Frantic Man In Funny Footwear Pursued by Clueless Sea Turtle

Recently, my wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with a trip to Maui. We love going on adventures together, and a top priority for us was snorkeling among giant sea turtles. Early one morning, we boarded a boat with some fellow adventurers and set out for a small island known as a hang-out for […]

Alternatives to Calling 911 or Giving Notice

When children enter foster care, they’ve already experienced abuse, neglect, loss and disrupted relationships. To heal from the trauma, stable homes and living situations are needed, where they can develop and maintain supportive, consistent and loving relationships with at least one adult committed to them unconditionally. While unconditional love and stability are critical, too many […]

Making it Work

Forget the unicorns and rainbows. Let’s embrace the messiness of real life. Relationships are messy. Yes, they are a beautiful part of the human experience, when we come together, share joy and laughter, and enjoy interacting with one another. But with that beauty comes some hard stuff too — we all have our quirks, fears […]

Adoptive Parents of Color Collaborative

When Maya Mosley-Katakanga adopted a 10-month-old Black and Indigenous child from the foster care system 15 years ago, she felt alone post-adoption, navigating topics about birth parents, loss and growing up in an adoptive family, without assistance from the “professionals.” Then seven years ago, she discovered a support group run by the Adoptive Parents of […]

A Village of Color

Caregivers weigh in on creating a village of support for children with the diversity and representation I stood patiently in my local foster care agency’s office, holding a baby carrier with a squirmy 2-month-old anxious for her next bottle. She had a shock of black hair and an easy temperament — except when she was […]

Caring for Asian Youth: Combatting Misconceptions

Volumes have been written on the “model minority myth,” a false belief that all Asians and Asian Americans are polite, law-abiding, successful minorities who have, through a combination of innate talent and persistence, pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. This false narrative matters in non-traditional parenting because the model minority myth fuels adoption and foster […]

Freedom to Fully Explore Identity

The fourth of July holiday marks this country’s official independence as a nation from Great Britain. As a child, the fourth of July was all about food, fun and family. And, like most young people, I learned the basics of the holiday in school. Although freedom and independence were being celebrated, they were concepts I […]

All Families Need Support

As foster and adoptive parents, we’ve had the benefit of meeting countless birth, foster, kin and adoptive parents over the years who have cared for children and youth of all ages with a wide range of social, emotional and physical needs. The parent community has a depth of knowledge about children and their needs as […]