May is National Foster Care Month

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Every spring, more attention is drawn to the welfare of children with National Child Abuse Awareness Month in April and National Foster Care Month in May. Finding educational resources on the impacts of child abuse and how to help children work through early childhood traumas can be difficult, but Fostering Families Today offers a number of articles that can provide insight into foster parenting and kin becoming licensed kinship caregivers for their relatives.

If you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, now is a good time to learn more about foster parenting.

Fostering parenting can be challenging, but with the right support it can be a very rewarding endeavor. This past year has definitely presented extra challenges for caregivers, but kinship, foster and adoptive parents across the country have worked hard to meet the needs of the children in their care as they’ve navigated virtual school, coordinated online visits and other child welfare appointments that often come along with fostering.

When a child first comes to your family, the days can be very overwhelming for both the child and caregiver as they navigate doctor’s and therapy appointments. Sometimes the children have complex diagnoses, and caregivers must quickly get up to speed on how to meet their needs.

Another important aspect of fostering is finding the best resources to support the journey. National organizations like the National Foster Parent Association, ATTACh and the Attachment and Trauma Network can be valuable sources of information. Other places to look are books, podcasts and news sites. One of the most important ways to gain valuable knowledge is through the stories of former foster youth.

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