The Foster Parenting Toolbox

A resource for foster parents offers advice on such topics as working with caseworkers, the impact on the family, discipline, parenting teens, education, and dealing with allegations.

The Foster Parenting Manual is a comprehensive guide offering proven, friendly advice for novice and experienced parents alike. Distilling many years' experience into one book, John DeGarmo combines his own wisdom with that of fellow foster parents. He describes what to expect from the process, how to access help and how to ensure the best care for your child. He tackles thorny issues such as children's use of the Internet and social media, managing contact with birth parents and how to support your child at school. Most importantly, he provides advice designed to help your child feel safe, secure and loved. The Foster Parenting Manual offers seasoned, sympathetic advice that will be valued by foster parents and the professionals who support them.

In The Invisible Toolbox, parents will learn about the ten priceless tools that will fill their child's toolbox when they read aloud to their child from birth; they'll also learn about the tools they can give themselves to foster these gifts in their children. Practical tips for how and what to read aloud to children through their developmental stages, along with Do's and Don'ts and recommended resources, round out all the practical tools a parent will need to prepare their child for kindergarten and beyond.

Noting that over the last decade, the role of a foster parent has evolved from temporary caregiver to essential part of a professional team in determining the best long-term plan for children in their care, this guide focuses on practical ways in which best child welfare practice can be incorporated into the recruitment, training, and support of foster parents. The guide also examines ways that agencies can enhance the role of foster parents in a changing child welfare system. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction," including a history of foster care; (2) "The Roles of Foster Parents"; (3) "Foster Parent as Nurturer and Caregiver"; (4) "Foster Parent as Child Development Support"; (5) "Foster Parent as Disciplinarian"; (6) "Foster Parent as Supporter and Advocate in School Issues"; (7) "Foster Parent as Recruiter, Trainer, and Mentor to New Foster Parents"; (8) "Foster Parent as Mentor to Birth Parents"; (9) "Foster Parent as Facilitator of Relationship between Child and Birth Parents"; (10) "Foster Parent as Potential Adoptive Parent"; and (11) "Foster Parent as Team Member." (Contains 34 references and other resources.) (KB)

This book is a virtual one-step shop for adoption information for readers at any knowledge level . . . Strongly recommended for all public libraries and for all large university social science collections.--Lynn C. Maxwell, "Library Journal."

Foster parenting is often seen as a calling and a mission of love. At the same time, foster parenting can be both very difficult and exhausting. When caring for children who have suffered abuse, neglect, and traumas, foster parents face their own set of unique challenges each day. The Foster Care Survival Guide is a must have for today’s foster parents. It is a guide to surviving the lifestyle of a foster parent filled with personal stories, practical tips and advice, and even humor and emotions, The Foster Care Survival Guide is an essential guide for both novice and experienced foster parents. Leading foster care expert Dr. John DeGarmo combines his own wisdom with that of fellow foster parents. Tackling issues such as helping children with disorders and anxieties, how to best manage the lifestyle of a foster parent, working with birth parents, getting the help you need, addressing your own marriage while caring for children in need, and balancing the needs of your biological children with your foster children, The Foster Care Survival Guide delivers experienced and sympathetic wisdom and advice that every foster parent, advocate, and professional needs today as they care for children in care.

This book is a practical reference guide that provides the most up-to-date information, real-world examples, and resources to guide those who work and live with our struggling students.