A publication dedicated to making foster care and adoption in North Carolina the best they can be
Agencies often encourage resource parents to use their natural supports and resources while providing care to children in foster care. And rightly so! Having a strong support system helps you weather the surprises and occasional storms that inevitably come their way. Yet when children must leave your home because permanency has been achieved, the people you rely on and are
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Knowing where we will be tonight, tomorrow, and even next year is a privilege many of us take for granted. For children and youth in foster care, uncertainty about the future causes a great deal of stress and anxiety that affects them on countless levels. Tammy Bradley, Foster Care Director at Children’s Hope Alliance, says that at her agency the
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Placement When children enter your home, everyone and everything is strange to them. They are wondering what they did wrong to make them leave their parents. They are afraid and confused. In this situation, possible child behaviors can include crying, screaming, shaking, running away, cursing, defiance, silence, bed-wetting, and fear (e.g., of the dark, the bathroom, people in the home).
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Welcome to the Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina! If you are a foster, adoptive, or kinship family in North Carolina you are automatically a member of FFA-NC. Our organization began more than 40 years ago (in 1975) as the North Carolina Foster Parent Association and changed its name in 2006 to the North Carolina Foster and Adoptive Parent Association
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by Jennifer Nehlsen • Guardians ad litem serve as the voice of the abused and neglected children in their community while the court works to determine the most appropriate permanent plan. Guardians ad litem (GALs) should have direct and sufficient contact with the child-client to carry out an independent and valid investigation of the child-client’s circumstances and to know the
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by Jonathan Rockoff • During the pandemic, child welfare agencies have worked hard to ensure the safety of children and families. To get an inside view of this effort, I spoke with two North Carolina child welfare professionals. Myca Jeter, Foster Care Director for Access Family Services, says after the pandemic hit her immediate concern was for resource families and
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by Jamie Bazemore • The pandemic has brought loss and hardship to so many of us. But for me it has also been a reminder of how adaptable and creative humans can be. Even when faced with disruption and challenges, we somehow find a way to innovate and move forward. I hope when COVID is behind us we will continue
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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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The Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina would like to thank each and every one of you for all that you do for our families. We celebrate every victory that you and your children have overcome together. As we announced in the last Fostering Perspectives, we are working with organizations throughout the state to host conferences. We are still discussing
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When reading profiles of waiting children, I’ve noticed there is often a request for the child to maintain contact with a birth family member, such as a sibling or grandparent, after the adoption. What type of contact is allowed? Is that safe for the child and for adoptive families? Each adoption is unique, especially those involving children in the foster
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