Resources for Foster Parents

There is no mas­ter play­book for fos­ter par­ent­ing, but the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Child Wel­fare Strat­e­gy Group has iden­ti­fied 10 online resources aimed at help­ing care­givers suc­ceed in this crit­i­cal role.

Check out…

“It Matters…A LOT”
A blog post, writ­ten by an adop­tion recruiter in Ohio, that under­scores the impor­tance of keep­ing sib­lings togeth­er in fos­ter care.

Sup­port­ing Your LGBTQ Youth
A fact sheet focused on help­ing fos­ter par­ents sup­port LGBTQ youth. This doc­u­ment iden­ti­fies the unique risks that LGBTQ face, how fos­ter par­ents can help reduce these risks and more.

Humans of Fos­ter Care
A Face­book page fea­tur­ing posts from the fos­ter care com­mu­ni­ty, includ­ing sto­ries from fos­ter par­ents, case­work­ers and youth in care.

Nation­al Fos­ter Par­ent Association
The offi­cial Face­book page of the NFPA, a non­prof­it ded­i­cat­ed to aid­ing fos­ter par­ents in achiev­ing safe­ty, per­ma­nence and well-being for the chil­dren and youth in their care.

Rise
A mag­a­zine writ­ten by par­ents who have per­son­al expe­ri­ence nav­i­gat­ing the child wel­fare system.

Social Media Tips for Fos­ter Par­ents and Caregivers
A three-page fact sheet with ques­tions and tips for fos­ter par­ents to con­sid­er when explor­ing social media use for them­selves or a child in their care.

Grand­par­ents Rais­ing Grandchildren
A web­page with tar­get­ed advice for grand­par­ents who have stepped in to serve as the pri­ma­ry par­ent for their grandchildren.

Resources Espe­cial­ly for Fos­ter or Adop­tive Families
A web­page geared toward sup­port­ing fos­ter par­ents and adop­tive par­ents who have a child with dis­abil­i­ties in their care.

Keep­ing the Con­ver­sa­tion Alive
A hand­out that tells child wel­fare pro­fes­sion­als, care­givers and oth­er car­ing adults what they can do to help con­nect youth in fos­ter care to a per­ma­nent family.

Fos­ter Par­ent Links
A wide-rang­ing cat­a­log of web resources — includ­ing links to help­ful books, train­ing options and foun­da­tions ded­i­cat­ed to sup­port­ing the suc­cess of youth in fos­ter care.

Do you have a favorite resource for fos­ter par­ents? If so, share on Twit­ter using #Fos­ter­Par­en­tRe­source.