Foster Parenting Podcast

Curious what foster parents think of Instant Family? We’ve got an early movie review for you here from a real life foster-adoptive family.  Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne play a childless couple who decide to enter parenting through the foster care system and encounter all the struggles of parenting kids who have experienced trauma.  We were able to see an early screening of the movie and can tell you everything you need to know. We offer both what we think of the movie for those who haven’t seen it and then dive into our reflections on how foster families are depicted in the movie with a spoiler-filled review. Listen to our latest episode here.

Instant Family opens in theaters on November 16, 2018

Have you heard of special laws governing the adoption of children who are of Native American descent? In the US, children who are Native American fall under a specific law called the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which can govern their adoptive and foster placements.

T interviews Johnston Moore about ICWA. They discuss the origins and intentions of the federal law and its ongoing application. Originally created to ensure the rights of Native Americans, Moore says that the law is sometimes used to make decisions that may not be in the best interests of children.

Johnston Moore belongs to a network of activists working to amend the law. If you wish to contact him, he can be reached at http://www.home-4-ever.org

Many foster parents draw firm boundaries between themselves and their foster children’s birth parents. But is this right? In this interview with Saint Fults, a social worker in St. Louis, Missouri, we learn of another perspective of openness toward birth family relationships from the beginning of the child’s placement.

Fults advocates that foster parents should consider opening their lives more fully to birth families, including hosting visits in the foster home.

The perspective challenged us to think about what is truly best for the children in our care, and how a higher degree of openness in foster care might better set up birth families for successful reunification.

T interviews Jacob, a counselor at Royal Family Kids Camp, a summer program run by churches for foster kids throughout the country and internationally.

Jacob mentioned his film project CAMP. You can contribute to his Kickstarter Campaign here. Help him reach his goal!

Also in this episode, we answer listener Kim’s question about how to help a foster child transition to his adoptive home.

We sit down and interview Jeremy, a former foster child, about his experiences in the system and any wisdom he can pass on to foster parents. We also give a brief review of “The Miracle Worker” and highly recommend watching it. At least watch this scene and catch the pay off line at the end of this scene; “the room is a wreck but her napkin is folded”. We identify with it a lot.