F.A.C.E

Foster and Adoptive Community Engagement

Purpose:

Foster and adoptive parenting can be some of the most rewarding work in life! It can also be some of the most lonely and heart-wrenching work. Grace Children's Home is beginning to build a regional foster and adoptive community by engaging families with education, fellowship and resources to increase permanency and decrease disruptions in placements. We also want to educate others in our community to raise awareness of the special needs of foster and adoptive families. Why don't you consider allowing Grace Children's Home to join you on your foster/adoptive journey.


Community:

  • Biological Parents wanting/needing support with attachment and trauma.
  • Kinship Parents—current, former or interested.
  • Foster Parents—current, former or interested.
  • Adoptive Parents—current, former or interested.
  • Community Leaders—civic, church, educational, law enforcement.
  • Children or family members touched by foster care, adoption, or trauma.

Foundation:

  • Many individuals and families feel alone in their journey through foster and adoptive care. Normalizing difficulties associated with foster and adoptive relationships builds common identity and promotes a pathway to communication, understanding and healing.
  • Much of the public is unaware of the effects and costs of childhood trauma. Healthy foster and adoptive communities raise awareness of lingering effects from childhood trauma in the public spectrum.
  • Healthy foster and adoptive communities stimulate conversation about ongoing needs for community action at the local and state level.
  • Healthy families glorify God.

Activities:

1.      Host regional resource meetings with relevant trauma-informed speakers.

  • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
  • Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD).
  • Adverse Childhood Experience (ACES).
  • Trust-based Relational Intervention (TBRI).
  • Parenting Strategies.

 

2.      Provide fellowship opportunities for foster and adoptive families.

  • Meals
  • Childcare
  • Games
  • Education

 

3.      Develop a lending library for books, videos and occupational therapy devices.

  • Sensory blankets and toys.
  • Current literature, books, tapes.
  • Family-friendly videos.
  • Adoption and foster-friendly movies.

 

4.      Provide resources for furniture and clothes for foster and adoptive families.

  • Solicit churches and individuals to collect, assemble and distribute clothing and furniture for foster and adoptive families.
  • Provide go-bags for foster children to be distributed on a state-wide level.


 

5.      Develop and connect a qualified pool of respite providers.

  • Identify capable and willing families.
  • Provide training and support.
  • Provide resources needed to fulfill respite position.

 

6.      Develop and deploy peer counseling groups to provide encouragement to those faced with disruption potential.

 

7.      Provide information for educators to increase awareness of trauma behaviors in children.