Fostering Young People of a Different Race

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

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!

Course Discussion

2 years 2 weeks 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.

2 years 1 month 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.

cfhanson said:

The biggest challenge I have faced is providing my children with the best form of education within their culture. It has been difficult to find the resources that will best serve them. Especially because within Native American cultures it is specifically focused in on which tribe they are from.

EmmyGB said:

Our family has already had to face some tough conversations about complex issues on things we haven't personally experienced and won't ever experience because we are white. We realize that while we have taken some steps to integrate racial diversity into our lives, that we can do more. We want to add more literature in our home from authors of different races.

2 years 2 months ago

Bdean said:

As a foster parent to a child of another race, I notice in public we get alot of "looks" or people will ask "where I got him from.

KMorse19 said:

As a foster parent I have faced bias and racism from my in-laws regarding foster children who have come to our home. Honestly, I'm going to be printing out some of literature in this training and give it to them!

2 years 3 months ago

SalleyZgolinski said:

As a foster parent to bi-racial or children of a completely different race I want to make sure that I am being respectful of their needs. I worry that they will feel out of place in our home and I so much want to give them a feeling of inclusion.

Clarolga said:

I find it very hard to connect our Native American son (we are his white adoptive parents) with other Native families and children in our area as we live very rural. We have bought many books, are attempting to learn some of the Sioux language, and have a good relationship with his biological family. But I can tell he feels disconnected and alone sometimes, especially at school, church and other after school events. We continue to seek out opportunities to learn about his heritage as much as possible and we are developing new traditions as a family. I find it difficult to help him navigate peer racist comments he hears at school sometimes.

Burtonfam2 said:

We have had the opportunity to be intentional about learn more about other cultures to from the bio families. It has been a very connecting experience.

Burtonfam said:

One challenge we face is how others notice (and occasionally comment) on the fact that our family doesn't "match." We are fortunate to have a variety of close friends from different cultural backgrounds. This allows an opportunity for our foster children to make a connection as well as resources for our family on questions about culture.

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