Question: I’m in the process of adopting an infant and feeling overwhelmed by the paperwork. How do I get my child’s birth certificate and Social Security number after the adoption is finalized? What steps do I need to take, what documents are required, and how does this vary by state?
Resources:
- Where to Write for Vital Records: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health ...
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Are you considering residential treatment for your adopted child? We speak with Daniel Hochstetler of Fair Play Camp in South Carolina about preparing our families for residential treatment, navigating the programs, and how to set our families up for success after treatment.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Pursuing residential treatment is one of the hardest decisions adoptive families can face. Bas...
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Question: The school thinks my foster son may have ADHD, but I know he’s been through a lot of trauma. How do I know what’s driving his behavior and how to advocate for the support he actually needs?
Resources:
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What if families had support before a crisis led to foster care? In this episode, we talk with Dr. David Anderson, psychologist and founder and executive director of SAFE Families for Children, about a community-based model that helps keep children safe while supporting parents through difficult seasons. Dr. Anderson also serves as Executive Director of Lydia Home Association in Chicago and has been re...
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Question: We are seriously considering becoming foster parents. We have 2 children by birth, and I am really worried about how this will affect them and what I can do to prevent some of the negative effects.
Resources:
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Foster families are doing significant work to support both the children in their homes and the parents of those kids. What do they need to thrive in this work? We talk with Cathleen Bearse, a licensed therapist, foster mom, and the creator of Fearless Fostering. She supports foster and adoptive parents with practical tools, emotional guidance, and trauma-informed strategies with her real-life experienc...
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Question: I’m new to raising my grandchild and still learning about trauma. People keep saying it changes a child’s brain, but I don’t really understand what that means. What does trauma actually do to the brain, and how does that show up in behavior at home or school?
Resources:
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Have you considered fostering? What might be holding you back? Join us for a conversation with Laura, the Foster Parent Partner, to explore what it takes to be ready to foster, what the licensing and placement process looks like, and how to navigate relationships with the child's birth parents while providing a safe place for the child to land. Laura is the author of First Time Fostering and bring...
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Question: How do I delicately share information about my child’s birth parent with my child, when we know their biological parent has a long history of arrest? They are not a safe adult for my child to maintain a relationship with. Our family is struggling with how to balance the message that the adoption plan was made out of love for the child and not wanting to cast a negative message about the child...
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Join us for this interview with former NFL Running Back and Super Bowl Champion Ricky Watters. He is an adoptee, an adoptive dad, and author of a new children’s book on adoption, A Gift Called Shane.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How old were you when you learned you were adopted and how did you find out?
- When you discovered you were adopted, you mentioned in your NFL movie that it put a big chip on yo...
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Question: I’m an intern therapist working with kids involved in DHS and the foster system. Could you guys talk about what a kid in the system needs from therapy? Or like what helped them, what didn’t, what they needed in that space that their therapist didn’t provide?
Resources:
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Could you use a few new strategies to help your child improve misbehavior? Listen to this conversation with Dr. Casey Call, the Associate Director of Education at the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU and Associate Professor of Professional Practice in the TCU Department of Psychology. She will help us understand how to maintain connection while correcting challenging behaviors.
In this...
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Question: My 2nd grader, adopted domestically, has some pretty big, hard behaviors, like tantrums, clingy whining, and difficulty cooperating or sharing. We know there was prenatal substance exposure. I feel stuck to help them with their big feelings and big behaviors — what do I do to help them day to day?
Resources:
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Join us for a conversation about why men in foster and kinship care matter - to the family unit, to the system, and most importantly, to the kids. Our guest is Tony Craddock, a Prevention Social Worker in Wake County, NC, with more than 25 years of experience supporting families. For the past decade, he has engaged kinship families and fathers through his co‑facilitation of the Kinship In Action Suppor...
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Question: I love my child so much, but lately I feel emotionally worn down and shut down in my parenting. Someone mentioned they recently learned about blocked care, and now I’m wondering if that's what’s happening. What is blocked care, and what can a parent do about it?
Resources:
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Are you raising a child with known or suspected prenatal opioid exposure? Understanding the impacts and how to parent them will help you set your child up to thrive! We are joined by Lenette Serlo, an adoptive mom of four children impacted by prenatal substance exposure and the founder of Generation O, a nonprofit focused on creating understanding and support for children with prenatal opioid exposure ...
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Question: Should I tell my nephew that by the time he turns 18, he has to be in school and passing his classes, or have a job, to continue living with us? He will turn 18 at the end of this school year and will inherit a small amount of money that could get him started. He is currently in school, and he doesn’t have a job or any interest in getting one. Anytime someone asks him about his goals or futur...
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Helping young adults in foster or kinship care transition toward adulthood can feel overwhelming for foster parents and relative caregivers. Join us today for a conversation with Vernell Gore of Youth Villages and Nick Sgarlata of Bridge to Brighter, for practical ways to prepare and equip your foster or kin youth for adulthood.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What makes this stage of life uniquely chal...
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A Lifebook is the story of how your child came to be yours and the story of his life before he came to you. Adoption is only one aspect of your child, and at some point, his life merges into your life. However, he had a life before he came to your family, and his Lifebook tells this part of his story.
Resources:
- Adoption Lifebooks (Suggested Books)
- Welcoming an Older Child to Your Home (Resource Page)
- ...
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Raising kids impacted by adoption, foster care, or kinship care can do a number on your marriage or life partnership. Join us for a conversation with Jeremy & Jara Walden, authors of The Heart Work of Foster Care: A Hopeful and Honest Guide to Foster Parenting, about strategies to re-prioritize and strengthen your most significant relationship.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How can raising kids to...
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