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 36 - 40 of 47 Voices of Lived Experience Stories
Video

Addresses motivations for becoming a kinship parent and the importance of having agency guidance and support to navigate shifting family roles and dynamics.

Video

Highlights the significant impact agency staff have on the kinship and foster parent experience and in helping families serve as a resource for the birth families of the children in their care.

Video

Highlights the role agency resources and family support can play in helping kinship families face challenges.

Video

Watch as Amnoni relates her experience in the foster car system, including her struggles and quest for stability and normalcy.

Video

Desiree is an alumna of the foster care system. She lived with the same foster care family for 14 years.