FosterClub Offers Youth Perspective on March CaseyChat

Celeste Bod­ner is both a fos­ter par­ent and the founder and exec­u­tive direc­tor at Fos­ter­Club, a nation­al net­work for young peo­ple in fos­ter care. On March 14, 2017, Casey and Bod­ner teamed up for an hour-long Twit­ter chat about fos­ter par­ent­ing and the dif­fer­ence a good fos­ter par­ent can make in a child’s life.

If you missed the chat, you can still catch up on the con­ver­sa­tion. To do so:

• Search #Cas­ey­Chat on Twit­ter; or
• See below to read the ques­tions and some of the great responses. 

Q1. What can fos­ter par­ents do to make youth feel wel­come when enter­ing care? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​L​Z​0​k​1​yQspj

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A1. Great fos­ter par­ents make youth feel wel­come into their home by pro­vid­ing a per­son­al space and per­son­al­ized décor. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A1. Fos­ter fam­i­lies may be very excit­ed to meet a new youth, but under­stand the youth may need time and space to build trust. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

@AECFNews A1. Give lots of grace if they don’t remem­ber spe­cif­ic ways of your home. Espe­cial­ly if kids have been in mul­ti­ple homes. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter Love Project (@FosterLovePgh) March 14, 2017

A1: Par­ents can include youth in their tra­di­tions. Include youth in hol­i­days, vaca­tions, fam­i­ly pho­to shoots, etc. @AECFNews #cas­ey­chat

— Tim­o­thy Bell (@_timtimtim_) March 14, 2017

A 1. #cas­ey­chat learn about #trau­ma & #resilience-use con­crete activ­i­ties/­tools-child may not ​“feel wel­come” while griev­ing-its not personal

— Sue Badeau (@SueBadeau) March 14, 2017

Q2. How can fos­ter par­ents sup­port a youth’s edu­ca­tion? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​4​C​S​p​R​phuCz

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A2. A cru­cial part of school is extra-cur­ric­u­lar activ­i­ties. Youth rely on FPs to sign them up, dri­ve to prac­tice, and cheer! #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

@AECFNews A2: Just as you would your own bio chil­dren. Cre­ate rela­tion­ships and con­nec­tions with teach­ers; be involved #cas­ey­chat

— CSF­PA (@CSFPA) March 14, 2017

A2. Care­givers can serve as an edu­ca­tion­al advo­cate for their kids, espe­cial­ly young peo­ple who are on an IEP. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A2. School is often a game-chang­er for young peo­ple in fos­ter care, fos­ter par­ents help ensure youth are suc­cess­ful in school. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A2: School advo­ca­cy to build on strengths,adapt cur­ricu­lum to sup­port them. Com­mu­ni­cate high expec­ta­tions to youth & school. #cas­ey­chat

— Janis Avery (@JanisAverySays) March 14, 2017

Q3. How can fos­ter par­ents help youth stay con­nect­ed to rel­a­tives? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​Y​U​v​c​U​p30Vl

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A3. A great fos­ter par­ent under­stands that a young per­son deserves love from their fos­ter fam­i­ly AND their bio­log­i­cal fam­i­ly! #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A3. Great fos­ter par­ents help a fos­ter child nav­i­gate the dif­fi­cult emo­tion­al rela­tion­ships with bio­log­i­cal fam­i­ly mem­bers. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A3. A child may not reuni­fy with bio­log­i­cal fam­i­ly, but a fos­ter par­ent helps a youth main­tain safe con­nec­tions with rel­a­tives. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

Q4. What role do fos­ter par­ents play in help­ing youth devel­op their iden­ti­ty? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​l​5​c​k​S​A7dam

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A4. A youth may try to fit into a fos­ter fam­i­ly and some­times gives up iden­ti­ty in doing so. FPs help a youth find them­selves! #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A4. A great fos­ter par­ent respects the past expe­ri­ences and beliefs a young per­son has regard­ing reli­gion. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

@AECFNews A4. If their her­itage or skin col­or dif­fers from yours, be sure they have role mod­els & con­nec­tions who they can relate to. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter Love Project (@FosterLovePgh) March 14, 2017

A4. Cul­ture can be a source of pride for youth! A fos­ter par­ent helps a young per­son estab­lish ties to their cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

Q5. How should fos­ter par­ents pre­pare youth for life after #fos­ter­care? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​E​N​n​A​8​hgBmB

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A5. Great fos­ter par­ents help young peo­ple prac­tice life skills — like cook­ing, mon­ey man­age­ment, and hav­ing a first job. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

@AECFNews A5. Assure them their sup­port is not going away because they have ​“aged out”. Con­tin­ue to help with edu­ca­tion & jobs. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter Love Project (@FosterLovePgh) March 14, 2017

A5. Prepa­ra­tion for inde­pen­dent life includes build­ing strong rela­tion­ships. FPs help youth build peer social skills. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A5: Be clear their door is always open. Most youth leave #Fos­ter­Care w/​out affir­ma­tion of the con­tin­ue famil­ial rela­tion­ship. �� ��#Cas­ey­Chat https://t.co/VfAUk6J2bM

— Lupe (@AbsoluteLu) March 14, 2017

A5. Youth in fos­ter care should be encour­aged to have first jobs as teens. FPs assist with job search, dress­ing for suc­cess etc. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

Q6. How do rela­tion­ships with fos­ter par­ents evolve as youth get old­er? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​n​W​4​z​6​qi7MO

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A6. As a fos­ter youth grows more com­fort­able in a fos­ter home, they will begin to open up nat­u­ral­ly. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A6: The love grows deep­er, stronger and the rela­tion­ship becomes more sol­id. @AECFNews #cas­ey­chat #unbreak­able

— Sain­tA (@SaintAorg) March 14, 2017

@AECFNews A6. They become more like friend­ships, or men­tor­ships. #cas­ey­chat

— Royce Markley (@RoyceMarkley) March 14, 2017

A6: Awww! WE GROW UP I’m in my 30s! We give in return! We lean on each oth­er! We celebrate&support through life­long mile­stones! #Cas­ey­Chat �� https://t.co/fG9QABbT3T

— Lupe (@AbsoluteLu) March 14, 2017

Q7. What resources are avail­able to sup­port the men­tal health of those in #fos­ter­care? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​r​R​e​n​p​Czzqx

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A7. Great fos­ter par­ents are trau­ma-informed! This includes read­ing the lat­est research on how trau­ma impacts child devel­op­ment. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A7. A FP is a youth’s best advo­cate in seek­ing the men­tal health sup­ports and can often help avoid the overuse of med­ica­tions! #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A7.2 Team approach of fos­ter par­ents, edu­ca­tors, bio par­ents, coun­selors, and health providers to meet the needs of the child. #cas­ey­chat

— Sain­tA (@SaintAorg) March 14, 2017

A7: One option is Peer Net­works of Sup­port: @FosterClub @jimcaseyyouth @FYinAction @FCAANational @YouthMOVE Local Youth Boards! �� #cas­ey­chat https://t.co/csZ8AKJe1g

— Lupe (@AbsoluteLu) March 14, 2017

Q8. What is your advice for those think­ing about fos­ter par­ent­ing? #cas­ey­chat pic​.twit​ter​.com/​C​x​v​1​G​lxAMt

— Annie E. Casey Fdn (@AECFNews) March 14, 2017

A8. Talk to the youth in care, find out what their needs are and how you can ful­fill. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A8. Talk to the youth in care, find out what their needs are and how you can ful­fill. #cas­ey­chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A8. Those in fos­ter care aren’t dam­aged goods. They are indi­vid­u­als who just need lov­ing and nur­tur­ing. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Jacquinn Scales (@jacquinnscales) March 14, 2017

A8. Find a sup­port net­work of oth­er fos­ter par­ents to ask ques­tions and get guid­ance. #Cas­ey­Chat

— Fos­ter­Club (@fosterclub) March 14, 2017

A 8. #cas­ey­chat #read books but most­ly meet oth­er #fos­ter­par­ents, go to con­fer­ences, talk to your kids & ext fam­i­ly, build sup­port network

— Sue Badeau (@SueBadeau) March 14, 2017

A8: Try­ing not to �� here… you can fill a youth’s life w/​a par­en­t’s love dur­ing a vital time when their bio-fam­i­ly can’t. #Cas­ey­Chat ���� https://t.co/GU8X6yLewO

— Lupe (@AbsoluteLu) March 14, 2017

Thanks, again, to Bod­ner, Fos­ter­Club, and every­one who shared their ideas and insights on fos­ter par­ent­ing dur­ing the ses­sion. To catch Casey’s next Twit­ter chat, be sure to fol­low the Foun­da­tion at @AECFNews.