As I walk this parenting journey, I grow more and more thankful for teachers who lean into my kids. The student-teacher relationship can be a sweet one. For some students, teachers may be their only trusted adult. Needless to say, the impact of a caring teacher has the potential to be huge. My guest, Amanda Van Allen, is one of those teachers that loves her students in big ways. So, when she saw not only one student’s educational needs, but a greater need as it related to family, she knew her own family could do more to care for this student. Today, we’re talking about jumping into the role of fictive kin—taking on the characteristics of a family relationship for a child in the foster care system. It’s a role that more teachers are being asked to consider, and Amanda had some incredible insights about what she learned from going from teacher to parent in a matter of days.

Episode 88: From Teacher to Parent: Fictive Kin in Foster Care

We want to see people everywhere supporting the foster care community and experiencing Jesus together. So, in this podcast, we are sharing the stories of the foster care community to bring awareness that leads to action!

Kids & Family

The lives of today’s guests are deeply intertwined. Jennifer Bracken’s childhood was rocky. After a difficult home life and several tumultuous years spent in the foster care system, she became a mother to four children and her struggles with addiction led to her family experiencing the foster care system in various ways. Jillana Goble is a speaker, author, and advocate who fostered and adopted Jennifer’s third child before fostering and reuniting Jennifer’s fourth child. Over the past 15 years, Jillana and Jennifer have taken steps to build a positive relationship. Today, they live a mile away from one another and their lives are interconnected in a beautiful way. Their journey together wasn’t always smooth sailing—but due to their mutual effort, courage, and vulnerability, they have developed deep trust and connection. In this episode, Jennifer and Jillana talk about how they’ve navigated the ups and downs of building their relationship, how foster parents can form connections with birth parents in a safe and healthy way, the importance of extending the olive branch early, and so much more. Don’t miss this one! Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/jillana-jennifer-229/ Get Foster Care & the Church free!

Episode 229: How a Foster Mom and Birth Mom Became Family (w/ Jillana Goble & Jennifer Bracken)

We all pray for our children to form a strong relationship with Jesus that will last a lifetime. But the truth is, many young adults walk away from their faith once they move out. So what steps can we take to help our kids walk with Him throughout all the stages of their lives? Today’s guest, Sarah Cowan Johnson, shares that a big part of the answer when we look at statistics lies in our parenting. Sarah is a ministry trainer, consultant, and coach who works with ministry leaders across the United States and leads seminars on family discipleship—showing parents how to help their children walk in the way of Jesus. Sarah shares key strategies for faith-based parenting in her book Teach Your Children Well: A Step-by-Step Guide for Family Discipleship. In this episode, Sarah explains the most common pitfalls that stop parents from working worship into their home lives (and how to overcome them), how to disciple children no matter how long they may live under your roof, why it’s essential to let your kids ask questions and develop their own relationships with God, and so much more. Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/sarah-cowan-johnson-228/ Get Foster Care & the Church free!

Episode 228 - Family Discipleship: A Guide to Guiding Your Kids (w/ Sarah Cowan Johnson)

TW: While Joan does not go into specific details, this episode does contain mentions of her experiences of abuse, and we wanted you to be aware of that before listening. Our guests often share the traumatic memories their experiences in life have left them with. But today’s guest shares what it’s like for there to be pieces missing when she tries to recall her past. Joan Ulsher is a writer, philanthropist, retired U.S. Army Major, and an award-winning child advocate. During her own childhood, Joan survived abuse and experienced the foster care system firsthand. Today, she says many of her formative years feel like “Swiss cheese” because of all the holes in her memory. Joan tells her story in a memoir entitled Misplaced Childhood: A True Story of Resiliency and Child Advocacy. In this conversation, you’ll hear how Joan has navigated her mind blocking out childhood memories, how her advocacy efforts have changed her inner narrative from that of a victim to that of a survivor, how finding Christ has given her life new purpose, and so much more. Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/joan-ulsher-227/ Free Video Resource: Foster Care & the Church -- www.fostercare.church

Episode 227: Picking Up the Pieces of a Misplaced Childhood (w/ Joan Ulsher)

Many agency workers who serve the foster care community choose this path out of a passion for helping others. But transitioning into this challenging career can often be a very overwhelming experience. Even when workers are doing their best, they can start to feel like they’re not doing enough and that they don’t have a support system to fall back on in their times of need. Brian Gazdziak is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker as well as a foster and adoptive dad. He has spent years providing specialized mental health therapy to help people, such as those in the foster care community, cope with life challenges. As someone who has experienced foster care from the perspective of both an agency worker and a foster parent, Brian has unique insights and empathy surrounding the topic of these complex relationships. In this episode, Brian shares what it’s like to work with children and families in a hands-on capacity, how churches can provide much-needed support to foster care workers, how to build a better relationship with case workers, and so much more. Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/brian-gazdziak-226/ Join Team 3:10: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/team310  

Episode 226: Supporting Workers in the Foster Care Community (w/ Brian Gazdziak)

No matter the season of parenting you’re in, there’s one thing every parent needs to prioritize—mental health. Not just your child’s, but your own, too. It’s easy to look at the behavioral or emotional struggles our children are exhibiting and start thinking of ways to “fix” them. What’s harder is looking inward and asking ourselves what steps we can take to nurture our mental health so we can show up for our kids in the best way.  Joining me today is Michelle Nietert, an author, a speaker, and the Clinical Director/Founder of Community Counseling Associates. She’s also a follower of Christ, a wife, and a mother to two school-aged children who puts her mental health knowledge to use every day as she seeks to nurture a happy and healthy household. In this episode, Michelle teaches us how to support our children through life’s challenges, how to help children who’ve experienced trauma find hope, joy, and light in life, how to work prayer into your children’s lives as they grow up, and so much more. Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/michelle-nietert-225/ Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/tfi

Episode 88: From Teacher to Parent: Fictive Kin in Foster Care

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