Bruce and Brenda have been married for 33 years and have four daughters. From 2006 to 2009, they provided a kinship placement for their four grandchildren. In 2010, the couple adopted Bruce (now 18 years old), Tre’Nae (now 15 years old), Mason (now 13 years old), and Kiaunna (now 10 years old).

Emphasizes the need for agency assistance and openness toward creative therapeutic services such as music lessons and highlights the need for a strong caregiver support group. This video shares one caregiver’s positive experience working with older youth with special needs in therapeutic foster care.

Addresses the importance of agency resources, such as caregiver support groups and specialized training, to equip caregivers to work successfully with children and youth who have severe therapeutic needs. This video highlights a therapeutic foster parent's belief that effective advocacy relies on agency resources and training as well as community support.

Use the template and instructions provided to develop parent partner program manuals.

Use the four domain areas of the Parent Partner Program Navigator to learn the key components of designing and implementing successful parent partner programs.

Learn how child welfare professionals and family leaders can use the Parent Partner Program Navigator, a web-based, interactive resource that offers guidance for designing and implementing parent partner programs at child welfare agencies.

This handout is part of the series, “Perspectives on Normalcy: Videos and Discussion Questions.” It is designed to facilitate discussion about the issues raised in the video, “Kinship Adoption: You Get a Call, ‘Do You Want These Kids?’”

Hear about the challenges and experiences of an adoptive family and how they created belonging, healthy development, and normal experiences.

Browse casework activities to use before, during, and after a caseworker visit with children, youth, and families.

Learn how supervisors and program managers can assist child welfare caseworkers in conducting quality visits with parents.

Highlights the importance of recognizing the foster family as an extension of a child’s biological family and the role of effective communication between caregivers and biological family members. This video shares the experience of one caregiver who found that successful collaboration with biological family members, along with agency assistance to promote family engagement, proved effective for family reunification.

Hear from a family about the challenges of dealing with an autism diagnosis and other issues while navigating the child welfare system.

Explore coaching steps and tips supervisors can use to help workers strengthen skills and meet goals.

Highlights motivating factors for caregivers serving children with therapeutic needs, including the value of caregiver support networks, continuous training, and a commitment to strengthen families within the caregiver’s community. This video shares a foster mother’s experiences collaborating with biological families toward positive outcomes for the children in her care.

Demonstrates the power of positive caregiver perspective alongside child welfare agency encouragement and support. In this video, caregivers share the concerns they had about becoming foster parents and discuss the resources that helped them become committed and effective foster parents.