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Credit hours:
3.00

Course Summary

Especially while in foster care, a young person's care and development, should be the top concern of all supportive adults involved. Foster parents may need to take unique steps to ensure the young person's well-being if the child's cultural background is different from than their own. This means creating an intentional plan to develop a thorough respect and understanding of the young person's religion, cultural values, customs, and beliefs. As outlined in the following course, honoring a child or young person’s cultural connections, practices, and specific needs can give a young person a sense of permanency and belonging that will benefit them in emotional, mental and spiritual ways.

In this course, you can expect to learn:

  • Considerations to weigh before committing to becoming a parent to a young person of a different race

  • Actions to take to ensure children and youth in care maintain a strong sense of racial identity and connection to culture

  • the importance of cultural connections for children and youth in care

  • Strategies to minimize the impact of being placed in a home that is culturally different to a child or youth’s own identity and culture

  • Steps to take to make your home a bicultural home that celebrates a bicultural family

Transracial Parenting in Foster Care and Adoption

Step 1

Review the  "Transracial Parenting in Foster Care and Adoption" guidebook created to help parents and children in transracial homes learn how to thrive in and celebrate their bicultural family; and for children to gain a strong sense of racial identity and cultural connections.

Step 2

Watch the following video to gain perspective of the impact living in a home outside of their own culture or ethnic background can have on a young person in foster care 

Step 3

Review this booklet "In the Rainbow: Cultural Best Practices in Foster Care" created by C. Kimo Alameda, Ph. D, to learn how Hawai'i, the country's most diverse state, is mindful of the trauma youth have experienced coming into the foster care system and how to minimize the impact of being placed in a home that is culturally different to a child or youth’s own identity and culture.

Step 4

Join the discussion in the comments below to answer the following question:

What challenges have you faced, or what challenges might you anticipate facing, as a bicultural foster parent?

Step 5

Finished the module? If you are logged in as a subscribed user, take the quiz to earn your Continuing Education Credit hours and certificate! 

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Course Discussion

PatrickLMc's picture
2 years 1 month ago

PatrickLMc said:

Being a foster family we need to remember we need look at job market that takes that into account.
porta's picture
2 years 1 month ago

porta said:

Our placement has been with us for a few years and is African-American and Dominican and we have had to work really hard to adapt ways care for him. We are fairly lucky to live and work in a relatively diverse community who we could reach out to when it came to caring for our kiddos skin and hair, as well as having supports that look like they do. Where my concern is is that as they grow they might explore communities that are less accepting of racial differences and what fallout they will have. My hope is that we can start the conversation on this when they are young in a safe as described in this course so that they are ready to confront and survive what the world has in store them.
apriljackson11's picture
2 years 2 months ago

apriljackson11 said:

My challenges is understanding mixed feelings toward the child and also dealing with all of there problems and needs I can handle type of child in foster care I no that I will often more to the children that is why I want to become and foster parent I will be prepared to handle any foster child that come in to my home because I no that and child needs and place to stay and my home will be welcome to any child that is in need of and place to stay because I will support the children's for whatever it is that they need in life it don't matter what kind of issues are behavioral that they have I will adopt and take care of them like they are my own child because when it come to kids I am willing and ready to take any one of them into my home they do not have to be separated from one another because I will take them all in my home any race can come into my home and my bicultural as and foster parent I will take in any race because any child that is in need of and place is welcome into my home because I love and enjoy all children.
bavickers's picture
2 years 2 months ago

bavickers said:

The publications were a little dated (encouraged watching The Cosby Show)--it would be good to have something more recent, especially given the events of the past year....but the basic information was good! The panel of youth was very valuable and something I think every foster parent should watch.
bavickers's picture
2 years 2 months ago

bavickers said:

The publications were a little dated (encouraged watching The Cosby Show)--it would be good to have something more recent, especially given the events of the past year....but the basic information was good! The panel of youth was very valuable and something I think every foster parent should watch.
smartinez19111@gmail.com's picture
2 years 2 months ago

smartinez19111@... said:

Good
MrRp's picture
2 years 3 months ago

MrRp said:

I would think the biggest fear is being able to provide cultural infomation/environment that the child would want.
j11kat's picture
2 years 4 months ago

j11kat said:

My first placement was an African American baby. He was with me from birth to 17 months and my biggest struggle was in learning how to care for his hair. We tried lots of different methods until we found one that worked. I learned that what works for some definitely doesn't work for all.
cdjones1976's picture
2 years 4 months ago

cdjones1976 said:

We are a unicorn/transracial family. We're a white, lesbian couple who have 2 biracial children and 3 Caucasian children. So we get looks everywhere we go. We try really hard to be intentional about learning about African American culture and education, and teaching all of our kids what we learn. Our kids have black baby dolls. We have lots of books by black authors and books where the characters are black. We take our biracial son to a black barber. Three of our kids are young right now, so we haven't had to have the more difficult conversations we know we will have to have with them as they grow older. But we know we will have to explain to both of our sons, one who is 3 and black and one who is 4 and white, that they will be treated differently in this world.
Mjcrosby's picture
2 years 5 months ago

Mjcrosby said:

Finding resources to help with hair and skin care. Handling the questions of others and trying to protect the kids from others comments and questions.