A publication dedicated to making foster care and adoption in North Carolina the best they can be
The NC Division of Social Services is proud to offer fosteringNC.org, a learning site for our state’s resource parents. This site features online courses, webinar recordings, videos and podcasts, and answers to frequently asked questions. Free courses include: Human Trafficking 101 for Resource Parents. This 90-minute course explains what human trafficking is, how to recognize it, and how North Carolina
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by Glenda Clare • While COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for all North Carolinians, grandfamilies have been especially hard hit. More than 89,000 North Carolina children and youth are members of grandfamilies created when a grandparent or other family member raises the child of a relative unable or unwilling to parent. Although most heads of grandfamilies are under age 60
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by Amy Huntsman and Maurita McCorkle • Resiliency is the ability to bounce back from a tough situation. Although the concept is simple, putting it into action can be tough for resource parents during normal times. With a pandemic, a contentious election, and civil unrest all going on, it can be even harder. The good news? Finding joy and trying
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by Amy Huntsman • Therapy is an important tool for helping youth in foster care develop coping mechanisms and process trauma. It can be so helpful to have a safe place and an unbiased person to be honest with. Telehealth therapy, also called “teletherapy,” is mental health treatment in which patients receive counseling from licensed therapists online, usually with a
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Foster and adoptive parents and kinship caregivers in North Carolina may find the following pandemic-related resources helpful. NC Resources COVID-19 North Carolina Dashboard General Child Welfare COVID-19 Guidance (May 1, 2020) Promotional Toolkit to inform and educate North Carolinians about COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and preventative measures they can take to protect themselves and their loved ones COVID-19 Video Playlist
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by LeAnn McKoy • COVID-19 created the opportunity for the NC Division of Social Services to review its policies and practices to ensure the safety of children and families. We all have learned to wear masks, wash our hands more, and maintain physical distance from family and friends. New processes were adopted, while safety of children and families remained the
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by Jessica Dym Bartlett, Jessica Griffin, Dana Thomson • The following guidance, recommendations, and resources are provided by child trauma experts at Child Trends and the Child Trauma Training Center at the University of Massachusetts. The Center is housed at the University of Massachusetts with Child Trends as the lead evaluating agency, with funding from SAMHSA and the National Child
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by Jeanne Preisler • Even in times of stress, all families have strengths they can build on when they have the right supports. The Strengthening Families Protective Factor Framework® gives us some tangible tools we can lean into during this pandemic and its aftermath. Protective Factor: Parental Resilience What It Is: The ability to manage your reactions to stress and
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by Jodi Franck • Who can you count on when times are hard? If the COVID-19 crisis has taught me anything, it’s that when challenges arise, resource parents step up. How do I know? Through my work overseeing the licensing of North Carolina’s foster parents I have had the privilege to hear about some of the many extraordinary actions resource
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The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has developed a useful handout that offers activity ideas to parents whose families are sheltering in place, social distancing, and homeschooling due to school closures amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. This fact sheet outlines activities families can do without supplies, in lighted or dark areas, to stay preoccupied when dealing with the stress of a
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