Foster Care Stories

Brooke is a foster/adoptive/biological mom of 9, teacher (MEd with a minor in trauma and resilience) and she runs GRITT, a consulting firm focused on trauma Informed care. She also has a TEDx talk called Foster the Revolution You can find Brooke on Instagram as this_foster_life_ and you can check out her practice at www.grittpnw.com

NaTasha has worked for the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services since 2014, first as a caseworker and then moved in a resource development team member. We talk about what her job entails, how she came into doing this work, and her personal passion for customer service within her job with foster parents. The app she references is called House Party and it essentially allows group calls and during the calls you can play game together. My family uses it also and its a blast. As a side note: we discussed a term called CAPs or Corrective Action Plan but perhaps didn't explain it fully. In Georgia if a foster family violates a policy (either intentionally or accidentally) then DFCS can review and give that home a CAPS which is basically how the Department deals with issues that are policy violations NOT related to safety or abuse. For instance: I personally had a CAPs in 2015 for having my 11 year old foster daughter make her own pancakes for dinner and she complained to her worker about it. That was consider "food deprivation" and against policy so I had to take a training class related to food trauma and then the Department closed the incident out. A home is only allowed 3 CAPs before automatic closure so while it is a big deal, it also isn't a reflection of the home that they are being neglectful or abusive. 

Brittaney Allen is a former foster youth, adoptee, wife to Justin, mother to Donovan, and current foster mom. She tells us about her history in foster care, advice for new couples who want to begin fostering, how being an FFY has impacted her parenting, and she also gives us a sneak peek into her new business Foster Love Co. which provides curated boxes designed for foster families.  You can find Brittaney on Instagram and Foster Love Co

Today I welcome my best friend and older sister Elizabeth to the podcast. We talk about my beginnings as a foster parent, how extended family can help support foster families, and whose responsibility is it to make the first move when help is needed. You can't find her online because of privacy reasons (Georgia, where I am licensed through, has policies in place that prevent me from identifying myself or my foster children online) but if you have questions or comments for her please send me a DM through my Instagram account

Premiering May 1, 2020, in honor of National Foster Care Month.