Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Foster Parents Speak
Foster Parents Speak is a short documentary from PhotoSynthesis
Productions which features several real-life foster parents speaking candidly
about their experiences serving kids in the system. Although the film does
appear dated, the content of the interviews continues to be relevant and valuable
to incoming foster parents, without falling into cliché. One foster parent
advises that there’s an important shift for foster parents to make away from “that’s
mine” to “that’s ours.” One reminds new parents that foster parenting “takes
more than love.” One reassures that the good “always outweighed the negative.”
The film covers a range of important topics for incoming
foster parents to consider; birth parent relationships, a child’s reunion with
their birth family, empathy for the birth parents, monitored visitation, and
cooperation with other foster parents and family service professionals are all thoughtfully
discussed. One foster parent reflects on her time as a foster parent with gratitude,
“I have grandkids and children that I’d never thought I’d have.” Foster parents
are encouraged to know that experienced foster parents believe that it is worth
it, and they’re promised, “You will get your joy!”
Foster Parents Speak is part of a trio of foster-adoption
training videos that will find a home in the training curricula of foster and adoption
agencies. The other two films are Gay Parents Speak and Struggle for Identity.
Gay Parents Speak features several foster and adoptive parents speaking
candidly and optimistically about their experiences. Struggle for Identity
features a group of young, transracially-adopted adults sharing honestly about
the difficult aspects of being adopted transracially, and has been a part of
the trainings I’ve presented to prospective foster and adoptive parents for the
past decade. These videos are worth considering as part of a foster family
agency’s onboarding training for new foster and adoptive parents.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment