The Here to Help Podcast

Karlos Dillard is a former foster youth and foster care educator. He shares with us today some ideas for supporting financial literacy in the home and how to set kids up for financial success after foster care.

Follow Karlos here: https://www.tiktok.com/@wardofthestate1.0?lang=en

Buy his book or hire him for trainings: https://karlosdillard.com/

Today's conversation is with Rob Scheer, who is a former foster youth, foster parent, adoptive parent from foster care, and the founder of Comfort Cases.

Rob shares with us his lived experiences in the system and as a foster parent. Kids are being placed into foster care with trash bags and often aren't being treated with respect or dignity. He shares with us what foster parents, kinship providers, and caregivers can do to welcome kids into their foster homes, as well as his own learnings from being a foster parent himself.

We also talk about ways community members can help kids in foster care if they aren't able to foster themselves.

Learn more from Rob:

@comfortcases

https://www.instagram.com/rob_scheer

https://www.instagram.com/comfortcases

https://www.facebook.com/Scheerfocus/

https://www.facebook.com/comfortcases

Support Comfort Cases: www.comfortcases.org

Today I chat with Peter Mutabazi from Foster Dad Flipper. He shares about how his lived experience impacts the way he is a foster dad. He also walks through some practical tips and advice for single foster parents.

Read more about his story: https://nowiamknownfoundation.org/products/now-i-am-known-book

Follow him online:  @NowIAmKnown 

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nowiamknown

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fosterdadflipper

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/fosterdadflipper/

Today's conversation is with Melissa, who is a transracial foster care and adoption educator.

She walks through practical ways you can start to incorporate a child's culture and traditions into your home. This conversation is a starting point for creating a space that celebrates all kids and cultures that come in and out of your home.

Follow Melissa:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoptee_thoughts/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adoptee_thoughts

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GuidaRichards

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19330851.Melissa_Guida_Richards

Twitter: https://twitter.com/guidarichards

Buy her books, What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption and the accompanying Workbook, here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2247656/melissa-guida-richards

If you are a kinship provider or foster parent you may find yourself in harder situations as it relates to working with and honoring a child's biological family. Raquel walks us through a variety of situations and offers a way to navigate when you are angry, upset, or frustrated as you work through difficult family dynamics.

This conversation would be helpful for both foster and kinship providers who are struggling with complex family dynamics.

Tina is a former foster youth and educator and today she shares with all of us ways that teachers, school staff, and daycare providers can create spaces where foster youth can feel supported and safe. She talks about setting up the classroom, ways to support positive behaviors, and how to look out for and support triggers that may come up throughout the day. Providing trauma-informed care in the classroom can make or break a child's experience at school.

Learn more from Tina at www.experiencecareconsulting.com

Learn from former foster youth, Dr. Danisha Keating, as she walks us through her experiences and shares her advice regarding kinship care for her siblings and supporting teens and transitional-age youth. She supports young people who are leaving foster care achieve their dreams, as well as foster parents who are navigating how to best support the child in their care.

On this podcast, I am excited to interview nonprofits, professionals, and those with lived experiences as they share their tips and considerations for new or hopeful foster parents and those working with families in crisis. We will explore trauma-informed parenting practices, foster care situations, and issues impacting today's youth in foster care and those who have transitioned out of care. Thank you for listening!