Explore every episode of the podcast Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care
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A Conversation with Emily Cole from Bananas Foster
Join us for a fun and inspiring conversation with Emily Cole, co-founder and co-owner of Banana Ball, the new sports phenomenon sweeping the country. We're talking with her about Bananas Foster, their non-profit that celebrates foster families all around the nation.
In this episode, we talk about:
Please tell us the story of how Bananas Foster got started.
What was happening in your life that made you say, “We need to do something for foster families”?
What was the biggest challenge in getting things off the ground?
For listeners who might not know you yet, what’s the mission of Bananas Foster?
What are some of the biggest everyday needs you hear about from foster, kinship, or adoptive families?
How do you see Bananas Foster stepping into those areas of need?
What’s your big dream for Bananas Foster — say, five or ten years from now?
You talk about celebrating and supporting foster families — can you share what that looks like at a typical Banana Ball game day?
What kinds of local partnerships do you have in the cities you visit — with churches, agencies, schools, or other groups?
Looking ahead, do you have a plan or goal for building on those partnerships or expanding the care you offer with them?
The celebrations you host are such a bright spot! What do families tell you after those events — how do they feel when they leave?
Is there a particular story, celebration, or family that has really stuck with you?
How do you hope those celebrations will grow or change over the next few years?
What’s one thing you’ve learned from the families you serve that’s changed you personally?
For our listeners, how can people get involved or support what Bananas Foster is doing?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
What strategies can parents and caregivers implement in their homes to help reduce the risk that their children may be sexually abused? Learn practical parenting tools from this conversation with Dr. Eliana Gil, the founder of the Gil Institute for Trauma Recovery and Education. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of trauma in children, especially those who have been sexually abused.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why should adoptive and foster parents and relative caregivers learn about the risks for sexual abuse of children in our community and how to prevent it?
How can parents or caregivers tell the difference between normal childhood curiosity and behaviors that may signal a problem?
What are some warning signs that might give parents or caregivers a clue to dig deeper into problematic behaviors they observe?
If a child is showing some of these concerning behaviors, what are some practical and supportive ways caregivers can respond?
Why is it preventative for parents and caregivers to use correct anatomical terms with kids?
Can you offer a few practical suggestions for parents and caregivers to get more comfortable with correct terminology, if they find this an obstacle to equipping and educating their kids?
What signs should parents and caregivers be on the lookout for – things that may suggest a child has been abused?
5 categories: fear/anxiety, depression, sexual acting out, attachment
Emphasize that no single sign proves abuse but patterns and context matter.
If a caregiver suspects abuse, what steps should they take?
What is the parents’ or caregiver’s role once they have reported to the proper authorities?
What are some everyday preventative practices families can put in place to keep kids safe while also allowing them to grow in healthy ways?
Protective, not paranoid
Open communication in the home
Supervision by safe adults
Safe boundaries in the home
Teaching consent and respect
Modeling healthy relationships
Any last words of advice for adoptive parents, foster parents, or relative caregivers about protecting their kids from sexual abuse?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
In this episode, we cover: This is not a newborn sleep training book. This is for those exhausted parents of kids from about age 1-6 who have tried it all and their child still won’t fall asleep easily or put themselves back to sleep when they awake in the night.
Why are some kids just harder to get to sleep or harder to keep asleep?
Why is sleep so hard for some kids?
How does trauma impact a child’s ability to fall and stay asleep?
What are the biggest sleep issues for these kids and what can we do about them?
Overtiredness
Problems with the lead-up to lights out (transitions and routine)
Parent is a required part of the go-to-sleep and back-to-sleep pattern
Past inconsistency (trying a method then stopping too soon or only partly trying)
Parents worry that if they don’t immediately respond to their child’s cry, they will damage the attachment or that their child will feel unloved.
Thoughts on co-sleeping or the family bed.
Thoughts on books on tape or video?
AD has been with us since she was 1, is now almost 7. She's always required us to be with her to fall asleep, occasionally waking in the night. Now for about 2 months she basically needs my husband or I to sleep in her room. If we aren't there, she wakes multiple times, crying for us.
She says she's afraid of bad dreams and bad thoughts inside her head, so no lights, monster spray, soothing music, etc. have helped. There is no event we can recall that started this, the only thing that fits time-wise is an age-appropriate storybook we read about adoption, with a happy ending.
We are happy to give her the connection she needs but we are also tired... Any ideas on how to help?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: I'm interested in adopting an older teenager (16 or 17). An agency worker shared that many older teens don't want to be adopted, and just want to age out of foster care. Is this true, and if so, is adopting an older teen a reasonable goal?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Join us for this interview with former NFL Running Back and Super Bowl Champion Ricky Watters. He is an adoptee, an adoptive dad, and author of a new children's book on adoption, A Gift Called Shane.
In this episode, we discuss:
How old were you when you learned you were adopted and how did you find out?
When you discovered you were adopted, you mentioned in your NFL movie that it put a big chip on your shoulder. How has that chip served you well as an adoptive dad?
How has it been a detriment?
Why did you decide to adopt?
Why did you decide to adopt internationally?
Did your experience with finding out late that you were adopted affect the way you discussed adoption with your son?
Do you see any signs of a similar “chip” in your son that you had when you found out you were adopted? How do you help him navigate it for his own success?
How did you prepare your biological son for the adoption of his brother?
How do you support your adopted son in his questions about identity, birth family, etc.?
Are you in reunion with your biological family?
How has your adoptive family handled your reunion with your birth family?
How excited were you for fellow hometown boy Shady McCoy to get into the Eagles Hall of Fame?
What was your experience with playing at Notre Dame?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: My husband Sean and I are here in Canada and early in the adoption process. We are looking at private infant adoption through an adoption agency. My question is around getting ready. When we successfully match it is almost a certainty it will be with a newborn and there’s a 30% chance it’s a no-notice match and we have days rather than months to get ready. How would you recommend preparing? Do you think getting a crib, clothes, etc. is overkill? I’m a planner, so I love to be prepared! Thanks!
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Can our kids heal from all the hard things they've experienced? Is there something we can do to help? Join us today to learn about the power of positive childhood experiences with Dr. Robert Sege, the director of the HOPE National Resource Center at Tufts Medical Center. He holds a MD degree from Harvard Medical School and a PhD degree in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In this episode, we cover:
What are some of the benefits to kids from having positive childhood experiences?
You have identified four building blocks for positive childhood experiences. What are they and give us specific examples of what parents and caregivers can do in each block to promote these experiences?
How do these positive childhood experiences differ by age of the child?
Can positive childhood experiences mitigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences?
How can we help our kids be more resilient?
Are all stress and negative experiences in childhood bad for our kids?
Are there particular ages where kids are more receptive to the healing impact of positive childhood experiences?
Our audience includes foster, adoptive, and kinship parents. While adoptive parents have a lifetime with the kids (and kinship caregivers may also have the same), foster parents are usually a temporary landing place for a child while their parents work on getting them back. How much impact can you have if you only have the child for a few months or a year?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: My husband and I were foster parents in the US, and have since relocated to Denmark for his work. We both still feel called to adopt from foster care, and would like to do that from the US. We know that the US and Denmark are both members of the Hague Convention, and can adopt from each other. You have great resources about international adoption, but usually from the perspective of a person in the US adopting from a foreign country. I'm wondering if you would consider doing a podcast episode on the process of a US citizen habitually resident in a foreign country adopting from US foster care.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Are you planning to adopt or have you recently adopted? If so, you need to listen to this discussion about what to expect during the first few weeks or months you are home! Our guests are Michelle Kennedy and Deborah Artis. Michelle Kennedy has been a social worker with Methodist Home for Children for 27 years. She has direct care experience in residential and foster care services and has been working with youth and families in the foster-to-adopt process since 2005. Deborah Artis is a social worker and the Senior Program Director of foster care, adoption, and post-adoption with Children’s Home Society, where she has worked for 30 years.
In this episode, we cover: Adopting a Newborn
What are some common emotions when adopting a newborn?
What are some common stresses when adopting a newborn?
How may the revocation period affect the transition to new adoptive parenting?
Expectations of extended family during this transition period.
How do the stresses of newly adopted families differ from a family that gives birth to their child?
How does the pre-adoption process affect this transition to new parenthood?
What are some feelings that come up about birth parents after the baby comes home?
Handling grief of the birth family.
Realities of open adoptions.
Feeling like the presence of a birth mom makes the adoptive mom less of a “real” mom.
The balance of power shifting from the expectant/birth mom to the adoptive mom.
How much of your child’s “story” should you share?
How can infertility struggles impact the transition period?
Adopting a Child Past Infancy
What are some common emotions when adopting a child from foster care or through international adoption?
What are some common stresses when adopting a child past infancy?
Integrating the new child into a family with other kids.
How to help your child and you settle into becoming a new family.
Post Adoption Depression
What is post-adoption depression?
What are the symptoms?
Blocked care.
How can post-adoption depression impact parenting?
How common is post-adoption depression?
Can fathers also have post-adoption depression?
Who is at risk for post-adoption depression? Are there ways to predict which people are more prone to post-adoption depression?
What are some steps to take to prevent post-adoption depression?
What should you do if you think you are suffering from post-adoption depression?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: My husband and I adopted our nephews four months ago. The two boys are sons of my niece; she gave her kids to the Family Department five years ago, and last year, we at last knew about the boys. They've been a year with us. I have a daughter, 21, and a son, 17, who were okay with the adoption, but now they say they feel this is not their home; they don’t feel at peace in their house and think It was not a good idea to adopt, because of the hard situations with the kids. How can we affirm to our biological children that we did the correct thing to give the kids a family and that there is a process we must go through as a family to adapt?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Do your kids drive you crazy over the holidays? Does their behavior escalate? Join our conversation to learn why and what you can do about it. We will talk with Erin Nasmyth is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with a Master’s in Social Work. She is the co-founder of Adoption Support Alliance, which provides services and support to adoptive families. She has worked in the public and private adoption and foster care system.
In this episode, we cover:
Is it common to see behavioral changes for the worse during the holiday season?
What are some of the behaviors you might see that allow our kids to drive us crazy?
What are some of the stressors that we may not recognize that cause these behaviors?
New things
New people
Change in routines
Parental distraction
Past history with holidays
Too much of everything-sensory overload
Practical ideas of how can we make the holidays smoother for our kids and for you
Ideas on how to get our family onboard for making these changes to our holidays to make it easier for our kids?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: I see that you have information regarding prenatal substance exposure. Is there information regarding biological mothers that hate their pregnancy or their baby, but carry it to full term and put it up for adoption? Are there resources that would address the emotional impact on the baby?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: My husband and I are in the process of adopting a waiting child internationally. This is our first adoption and we will soon be waiting to be matched with a child. I teach in higher education and my schedule is coordinated about nine months out. I am working with my supervisors to try and make sure my schedule for the next year is flexible to account for uncertain adoption timing. It has been so difficult to try and navigate this with my job, especially because my institution has very limited options for paid parental leave.
I'm wondering if you have any insight into how to discuss a few of my questions with my employer:
How to manage unpredictable adoption timelines that may require mid-semester leave on minimal notice,
Explaining the necessity of time off work to bond with our new child, without the physical recovery needs that traditional birth includes, and
That while teaching online is an option, balancing teaching online with international travel and a critical bonding period is very daunting.
If you have any insight into how to discuss these topics with my employer, or any additional details I should be considering, I would love to hear your thoughts. I should say that my supervisors are very supportive and excited for my family, and they are open to creative solutions. These are just uncharted waters at my institution. I love listening to your podcast every week and my husband and I have learned so much from you all while we've been on our adoption journey!
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Do you wonder if your child was prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs? There may be nothing in the files, but something feels not right? We talk about diagnosing and treating these kids with Dr. Larry Burd, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and the Director of the North Dakota Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Center.
In this episode, we cover:
Most of our audience is foster, adoptive, and kinship parents and professionals. Often they don’t know for sure if a child has been exposed. The US government estimates that about 10% of all children in the US have been prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs. Do you have a feel for the percentage of children in foster care or who have been involved with the child welfare system? International adoption? Domestic infant adoption?
Does prenatal exposure increase the likelihood of a disruption to a foster or adoptive placement?
How is prenatal exposure to alcohol detected or diagnosed?
What type of training do pediatricians receive during their education or residency on prenatal exposure and on how to diagnose?
Can you tell at birth or in infancy if a baby has been exposed to alcohol in utero?
How is prenatal exposure to drugs detected or diagnosed?
How does birth order change the likelihood that a child who is at risk has been exposed during pregnancy?
What are the long-term impacts of alcohol exposure? What are the symptoms that are most noticeable to parents, teachers, and other professionals working with these children?
Alcohol exposure affects multiple systems in the body.
Does it matter what type of alcohol was consumed?
Who can diagnose a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?
What are the long-term impacts of the following drugs?
Opioids
Heroin and Fentanyl
Depressants (benzodiazepines, such as Valium, Xanax)-Prescribed and unprescribed
Stimulants-Prescribed and unprescribed
Methamphetamines
Marijuana
Tobacco/Nicotine
Do pediatricians have a body of resources to offer parents regarding raising a child with prenatal exposure?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: I will ultimately decide on whether to try induced lactation to breastfeed an adopted baby on other factors, but I would like to make my decision with my eyes wide open. I like my breasts as they are, but I have been told all my life that pregnancy and breastfeeding change the breasts (making the breasts saggy and the nipples larger). Do adoptive parents who induce lactation suffer from similar issues? I have also heard of mothers who enter a depressive state during breastfeeding. Can you outline any other negative side effects of induced lactation?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Should you adopt a child of a different race? What things should you consider? Join our conversation with Dr. Gina Samuels, an adult transracial adoptee and a Professor at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago. She is also the Faculty Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. Her scholarly interests include transracial adoption and mixed-race and multiethnic identity formation. We are honored to have Dr. Samuels as the Chair of the Creating a Family Board.
In this episode, we cover:
If you are a White parent, are there different issues you need to consider depending on the race of the child you adopt?
Some families prefer to adopt a bi-racial child rather than a child who is all Black or all Latinx. What are the issues to consider?
Is there a difference between transracial and transcultural adoption?
What does it take to raise a child to have a healthy self and racial identity? How do they differ?
Unconscious overlap between self and racial identity for White people.
What are some of the issues parents should think about to determine if they are a family that should adopt across racial or ethnic lines?
What should parents be prepared to do in order to help their children develop a healthy sense of self?
Adoption is a family affair, so how should prospective adoptive parents prepare their extended family members for the adoption of a child of a different race or culture?
How do you protect your child from family members who may not approve or are racist?
What to do if you have someone in your family that you fear will not be accepting or will not treat your child fairly or is a racist?
How do you find role models that racially mirror your child?
Politic of transracial adoption in minority communities.
What does the research show on how transracially adopted children are doing?
What issues may come up with open adoption when adopting across racial lines?
Preparation for transracial adoption goes beyond hair care; hair and skin care are important. What should parents know?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: My husband and I are nearing finalization of our five-month-old adopted son. We don't currently have any other children. Throughout our time in the adoption process, I have spent time learning about adoption trauma and the complexities of adoption. I want to be well-informed as our son grows up and aware of the difficulties he may face. However, my question is, are there stories of adoptees, especially males, who have experienced emotional health and emotional success in life? I have heard many stories, both about and from, adoptees who have challenges with identity, maladaptive behavior, and experiences with other trauma, which make them at risk for suicide, addiction and depression. Are there any adoptive parents out there who are doing it right, whose adopted kids grow up to be well-adjusted adoptees, emotionally healthy adults who can form good relationships? Is our child doomed for a future of emotional trauma and struggle? I would love to hear their stories and learn from them as well.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Does your child struggle with planning/organizing, time management, and impulse control? Join us for our interview with Dr. Joyce Cooper-Kahn, a clinical child psychologist who specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents with ADHD, executive functioning challenges, and other learning disabilities. She is the author of Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents' Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning.
In this episode, we cover:
What is executive functioning?
Example of executive functioning skills?
What is it like for kids, youth, and adults who struggle with executive functioning?
What is the experience of families with a child/youth with executive functioning difficulties?
Why do some kids struggle with executive functioning? What other disabilities often occur with this deficit?
At what age do we usually expect executive functioning skills to start developing?
Who can diagnose an executive functioning disability, and why is it important to get a diagnosis?
What can parents do to help kids improve their executive functioning skills or learn to live without them?
Use real life to teach
Teach rather than punish
Collaborate with the child or youth
Behavior modification
Adjust expectations
When should you allow your child to experience natural consequences for behavior?
Practical tools for helping kids plan and organize.
Practical tools for helping kids shift gears or handle transitions.
Practical tools for helping kids with working memory challenges.
Practical tools for helping kids control impulses.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: My niece has been living with her paternal grandparents for two years. She is now four and they have decided that it is getting too hard for them. We’ve agreed to take her in. She knows us, but we haven’t spent much time with her. What’s the best way to move her to our home that will cause the least psychological damage to her. She is very attached to her grandparents.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Join us to talk about how kids understand adoption and how best to talk with them about adoption. Our guest is Camillia Whitehead, is a MSW and a licensed clinical social worker, and the Founder of Wise Care Consulting, LLC.
In this episode, we cover:
How does a child’s understanding of adoption differ by age?
Toddlers & Preschoolers
School Age
Tweens/Teens
Young Adults
How does openness or lack of openness impact a child’s understanding of adoption?
How does transracial adoption impact a child’s understanding of adoption?
How to talk about adoption at different ages?
What are the important points you want to make sure your child understands at each stage?
What are some common questions children ask at different developmental stages?
Why didn’t my birth parents parent me?
Can I go back to my birth parents?
Do my birth parents think about me?
Did my birth parents love me?
Who do I look like?
Why did they parent my sibling?
How am I like my birth parents, and how am I different.”
Why not wait for your child to ask questions and then talk with them?
What if your child shows little or no interest in their adoption story?
What to say when you know very little about the birth parents?
How can you talk about adoption and the role of the birth father with young children who do not understand the concept of sex?
How to handle the “You’re not my real mom or dad” statement?
How to handle hard birth parent stories?
What to do when your cultural or ethnic background is strongly prejudiced against adoption?
Don’t outright lie.
Think through carefully what you are afraid of by telling the child.
That the child will be rejected by extended family?
That you will be judged or rejected by extended family?
That the child will share the information to others in your community?
Accept that the odds are extremely high that the child is going to find out from over-the-counter DNA testing or someone in the family will tell or from 8th grade biology assignment.
Accept that at some point the failure to tell is the same as lying. When adult adoptees who were not told by their parents were interviewed later in life they almost universally say that it was the lie that hurt the most and did the most damage to their relationship with their parents.
Start laying the groundwork at an early age.
Families are formed in different ways.
All types of families are good.
We had trouble having kids and we were so happy when you arrived.
Try to establish connections with other adoptive parents
Point out adoptive families when you see them in real life or TV or movies
Review your reasons for not wanting to tell and decide on an age that you will tell.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: Do you have any suggestions for articles or posts on telling a sibling that their new baby sibling is third-party conceived (e.g. donor egg)? We haven't told our 5-year-old son that we are pregnant yet, and I'm wondering if it is appropriate to tell him we used donor eggs at the same time we drop the big news that he will be a big brother. He will already have questions about conception. Too much info all at once?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Teens and sex are a scary topic for lots of parents. How can we impact our kids' decisions and what do we say? Join our conversation today with Dr. Debby Herbenick, a Provost Professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, where she leads the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. She is the author of Yes Your Kid: What Parents Need to Know About Today’s Teens and Sex.
In this episode, we cover:
What do you believe a parent's role should be in sex education?
How do you become an askable parent?
How to talk with our kids about sex without sounding overly judgmental but also convey your values.
5 minutes a week conversations.
The importance of having high-quality books on puberty and sexuality around the house.
When to start talking about sex with kids?
How to talk with young people about consent
Impact of technology (internet, social media, ubiquitous cell phones, etc.) on sexual development.
What are reasonable parental rules surrounding technology usage?
Taking and sharing sexual images--how common?
How should parents even start talking with their child about nude images?
At what age should we start this conversation
How to share the downside
Pornography or sexually explicit media
How common do kids access porn, and at what ages?
Is viewing porn bad for kids?
At what age should parents start talking with kids about pornography?
What should parents say about porn?
How to keep our kids from viewing porn?
How to respond if we catch our kid watching porn or know that they have viewed it?
Having these discussions when we haven’t had a lifetime of raising this child?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Question: We are seriously considering becoming foster parents. We have 2 children by birth, and I am really worried about how this will affect them and what I can do to prevent some of the negative effects.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Resilience is more than just bouncing back from a challenge. Join us for a conversation about building resilience in ourselves and our kids, understanding coping tools, and caring well for ourselves while raising kids who may have significant gaps in their resilience. We talk with Kathleen Harnish McKune and her sister, Karen Dickson from Remarkably Resilient, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to partnering to empower healing from trauma.
In this episode, we cover:
How do you define resilience? What does it look like in real life, not just in theory?
What are resilience cups? Why do we need a full cup?
How can parents and caregivers fill their cups while raising kids impacted by trauma, prenatal exposure, etc?
What are your “5 Rs” of resilience?
Regulation
Relationships
Response
Recovery
Reflection
What are some typical challenges – or symptoms – we might see in a child whose resilience is undeveloped or lacking?
When a child is struggling with challenging behaviors that show some gaps in their resilience, how can parents/caregivers practically implement these 5 Rs in the moment?
What are the coping tools you’ve identified to help people implement resilience-building strategies – the 4 Cs:
Calm
Care
Courage
Connect
Strengthening resilience at the individual level ripples out to families, communities, and beyond. What gives you hope as you do this work?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Are you often bewildered by your child's behavior? Check out this interview with Dafna Lender, a LCSW and a certified trainer and supervisor/consultant in both Theraplay and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy. She is also an EMDR therapist. She is the author of “Theraplay® – The Practitioner’s Guide” and “Integrative Attachment Family Therapy: A Clinical Guide to Heal and Strengthen the Parent-Child Relationship.”
In this episode, we cover:
Impact of Trauma
What is trauma?
Trauma vs PTSD vs. Development Trauma Disorder
Neglect
How does trauma impact the brain?
How does this impact affect the child?
Does the age of the child, when they experienced trauma, or the type of trauma affect the degree to which the child will be impacted?
Impact of preverbal trauma- before the child has language and memory.
If a child is able to leave the abusive situation, can it lower the impact of trauma or PTSD?
Attachment trauma.
How to Best Parent a Child Who Has Experienced Trauma
What is a typical behavior for a child who has experienced trauma?
Internal working model formed with earliest caregivers that forms a template for future relationships with caregivers.
The children often “reject you before you can reject them.”
Importance of awareness of one’s own vulnerabilities and insecurities that may be triggered by caring for children with a history of trauma.
How to help our kids heal and attach? Tips and Techniques.
How to Discipline a Child Who Has Experienced Trauma
See behavior as developmental, not moral.
Don’t spin into the future by predicting the worst. Deal with your fears.
Recognize that ultimately, you can’t control your child. Understand what you can control, and you can only control yourself.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: I wanted to bring up something about your article on the risks for an expectant mom changing her mind. You have a point that says any placement before five months into the pregnancy is a risk. We recently had a match with a woman who was only four months along. We asked about this, and our agency tells us that there is no correlation between the time of the match and disruption. What is the truth?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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One of the hardest parts of being a kinship caregiver is navigating the relationship with the child’s birth parent. We talk with Dr. Joseph Crumbley, a social worker, family therapist, and author of “An Overview of Kinship Care.”
In this episode, we cover:
Creating a Family listening sessions with kinship caregivers in rural counties.
What are some of the complicating factors in the relationship between kinship caregivers and the child’s parents?
Grandparents and other caregivers sometimes feel that the child’s parents will threaten them with taking the child away if they do something that the parent disapproves of.
How to not enable the child’s parent but still have a relationship.
How to set healthy boundaries for the caregiver’s and child’s best interest when you have years of experience not setting healthy boundaries?
How to handle others in the family who interfere with the boundaries you’ve established?
I don’t know if this is a question, but I really struggle with getting my kids opportunities to see their mom and siblings. All other siblings have been reunited, and I gather it’s painful for their mom to see the two that were adopted by us (she surrendered her rights). Although we live relatively close to them, we have only managed 2-3 visits a year, mostly because of long periods of no responses to my texts or last-minute cancellations of planned visits. Sometimes our adopted kids can’t even remember their siblings’ names and it just breaks my heart. I’d love for them to have a closer relationship, but I have only limited control.
How to handle the anger, shame, guilt you feel at the child’s parents?
How to support co-parenting when the child’s parent is still not in a healthy place?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: Can I use my home study for a different type of adoption?
This question arises in the following types of situations. Someone is applying to adopt an infant domestically and gets a home study from a domestic adoption agency. They then decide that they want to adopt from foster care and ask if they can use their domestic home study for foster care adoption. Or, they have applied to adopt internationally and want to know if they can use their international home study for a domestic adoption or an adoption from foster care. Or getting a home study from a foster care agency and wanting to use that for domestic infant or international adoption.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Are you an aunt or uncle raising your nephew or niece? Or are you curious about the unique challenges these families face? Check out today's podcast with a panel of four aunts raising their sibling's child.
In this episode, we cover:
Who are you raising? How old were they when they moved in? How long have they been with you?
Didn’t ask for this.
Less of a feeling of obligation than grandparents feel.
Navigating relations with the child’s parents.
Frustration with your sibling (the child’s parent)
Long-standing resentment of the child’s parents.
Navigating boundaries.
Resentment if it’s your spouse’s niece/nephew.
Navigating relations between other family members who have an opinion.
Raising your own kids while raising your nephews and nieces.
Jealousies
Behaviors rubbing off on kids already in the family
Lack of time for the kids who aren’t acting out
Complications of being single and raising nephews and nieces.
Putting off having children because of the cost and time commitment to raising nieces and nephews.
Disagreement between parents on whether or not to take in the children.
Uncertainty of how long the children will be living with you.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: I’m a single 38-year-old woman. I’ve always been interested in fostering, but I thought I’d wait until I got married. That doesn’t seem to be on the horizon, and I’m tired of waiting. Is it possible to foster as a single woman? Will it be too hard? I prefer a baby placed with me since I'm new to parenting.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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How can something that happened in past generations impact us now and affect the way we parent? Join our conversation with Beth Tyson, a childhood trauma consultant and former family-based trauma therapist. She is the author of the children’s books A Grandfamily for Sullivan and Sullivan Goes to See Mama.
In this episode, we cover:
What is intergenerational trauma? In essence, intergenerational trauma is the passing of the emotional pain of one generation to another.
What are some other names it goes by? (generational trauma, historical trauma, or multigenerational trauma)
What types of events can cause intergenerational trauma? (personal and more widespread events)
How can trauma that happened 100 years ago impact us now?
What are the symptoms of intergenerational trauma that we might see in future generations?
How to recognize behavior that is triggering intergenerational trauma?
Researchers are also looking into the possible role of “epigenetic changes.”
How do we know if what we are doing or how we are responding is the result of intergenerational trauma? Questions to ask ourselves about us or our relatives.
ACEs Adverse Childhood Adversity study.
How to heal from this type of trauma?
Recognize that it exists.
Basic background info can be used in understanding trauma.
Become a detective of your past.
What brings up big emotions in you from your child’s behavior?
Apologize when we make mistakes. Acknowledge your mistake.
Positive childhood experiences.
Children need to be “claimed.” They need to belong and have one person who is committed to them.
Traditions.
Connecting to their history—cultural, religious, family.
Put as many of their family connections in their life as is possible.
Resiliency through moderate and predictable stressors. Ex. sports.
Practical tips that can help you when you’re in the heat of the moment.
Have mantras to help you cope. “My child is a good child who is having a hard time. I’m a good parent who is having a hard time.”
For kinship families (although it can be applicable to all families), how do you deal with guilt that you potentially passed on your trauma to your child, and now the child you are raising is suffering as a result?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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What should you expect when adopting internationally or bringing a child into your home from foster care? Check out our discussion with Dr. Robin Gurwitch a licensed clinical psychologist with close to 30 years of experience in evidence-based treatments and the impact of trauma/disaster/terrorism on children. She is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center and the Director of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and Child-Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) Training at the Center for Child & Family Health. She has been a National Child Traumatic Stress Network member since 2001.
In this episode, we cover:
While there are some distinctions, children adopted from US foster care and children adopted internationally have much in common.
We say that the vast majority of children adopted through foster care or internationally have special needs. In addition to the medical or physical needs we might see, there are also emotional and behavioral needs, and today, we will focus on those needs.
What are some of the factors that influence the behaviors of children adopted from foster care or adopted abroad?
Neglect (lack of stimulation)
Abuse
Maternal substance abuse and subsequent prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs
Multiple caregivers
Institutionalization (multiple caregivers, neglect, removal from birth family)
Does the length of time in the institution impact psychological and physical development?
May have entered the institution after having lived in a family first.
What different types of care are available, and how do these different types of care impact the child’s behavior and development?
Lack of education
Child leaving familiar ties and surroundings
What are some expected or typical behaviors common in children who have experienced these?
Attachment issues
Food insecurity-how does that look
Sleep issues
Attention Issues
Post-traumatic stress
Impacts of prenatal substance abuse
Specific Impact of Institutionalization
Lack of understanding of the meaning of family
Parentified children and not seeing adults as a source of meeting needs
Impacts of neglect
Impacts of abuse (often, we don’t have reports of abuse in the child’s file)
How common is sexual abuse in foster care or children in orphanages or institutions abroad? What are the behaviors that might result from sexual abuse?
Impact of the child leaving familiar ties and surroundings
What type of parenting is effective at helping kids adjust?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: We are currently going through our home study to adopt from foster care, and I'm wondering if it is too early to look at photo listings? I have been looking at photo listings for a long time, but now, when I read the bios, it feels real, and I get slightly attached. I'm curious if you think this is setting myself up for disappointment.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Have you ever wondered what adult adoptees really think about adoption? Join us to hear about the Profiles in Adoption: Adult Adoptee Experiences report, based on research by the National Council for Adoption.
How satisfied are adult adoptees in general—life satisfaction?
Did they think that adoption could and did work in their best interest? In the best interest of their birth family? In the best interest of their adoptive family?
What were their thoughts on openness in adoption?
For transracial adoptions: Do you believe your adoptive parent(s) did a sufficient job at discussing issues of race/ethnicity with you?
What were their thoughts on whether to allow transracial adoptions?
Were adoptees in favor of their families having an annual recognition of adoption?
Specific questions for those adopted from foster care. P. 25
Specific questions for those adopted as infants domestically. P. 28
Specific questions for those adopted internationally P. 30
Advice for future adoptive parents. P. 32
What adoptees wish their parents had done differently. p. 41
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: We have two boys, ages 10 and 12. We’ve been told that if we become a foster family, the foster children will have to have a room to themselves. Our boys can share a room for another year, but then we want to separate them. Can we just foster for one year? How long do foster kids usually stay?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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There is a huge need for foster and adoptive homes for LGBTQ+ youth in foster care. We interview Holly Harridan and Dr. Shelly Ronen. Holly is a Senior User Experience Researcher at Bloom Works and an applied Anthropologist with a background in queer and feminist studies. Dr. Shelly Ronen is a Senior User Experience Researcher at Bloom Works. She has a Ph.D. in Sociology and specializes in gender and sexuality.
In this episode, we cover:
Terminology. LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA2S+, queer. What does each of the letters mean, and what is correct?
What is the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity?
What are some of the unique challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ youth in foster care?
What does it mean to have an” affirming” home?
Some foster and adoptive parents know in advance that the child that they are fostering or adopting identifies as LGBTQ+, but other times, it is something that they find out later. If they know in advance, what are some things they can do to prepare?
Age-dependent- how to allow exploration without pigeonholing a child too soon?
How should parents handle it if they suspect their child is queer, but their child or youth does not want to talk about it?
Are the issues different depending on whether the youth or young adult is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?
How can parents encourage healthy romantic relationships?
What if you’ve been raised to believe that homosexuality is a sin?
How do you think agencies should balance a commitment to kinship caregivers against a commitment to the safety and affirmation of LGBTQ+ children and youth?
What is your response to people who say that since many foster parents are motivated by religious faith, requiring families to affirm LGBTQ+ children and youth would create a placement crisis?
What resources can foster parents look to for guidance on being affirming of LGBTQ+ children and youth?
Our goal is to provide a nurturing and supportive environment where LGBTQIA+ foster youth can grow, thrive, and develop a strong sense of self-worth and belonging.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: My husband and I want to adopt a baby. We are working with an adoption attorney, and we have to make a book about us and our lives to be shown to women and girls who are considering adoption for their baby. My husband has full-sleeve tattoos on both arms and on his neck. I am worried that it might be a turnoff for a girl choosing a family. Should we use pictures where his tattoos don’t show to up our chances?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Does your child struggle with anger, and do you struggle with how to help them? Tune in to our discussion today with Jessica Sinarski, a certified adoption therapist and author of the picture books Riley the Brave and Your Magic Backpack series. She also serves on the editorial board for The Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma.
In this episode, we cover:
All kids get angry, in fact, all people get angry, so how do we know if our kid has bigger issues with anger management?
Why do kids who have experienced trauma often struggle with anger?
Does it matter the type of trauma: abuse, neglect, adoption?
Does the prenatal environment that is not ideal (maternal stress, alcohol or drug exposure, poor nutrition) impact a child’s or youth’s emotional regulation?
Why do kids seem to overreact—big feelings for what feels like a small issue?
What are some typical triggers that elicit big responses?
Steps for managing natural feelings of anger.
Name with few words.
Working our way back to calm. Co-regulate back to calm. Suggest a break, model deep breath, let’s stop and think, etc.
Give a chance to re-do. Fixing the thing that they broke.
Read books about regulating emotions.
Lots of physical activity.
Steps for maintaining connections with big angry feelings.
Compassion for yourself. It feels hard because it is hard. They have a lot to be angry about.
PACE-playful, acceptance, curious, empathy (from Daniel Hughes)
What do you mean by upstairs and downstairs brains? (from Dan Seigel)
How do we help our kids understand why they are reacting the way they do and how to handle their feelings better?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: My husband and I are starting the adoption process, and so I recently reached out to Human Resources at my place of employment and learned that I do not qualify for short-term disability (STD), so I am not eligible for any type of paid time off when baby eventually comes. Are there any advocacy groups working on getting something similar to short-term disability for adoptive parents, where at least some portion of their salary is paid during the leave? I mean, there is research out there on the importance of bonding and attachment for the future health of children!
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Does your teen seem overly concerned about how they look? Do they seem to overeat or restrict their food intake without worrying about the consequences? This interview with Dr. Charlotte Markey will help. Dr. Markey is a professor of psychology and chair of the Health Sciences Department at Rutgers University, and a research scientist who has published over 100 scholarly articles and chapters about mental health issues. She has been conducting research on eating behavior and body image for over 25 years. She is the author of The Body Image Book for Girls, Being You: The Body Image Book for Boys, and most recently, Adultish: The Body Image Book for Life.
In this episode, we cover:
What do you include when you speak of body image?
I think of it now more about weight, but wouldn’t it include having straight teeth, fewer pimples, and a cute haircut?
Have young people always struggled with body image, or is this something new to our modern times?
When should parents begin to worry that a teen’s concern over body image is becoming too much?
My 17-year-old is beginning to gain quite a bit of weight, and her doctor is concerned. She doesn’t seem to be worried about it, but I am worried that she is establishing bad habits. We eat “normal,” relatively healthy food at home and have some “treats,” but not a huge amount, so she’s not gaining weight from what she is eating at home. She is driving now and stops frequently to eat fast food and then doesn’t eat much of what we serve for our meals. She also buys a lot of chips, sodas, and cookies and eats them in her room all evening. This is beginning to feel like disordered eating to me.
Parents worry that if they say anything, they are drawing attention and casting too much emphasis on weight.
I have a 16-year-old girl who is very aware of her weight. I think some degree of that is normal, but I see that she is adding more exercise to her routine even though she has always been active in sports. I also see that she is eating less and less at our meals, but then she eats an entire pint of ice cream. She loves clothes and is very pleased when she drops a size. Should I be worried?
What is intuitive eating?
Are the body image issues for boys different than for girls?
What teens are at the greatest risk of developing an eating disorder?
Are youth who have experienced trauma or food insecurity at greater risk?
Are teens with ADHD at greater risk for eating disorders, especially overeating?
What protective factors should we add to our kids' lives when we see them struggling?
Where do you go first for help when your teen is in trouble?
The impact of GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy on body image of teens.
What are the impacts of social media and mainstream media on body image and identity development?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: I just became a foster parent of a 14-year-old girl. She came with a cell phone paid for by her prior foster family. I told them I wanted to take over payments. I also want to sit down with her periodically and spontaneously and ask her to show me what she’s been doing on her phone while I show her what I do on my phone. I hope she will realize she can tell me anything and that I won’t hide things from her. Is this a good idea? How should I approach it? Do you think it will build trust, or will she resent it?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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If you are considering domestic infant adoption, you need to listen to this show to better understand the possibility that the expectant mom may change her mind. Our guest is adoption attorney, Lila Bradley, who has practiced law relating to adoption and child welfare law for the past 20 years.
In this episode, we discuss:
Distinction between failed match and adoption dissolution or sometimes known as disruption.
What is the “typical” process for domestic infant adoption whether the adoptive parents are using an adoption agency or an adoption attorney?
When do the adoptive parents legally become the baby’s parents?
When can a mom change her mind and decide to parent the baby?
Keep in mind that what prospective adoptive parents see as a “failure” very well may be seen as a “success” by the biological parents.
Creating a Family resource: Failed Adoption Matches: How Common? How Costly? How to Survive
What are some signs that an adoption match may fail and the mom will decide to parent?
When is the most common time for a mom to change her mind and decide to parent?
Does it matter what stage of pregnancy the match was made?
How often do biological moms change their mind about placing their baby for adoption?
Do adoptive parents lose money if the adoption match fails?
Suggestions on how adoptive parents can cope when an adoption match falls apart?
Do adoption matches with foster children disrupt?
Do adoption matches in international adoption disrupt?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: I’m a foster-to-adopt mom. I have 3 children. Two have already been adopted, and we are in the process of adopting one. My oldest son, who is 5 years old and turning 6 in Aug, had parental visits, but they were terminated when the parental rights were terminated, and he no longer sees them. It's been a year since the last visit. My daughter never had visits and doesn’t see her bio family, but I send the family a twice-a-year email with photos and updates. My current foster child, who is 4 years old, has once-a-week phone calls with his mom, who is in prison. My 5-year-old son is really struggling with seeing his younger brother getting phone calls with his bio Mom since he no longer sees his bio parents, and it’s hard for him to understand why his brother talks to his mom, but he does not. Each one of my child's stories is very different, but my oldest one notices the differences and doesn't understand why they're in the same family but have different relationships with past foster families and biological parents. How do I navigate this as he gets older?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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What is human trafficking? Is your child at increased risk of being trafficked? Listen to this conversation with guests Dr. Yolanda Montgomery, a nurse, advocate, and the founder of Zoë Ministries, a nonprofit established in 2012 to combat human trafficking in Delaware and beyond, and Sara Poore, the Executive Director of the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council (DATAC), leading statewide efforts to prevent human trafficking, support survivors, and strengthen community partnerships.
In this episode, we discuss:
What is human trafficking, and how does it show up in the lives of children and teens in the U.S.?
Why might children who have experienced foster care, adoption, or relative caregiving be at higher risk for trafficking?
What role do things like running away, online activity, or mental health play in increasing risk?
Are there particular ages or developmental stages when children are most at risk?
What systemic factors—such as placement instability or a lack of adult oversight—contribute to vulnerability?
What signs or red flags should caregivers be watching for in their children or teens?
How does trafficking often begin for vulnerable youth?
What should a caregiver do if they suspect trafficking or exploitation?
If a child discloses trafficking or exploitation, what should a caregiver’s first response be?
What kinds of services or professionals should a caregiver seek out to help a child recover from trafficking or exploitation?
What are some preventative actions parents and caregivers can build into their homes and relationships with their kids?
What can caregivers be sensitive to at home, things that may contribute to increasing risk factors for our kids who are more vulnerable to these risks? (
What conversations should caregivers be having regularly with their tweens or teens about trafficking risks?
What resources, hotlines, or support networks should every caregiver have saved in their phones, or know about?
In addition to being the one safe, stable, nurturing adult in a child’s life, what other practical protective factors can parents and caregivers incorporate into their home’s daily rhythms?
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Does your child have a disability or have some label? If so, you need to listen to this interview with Dr. Deborah Winking, an educational psychologist and a special education teacher. She is the author of Capable: A Story of Triumph for Children the World Has Judges as “Different” and Raising Capable Kids. She is the mother of four, including one adopted child and one child with a neurological disorder.
In this episode, we cover: Many of our kids have hidden disabilities caused by trauma. These disabilities can look like so many different things, including behavior problems.
You say these 12 habits are to change yourself, not your child. Why?
Habit 1: Believe that effort creates ability
Habit 3: Set a vision of capability with your child and adjust it over time
Habit 6: Send capable messages: Use words and act in ways that let your child know that you think they are capable
Habit 8: Challenge your child in ways that regularly take them (and you) outside your comfort zone.
Habit 10: Allow your child to make choices and experience the consequences of those choices
Habit 11: celebrate your child’s persistence to build a narrative of strength
Order your copy of Raising Capable Kids&use code: Capable20 for a 20% discount and free shipping.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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Question: I was just asked to take on a Spanish-speaking teen with a baby. Do you have any resources to address fostering a teenager with a language barrier, as well as supporting her in developing adult skills and independence? She comes with a complicated history involving immigrating here on her own.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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What do teachers understand about adoption? What are the misperceptions? We talk with two researchers on this topic: Dr. Hal Grotevant, the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Dr. Abbie Goldberg, a Professor of Psychology and current Director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Clark University.
In this episode, we cover:
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of trauma?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of attachment?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of adoption?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of prenatal exposure?
Was there a perception that adopted kids were “troubled”?
What did they know about open adoption?
How accepting were teachers to the idea of modifying assignments to reflect diverse families, including those formed by adoption?
Do teachers know whether kids are adopted? Do they need to know? Do they feel comfortable asking for this information?
Did teachers present lessons that included the diversity that adoption represents?
Does teacher training, either formal or in-service, often include information on adoption?
What can parents do to help their child’s teacher be more adoption-aware or adoption-sensitive?
Where can listeners get more information on your research?
The “Teachers and Adopted Children” Survey and the Factsheet for Teacher can be found here.
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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