The best way to help foster kids is by asking yourself what you can do for them. They face many challenges that need patience and care. BCFS Health and Human Services CSD provides several services to young people in or from foster care, including prevention, intervention, and transitional living. The organization offers a range of services that improves fostering processes and relationships.
The most important factor in guiding foster children towards adulthood is having an effective parent-foster match. Foster parents serve an invaluable role in giving kids the confidence and life skills they need to succeed in the adult world. And this parent-child relationship also needs additional services like placement support, job searching tips, employment opportunities, and counseling through partnerships with local businesses.
Fostering a child is an uncertain process. It can be hard to plan because the living situation of each individual child in foster care changes at any moment, sometimes slowly and other times with great shock. To manage their emotions during these transitions, foster parents should focus on what’s best for the little ones. They need to accept change will happen frequently and they’ll always strive to provide their kids with stability, safety, and fun.
Managing visits from birth parents or siblings can be one the most challenging aspects in fostering. Social workers are often present during these meetings, which helps foster parents gauge whether progress has been made and if more sessions should continue. Foster parents need to do their best to manage any related emotions and support foster kids who might meet a relative or friend they haven’t seen for years.
Foster parents face two major challenges when they take on the role of foster parent. The first challenge is creating consistency in showing love and caring for these kids who have experienced traumatic events. The second is managing the child’s schedule, including setting up appointments for therapists and other providers that are helping the child grow. BCFS Health and Human Services CSD encourages foster parents to overcome these challenges and offer amazing support and guidance to young people in foster care who desperately need attention and confidence.