Topics

abuse

The sad news in our country is that many children experience child abuse. (We’re talking here about abuse of a child or youth under the age of 18 – in some states, 17.) If a child or youth is mistreated, misused by a parent or caretaker or other adult or much older child, it is considered abuse.

adoption

Circumstances leading up to adoption are often puzzling and hard to understand for the child involved. Many kids wonder about their biological family and why their parents didn’t keep them. If you’ve been adopted it is important that you talk to people you trust about your feelings and questions

aging out

“Aging out” refers to what happens when youth reach a certain age (age 18 in most states) and are no longer eligible for support from the foster care system. Without foster care funding, many youth lose their place to live, health care coverage, connections to supportive adults, and are ill-prepared to support themselves in the adult world.

bio-family

Most young people who enter foster care have experienced abuse or neglect by a biological parent. Despite this fact, most young people will return to live with a biological parent once the home situation can be made safe and “reunification” is possible.

courts

QUESTIONS + ANSWERS

disproportionality

When you look at all of the people in America, you see there are many different races. When experts break down all of the races across the country, they find that 61% are White people, 15% are Black, 17% are Hispanic, and so on. You might expect to find the same kind of breakdown if you look at the race of kids in foster care, but that’s not the case.

foster families

STORIES WRITTEN BY YOUNG LEADERS ABOUT FOSTER FAMILIES


You don't age out of family

group homes

STORIES WRITTEN BY YOUTH ABOUT GROUP HOMES


I Was Wrong About Group Homes

health

POSITION PAPERS ABOUT HEALTH

holidays

Holidays should be filled with happiness and joy. Unfortunately, for some kids in foster care, this is not the case. Happiness and joy are sometimes replaced by anxiety and frustration. This page provides information to prevent that from happening.

TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

kinship care

Kinship care is the full time care, nurturing and protection of children by relatives, members of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, or any adult who has a kinship bond with a child.

STORIES WRITTEN BY YOUTH ABOUT KINSHIP CARE

LGBTQ

REAL STORIES ABOUT LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND QUESTIONING YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE

maintaining culture

STORIES WRITTEN BY YOUNG LEADERS ABOUT MAINTAINING CULTURE

mentors

STORIES WRITTEN BY YOUTH ABOUT MENTORS

Me and My Mentor

permanence

Every child deserves a loving family to provide a safe and nurturing environment with as much stability and permanency as possible. In 1997, Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) into law to try to ensure permanency and safety for all children in the child welfare system.

psychotropic drugs

Psychotropic drugs are medications intended to help control behaviors and mental health issues. The use of psychotropic medications for foster youth is a hot topic in child welfare today. Child welfare professions and young advocates are concerned and are asking the questions like “are youth in foster care being over medicated?“

relationships

A foster Youth’s past experiences such as abandonment, abuse or poor adult role modeling can contribute to confusion about relationships, sexual behavior and parenting.

resilience

Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress -- such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or entering the foster care system. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences and not letting setback get your down.

school & education

This section is under construction. More information will be added here soon.
In the meantime, be sure to check out our Higher Ed and Internships pages.

STORIES WRITTEN BY YOUTH ABOUT EDUCATION

sibling separation

As many people with a brother or sister know, sibling connections are extremely important and often help define who you are as you grow up. Too many times, brothers and sisters who enter foster care are not able to live together. It is not uncommon to hear stories of how communication was restricted while in foster care and siblings lose contact with each other.