Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care

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Have mealtimes become a battleground in your house, is your child a picky eater, or do you have a child who eats too much? We provide lots of tips in our conversations with Dr. Katja Rowell, a family doctor and author of Love Me, Feed Me, 2nd edition, and Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating. She has a special interest in supporting foster and adoptive parents.

In this episode, we cover:

• What are some of the typical food issues for adopted or foster kids, especially those who have experienced trauma?
• How does trauma impact feeding?
• Responsive eating leaves space to recognize what the body needs.
• What do you mean by felt safety and focusing on connection?
• What is a responsive and flexible framework for feeding kids with brain-based differences?
• How to best deal with kids who are significantly underweight.
• How to best handle extreme pickiness.
• How to handle children who are eating too much, emotional eaters, or who are overweight.
• Why do kids from foster care or institutional settings often become larger than optimal for their health?
• Practical tips for establishing healthy eating patterns in adopted or foster kids
  • modified family style serving
  • supporting nutrition
  • sensory support at mealtimes
  • food “exposure” therapy

Additional Resources:

• Love Me, Feed Me
• Blog: Parents on dessert with dinner
• Follow Dr. Rowell on Instagram

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

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Are you planning on claiming the Adoption Tax Credit when you file your taxes this year? If so, this is the podcast for you! We talk with two of the top experts in the US on the Adoption Tax Credit: Becky Wilmoth, an Enrolled Agent and Adoption Tax Credit Specialist with Bill’s Tax Service, and Josh Kroll, the Adoption Subsidy Resource Center coordinator at the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC).

In this episode, we cover:

• What is the Adoption Tax Credit for adoption being claimed on 2022 federal taxes?
• How to advocate for refundability?
• What is a “credit” and how does it differ from a deduction or some other form of tax savings?
• If you get a tax refund every year, how would you use the Adoption Tax Credit?
• If you don’t have any federal tax liability, should you still apply the credit to your federal income taxes?
• What types of adoptions are included or excluded? Stepparent adoption? Embryo adoption? Same-sex partner second-parent adoption? Unmarried heterosexual second-parent adoption? Surrogacy?
• Can you get credit for each adoption you complete even if completed in the same year? What about adopting siblings at the same time?
• What is a Qualified Adoption Expense for purposes of the Adoption Tax Credit 2022?
• When can you claim the Adoption Tax Credit?
  • Domestic private adoption
  • International Adoption
  • Re-adoption in the US for international adoption
  • Foster Care Adoption
• How does the Adoption Tax Credit work with kinship adoptions? What if the child never was involved with foster care?
• Special Needs Adoption: How does the Adoption Tax Credit differ for adoptions from foster care? What does the IRS accept as proof of “special needs”?
• $0 subsidy agreement
• Special needs child for international adoption
• Can you reclaim your expenses for an attempted adoption that did not result in a placement? How?
• What income level (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) is excluded from claiming the Adoption Tax Credit in 2022?
• How long can the credit be carried over?
• Are you able to amend the previous year's tax return to claim the adoption tax credit? Is the adoption tax credit something you can amend, and if so, how do you amend and how many years back?
• Will the Adoption Tax Credit offset self-employment tax?
• How does the Secure Act impact claiming the Adoption Tax Credit for 2022 taxes?
• What should you do if the child’s Social Security Number is not available when you file?
  • Should you use an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN #) if you don’t have the child’s social security number?
• How does the Adoption Tax Credit work in conjunction with employee adoption benefits? For special needs adoption?
• Qualified Birth or Adoption Distribution from Qualified Retirement Plan without penalty. Under Secure Act.
• If you adopt, can you still get the Child Tax Credit?
• What do you need in order to get the Child Tax Credit for your adopted child?
• Do you need to send to the IRS any documentation for the Adoption Tax Credit when you file your taxes? What type of documentation should you keep in your records?
• How to find a tax specialist knowledgeable on the Adoption Tax Credit? https://adoptiontaxcredit.org

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

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Are you thinking about adopting this year? You don't want to miss this discussion of how to adopt and current trends in private infant adoption, foster care adoption, and international adoption. Our guests are Chris Peszka, MSW, Regional and District Supervisor at Adoptions From The Heart Adoption Agency, and Robin Sizemore, Executive Director of Hopscotch Adoptions.

In this episode, we cover: 

• Domestic infant private adoption in the US
  • What is the process?
  • What are the reasons that pregnant moms are placing their child?
  • Open adoption
  • Expectant parent choice
  • Special needs of children available
  • How long does it take? What factors influence this time?
  • How much does it cost? What factors influence this cost?
  • Adoption agency and adoption attorney
  • What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting a baby?
• Adoptions from foster care in the US
  • What is the process?
  • Adopting your foster child
  • Adopting a waiting child
  • What are the reasons that children are available for adoption from foster care in the US?
  • What age and race of child is available for adoption from foster care?
  • Special needs?
  • How long does it take?
  • How much does it cost?
  • What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting from foster care?
• International adoptions to the US
  • What is the process?
  • What type of children are available for adoption from abroad?
  • How long does it take? What factors influence this time?
  • How much does it cost? What factors influence this cost?
  • What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting internationally?
  • What are some of the shifts in adoption in the last 5 or so years?
  • What are some of the changes anticipated for 2023 and beyond?

Additional resources:

• Adoptions in the US: How Many? How Much? How Long?
• Choosing an Adoption Agency or Attorney

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

How do you know when enough is enough? What do you do when infertility treatment and adoption don't end up with you having a child. Join us to talk with Rebecca and Sallyann Majoya, co-authors of the memoir Uncertain Fruit, and Carole LieberWilkins, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist providing individual and couples counseling, as well as psychoeducational consultations, for those moving into alternative paths to parenthood and living child-free.

In this episode, we cover:

• Deciding to live child-free is becoming increasingly common in the US. Research has found that 30 percent of women of childbearing age identifying wanting to live child-free. However, that is not reflective of the people we are speaking to who have likely tried infertility treatment or adoption and it hasn’t worked for them.
• What is the right name: childfree or childless? Are you childfree by choice or childfree not by choice?
• Age is less of a biological cut off point than in the past and that complicates the decision of whether to stop trying to have a child.
• How do people know when it is time to stop trying? What are the signs that it is time to stop. How do you know when enough is enough?
• Is making the decision to live childfree ‘giving up’?
• Are there predictable steps for reaching the decision of when it is time to stop fertility treatment or adoption? 
• Determining when you should stop.
• How to decide to stop?
  • ‘Trying on’ the future
  • Seeking new goal/vision
  • Therapy
• How can “giving up the dream” of children impact a couple’s relationship?
• How to handle when both partners are not on the same page.
• Once you’ve made the decision, should you take steps to not get pregnant? The “not-try-but-not-prevent” approach.
• For many, the decision to live child free not by choice causes grief, but this loss is invisible. It’s hard for others to see or understand, so we mourn without the support of our community.
• What can people do to help themselves resolve the grief of not having kids?
  • Writing a letter to the child you will never know.
  • Giving this dream child a “funeral.” Doing something with the letter that is akin to a funeral. Concrete reminders that the person is gone. 
  • Create a ritual to say goodbye.
  • Writing a memoir. 
  • Create a new life goal. A new vision for your future.

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Are adoptive parents eligible for parental leave? What about foster parents or kinship parents? We talk with Dr. Amy Beacom and Sue Campbell, with the Center for Parental Leave Leadership and co-authors of The Parental Leave Playbook.

In this episode, we cover:

• What are the laws and rules surrounding parental leave in the US?
• Who is eligible for parental leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?
• Parental leave on the company level
• How does parental leave differ from maternity leave paternity leave?
• Policies that require employees to pay back their parental leave if they do not stay employed with the company/organization for a certain period of time. 
• How does this differ from other countries?
• Are the laws/rules different for mothers and fathers? Are they gender neutral?
• Do you receive your salary when you are on parental leave?
• Does parental leave differ for someone adopting a child?
• Are adoptive families are protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?
• Are birth mothers eligible for parental leave?
• Does their have to be a legal relationship between the parent and the child? Does parental leave differ for someone fostering a child? Are you eligible for parental leave with every new foster placement?
• Can kinship caregivers receive parental leave?
• The Parental Leave Playbooklays out a process for approaching parental leave in three phases: preparing for your leave, during leave, and returning from leave.
• What steps should you take to be successful in each phase?

To support the Paid Leave for All Act 

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

We talk with Isaac and Julie Etter, a mom and son, about what they have learned about transracial adoption and what they wish they had known at the beginning. Isaac is the founder of Identity, a startup focused on using technology to help adoptive and foster families thrive. Julie Etter is a mom of five and a humanities teacher.

In this episode, we cover:

• Isaac, tell us your adoption story from your perspective. Why were you placed for adoption? What were the first two years of your life like? Where you were raised?
• Julie, what was your motivation for adopting? Were there other children in the family?
• What was the racial demographics of your community?
• Julie, what were you taught about transracial adoption before you adopted?
• Isaac, how did you identify racially as a young child? When did you start identifying as black?
• Did you experience racism growing up?
• Julie, did you see racism directed towards Isaac as a child?
• Did you tell your parents?
• Julie, what do you wish you had known before you adopted a Black child? Would you have done anything differently?
• Isaac, what do you want transracial adopted parents to know?
• Julie, what advice would you give other parents who have or are considering adopting tranracially?

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

How do some kids survive a life of poverty, homelessness, abuse, and foster and eventually thrive? We talk with David Ambroz is a national poverty and child welfare expert and advocate and the author of the memoir, A Place Called Home.  He was recognized by President Obama as an American Champion of Change. Currently serving as the Head of Community Engagement (West) for Amazon, Ambroz previously led Corporate Social Responsibility for Walt Disney Television, and has served as president of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission as well as a California Child Welfare Council member. After growing up homeless and then in foster care, he graduated from Vassar College and later earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law. He is a foster dad and lives in Los Angeles, CA.

In this episode, we cover:

• Poverty and Homelessness:
  • His story.
  • School
  • What made a difference?
  • What should adults who encounter or work with homeless children/youth know?
• Foster Care:
  • His story.
  • Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are overrepresented in foster care (Human Rights Campaign, 2015). While approximately 5 percent of the general population is estimated to be LGBTQ+, studies estimate that about 30 percent of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ+. Why are these young people over represented in child welfare? LGBTQ+ youth are 1.5 -2 times more likely to have a foster placement failure.
  • What would you want foster parents to know?
• What made the difference in your eventually succeeding? (Going to Vassar and UCLA Law School.)
• The lack of available treatments for mental illness.
• Why did you become a foster parent?
• Why did you title the book “A Place Called Home?”

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

How much do you really know about your fertility, menstrual cycles, and conception? Join us to learn more with Dr. Joyce Harper, a Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, and the head of the Reproductive Science and Society Group. She is the author of  Your Fertile Years.

In this episode, we cover:

• Understanding the menstrual cycle
• Understanding the basic of conception
• Predicting ovulation
• Basics of Infertility
• What percentage of infertility is caused by the female partner, the male partner, or both?
• What causes a woman to not ovulate?
• Initial workup for women who meet the definition of infertility
• Workup for Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
• Treatment Options for Infertility 
• How does the infertility workup differ for the LGBTQ+ community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Non-binary, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and Gender Nonconforming Individuals)? 

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Are you a foster or adoptive parent whose child is taking mood altering medications or medications to help them sleep? You will learn a lot about these medications and what you can do to make them as effective as possible. We talk with Dr. Adam Langenfeld, a Developmental Pediatrician at Children's Minnesota hospital. He also has a Ph.D. in chemistry.

In this episode, we cover:

• What are psychotropic medications?
• What are the classes of psychotropic medications? 
• What are some commonly prescribed medications in each class?
• What mental health issues are these medications addressing?
• Symptoms of anxiety and depression in children.
• Situational anxiety or depression. 
  • SCARED checklist anxiety 
  • Childhood Depression Inventory
• How do psychotropic medications work? A basic overview of Psych Pharmacology.
  • Simulation of a brain synapsis
• How are medications in each of these classes administered?
• Does timing of the day matter?
• How effective is melatonin? 
• Does proximity to meals matter when administering these medications?
• What are some of the side effects of the most commonly used psychotropic medications?
  • Psychedelics? 
  • Supplements (such as CBD)?
• Why are children in foster care more likely to be on psychotropic medications?
• Does use of psychotropic medications in childhood increase the likelihood of substance abuse in adolescence or adulthood?
• What can parents do to help these medications be as effective as possible?
• How to know when a child should taper down or get off of psychotropic medications?
• If parents believe that the child is on too many psychotropic medications, what should they do? 

Additional Resources:

• Children in Foster Care Much More Likely to be Prescribed Psychotropic Medications Compared with Non-Foster Children in Medicaid Program 
• National Alliance on Mental Illness, Quick Reference to Psychiatric Medications 
• Common Medications Used in Psychiatric Treatment 
• Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) 
• Children’s Depression Inventory 2nd Edition  (there is a fee for this inventory)
• Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children 
• Simulation of a brain synapsis 

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

Please leave us a rating or review 

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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Do you wonder if your child was prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs? There may be nothing in the files, but something feels not right? We talk about diagnosing and treating these kids with Dr. Larry Burd, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and the Director of the North Dakota Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Center.

In this episode, we cover:

• Most of our audience is foster, adoptive, and kinship parents and professionals. Often they don’t know for sure if a child has been exposed. The US government estimates that about 10% of all children in the US have been prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs. Do you have a feel for the percentage of children in foster care or who have been involved with the child welfare system? International adoption? Domestic infant adoption?
• Does prenatal exposure increase the likelihood of a disruption to a foster or adoptive placement? 
• How is prenatal exposure to alcohol detected or diagnosed?
• What type of training do pediatricians receive during their education or residency on prenatal exposure and on how to diagnose?
• Can you tell at birth or in infancy if a baby has been exposed to alcohol in utero?
• How is prenatal exposure to drugs detected or diagnosed?
• How does birth order change the likelihood that a child who is at risk has been exposed during pregnancy?
• What are the long-term impacts of alcohol exposure? What are the symptoms that are most noticeable to parents, teachers, and other professionals working with these children?
• Alcohol exposure affects multiple systems in the body.
• Does it matter what type of alcohol was consumed?
• Who can diagnose a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?
• What are the long-term impacts of the following drugs?
  • Opioids
  • Heroin and Fentanyl
  • Depressants (benzodiazepines, such as Valium, Xanax)-Prescribed and unprescribed
  • Stimulants-Prescribed and unprescribed
  • Methamphetamines
  • Marijuana
  • Tobacco/Nicotine
• Do pediatricians have a body of resources to offer parents regarding raising a child with prenatal exposure?
• Tips for parents

Additional Resources Mentioned in Interview:

Still Face Experiment

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

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

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