Articles

In our memories, life has a way of dividing itself into a before and after, with a cataclysmic event in between. The day your parents divorced. The day your brother died. The day you left home. Before that day, life seemed to progress predictably through a series of small changes and slow growth. After that […]

  Neuroscientists, child development experts and our own instincts tell us babies and kids crave connection with adults and need safe, reliable relationships with caregivers to thrive.   As resource parents, we want to fill this need. However, often the children in our homes need extra time and support to feel safe trusting us.   […]

You do not have to be a foster or adoptive parent to understand the invaluable power of community. In fact, you don’t even need to be a parent at all. At our core, we are all wired for connection. Deep within us resides the desire to be seen, to be heard and to be understood. […]

May is a month of blooming flowers, warmer weather and, importantly, a time to celebrate families in all their forms. It’s a chance to recognize the incredible impact of foster care, kinship care and adoption, and to express our deep appreciation for the individuals who open their hearts and homes to children in need. These […]

  When I was around 7 years old, my parents began the journey to become resource parents. Though I had two younger biological brothers, my parents felt we could help children in foster care by welcoming them into our family. In the days, weeks, months and years that followed, I learned about trauma and began […]

By Noelle Hause, Ed.D., LPC, IMH-E   Kinship caregiving is the full-time care of a child by relatives such as grandparents, great-grandparents, adult siblings, aunts, uncles and stepparents; or other invested community members such as close family friends, tribal members and godparents. Grandparents, and sometimes great-grandparents, are in a unique position to provide connection to […]

We don’t often pair the words “child welfare” and “hope” together. From the time a family is in crisis, to the last visit with a caseworker, “hope” is often the last word that comes to mind. But for child welfare to meet any of its goals or purposes, hope is the only thing that is […]

It was a hot summer day when Phil Sallaway met his future son at an adoption event. He shares what it was like meeting Aaron for the first time. It was a hot summer day at Farnsworth Park in Pasadena, California. The city is on the back side of Los Angeles, up against the mountains, […]