May was first declared as National Foster Care Month in 1988. Since then, May has been a time to acknowledge the contributions of foster caregivers and the needs of children in foster care. In 2015, there were an estimated 427,910 children in foster care. A child can be removed from the home and placed in foster care for a variety of reasons including abuse or neglect, parent-child conflict, and the presence of serious physical or behavioral problems in the child that cannot be addressed in the home.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has compiled a list of helpful resources for birth parents, resource parents, (i.e. foster care, kinship care providers, and adoptive parents), youth, and child welfare and mental health professionals that address the needs of children and adolescents in foster care including mental health treatment, permanency planning, and the transition to independence for older foster care youth.
A list of external resources related to foster care is available here.
Addresses the importance of understanding the special developmental needs of young traumatized children. This webinar discusses appropriate referrals for consultation and describes a cutting edge developmental intervention for children in the child welfare system.
Provides guidance to judges and attorneys on how to recognize trauma and its effects on birth parents. This fact sheet helps judges and attorneys recognize the potential impact of trauma on parenting.
Provides suggestions that resource parents can use to recognize how trauma may have impacted the way birth parents parent.
Describes the complex trauma and mental health of children placed in foster care among NCTSN care recipients as well as policy recommendations.
Introduces core concepts for enhancing diversity-informed practice. This webinar presents vignettes to highlight how each core concept can be applied to child welfare practice.
Addresses attachment and its implications for young traumatized children in the child welfare system and discusses the nature of typically developing attachment relationships, as well as the impact of trauma and maltreatment on such relationships.
Discusses the impact of trauma and the experience of young children in the child welfare system and the signs, symptoms, and consequences of trauma in infants, young children, and their caregivers.
Discusses the unique characteristics of young children in foster care as they recover from abuse and neglect.
Highlights the importance of understanding the serious consequences that trauma histories can have for birth parents and the subsequent potential impact on their parenting. This fact sheet is for child welfare workers.