Foster Care - Voices of Lived Experience - Center for States - Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Voices of Lived Experience Logo inside Speech Bubble

Capacity Building

CENTER FOR STATES

Listen as resource parents explain what it means be a support to families of children in their care rather than a substitute for parents, and the training and support networks that helped them through challenges. Parent storytellers discuss the collaborative relationships they forged with resource parents and social workers to achieve better outcomes for themselves and their children. Youth and young adults talk about separation from siblings and culture and their journeys to reconnect, the stigma of being in foster care, and the importance of supportive relationships and of speaking up.

Find foster care stories that best meet your needs by selecting filters on the left and use them with activities from the discussion guide to build understanding and connections between people as you advocate, inspire, support, recruit, train, and coach individuals and teams.

Showing 1 - 5 of 23 Voices of Lived Experience Stories
Video

Hear a foster and adoptive father of African American boys talk about fighting cultural biases to support his sons’ well-being.

Video

Listen to a foster care advocate’s mental health journey.

Video

Learn about how Jamall reunified with family members and enjoyed family cookouts and holidays with the help of Jennifer and the Family Finder program through Kinnect Ohio.

Video

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.

Video

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.