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May 13, 2022
Title: May is National Foster Care Month
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Helen Richardson
with Focus on the Family www.Family.org
Part 1 of 3
There are over 400,000 children in foster care across America today. Not everyone is called to be a foster or adoptive parent, but every Christian is called to help in some way.
Helen Richardson is the Foster and Adoption Care Manager at Focus on the Family. She also oversees
Focus on the Family’s Wait No More , providing events, resources, and education for foster children and families.
Today, Helen talks about her own experience as a foster child and teen. She also offers encouragement to foster and adoptive parents and helps us understand more about the needs they have.
Click
here to read more on
National Foster Care Month.
Click here for more information about adoption and foster care from
Focus on the Family.
Questions/Issues Discussed:
Unfortunately, Helen and her sister grew up in the foster care system. What was her life like?
What is the difference between kinship care and foster care?
Are there plenty of resources available to families who wish to kinship and/or foster care? Helen discusses some of the resources available. Click the links above for more information and help.
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Title: Part 2 of 3 - May is National Foster Care Month
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Helen Richardson
with Focus on the Family www.Family.org
Questions/Issues Discussed:
Not everyone is called to be a foster or adoptive parent, but everyone can help
in some way. Helen offers some suggestions, like donating money to provide
suitcases and large duffle bags for kids’ belongings. She recalls her own
experience throwing a few items that were hers in a plastic garbage bag and how
discouraging it was. It might seem like a little thing to some people, but to
her (and other foster kids) it would have meant the world to have something that
was her own.
Click
here to donate to the Wait No More initiative.
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Title: Part 3 of 3 - May is National Foster Care Month
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Helen Richardson
with Focus on the Family www.Family.org
Questions/Issues Discussed:
In the last segment, Helen discussed the importance of foster kids feeling like
they belong and how we can help provide a little hope to them through a simple
suitcase.
What other ways can we help foster kids and foster/adoptive parents? Everyone
can pray! Click
here
to request your FREE downloadable Foster Care Prayer Guide from
Focus on the Family.
Are all foster children/teens troubled and “hard to handle”? Helen
reminds us that they are just kids who will have issues like every other kid.
What is the mission and purpose of Focus on the Family’s Wait No More
initiative? Click here for all the
details.
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May 14, 2021
Title: May is National Foster Care Month
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Helen Richardson
with Focus on the Family www.Family.org
May is National Foster Care Month. Not everyone is called to be a foster or adoptive parent, but every Christian is called to help in some way.
Helen Richardson is the Foster Care and Adoption Manager at Focus on the Family. As a former foster child herself, she has some great insight on how we can all help in some way.
Click here for more information about foster and adoptive care from
Focus on the Family.
Questions/Issues Discussed:
How was Helen personally impacted while in the foster care system?
Are all the children in the foster care system “bad kids”?
How can someone become a foster parent? How can Focus on the Family help get the process started?
What are some of the needs foster kids have? Suitcases or duffle bags (most foster kids use trash bags for their belongings!) Beds, clothing, diapers, books, toys, and gift cards. Meals for foster families. Lots and lots of prayer.
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October 11, 2018
Title: Helping Foster Children and Foster Parents
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Dr. Sharen Ford
with Wait No More (www.WaitNoMore.org)
On any given day, there are nearly 438,000 children in foster care
in the United States. In addition, it is estimated that more
than 13 million children are living in homes with their grandparents.
Dr. Sharen Ford serves as the Adoption Consultant for I Care about Orphans, part
of Focus on the Family. Dr. Ford is a nationally recognized child welfare
consultant and the retired Manager for Permanency Services for the Colorado
Department of Human Services in the Division of Child Welfare Services.
Questions/Issues Discussed:
More often than not, do children in foster care have fairly miserable young
lives?
How can the average foster parent create happy memories for the child or
children in their care?
Why is it important to ignore the texts, emails, and TV and engage with
children?
Why is training required in order to become a foster parent, grandparent, or
respite caregiver?
Click here www.icareaboutorphans.org for more parenting help.
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February 15, 2017
Title: Saving Texas Kids
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Kevin Roberts
with Roberts for TX 126 www.RobertsTX126.com
Representative Kevin Roberts has introduced two bills (HB871 and HB872) which would improve the current foster care system in Texas and offer more aid to not only foster/adoptive parents, but to birth parents, as well.
Questions/Issues Discussed:
Are Texas children at risk to suffer from abuse and/or neglect in the current foster care system?
Is the CPS system across Texas stretched to the breaking point? US District Judge Janice Jack has declared that the Texas foster care system is “unconstitutional” and has become an “emergency issue”.
How can churches and other non-profits come alongside a parent or parents and help them before a child suffers abuse and/or neglect?
One part of Representative Robert’s bill HB871 would allow struggling birth parents to approach churches and non-profits seeking help without CPS involvement. How would that work?
How can we all help? Kevin asks everyone to call their state Representatives to encourage them to pass HB871 and HB872.
If you have a personal story concerning the Texas foster care system or
suggestions on how churches and non-profits can help birth parents through tough
times, please contact us
here.
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February 7, 2017
Title: Fixing the Broken Foster Care System
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Brandon Logan
with Texas Public Policy Foundation (www.TexasPolicy.com)
Texas Public Policy Foundation Center for Families and Children
Director Brandon Logan was recently invited to give testimony before the Texas
Senate Committee for Health and Human Services to consider Senate Bill 11,
relating to the administration of services by the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
“Centralized state control over the care of foster children is inherently unworkable in a state as large and diverse as Texas,” said Logan. “Communities are in the best position to help parents and care for kids. SB11 gives communities the ability to do that.”
Questions/Issues Discussed:
Why should Texas address the care of foster children?
Do teenagers really suffer more in the foster system?
How does SB11 decentralize a “one-size-fits-all” scenario?
How old are the current foster care guidelines in Texas? HINT: Really, really, really OLD!!!
How much will SB11 cost taxpayers?
How can non-profit organizations be utilized within the foster care system across Texas thru SB11?
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January 26, 2017
Title: Foster Care Will Wreck You
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Terry Lowry
with Host of the What's UP Radio Program
If you choose the road of foster care and adoption, you are choosing pain, brokenness, and sorrow. You are choosing sleepless nights and exhausting days.
But with all this pain comes possibility, with brokenness comes beauty, and from sorrow comes joy. Foster care and adoption will wreck you, but it will also be one of the best things you will ever do in your lifetime.
Listen in as Terry Lowry reads a heartfelt letter written by a foster mom. If you or someone you know is contemplating becoming a foster parent, please reach out to an agency near you as soon as possible. Don’t let one more day pass by before you do.
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January 23, 2017
Title: Parents Helping Parents
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Kevin Roberts
with Roberts for TX 126 www.RobertsTX126.com
Newly elected Texas State Representative Kevin Roberts is passionate about family. In fact, he has introduced two separate bills on the issue of foster parenting: HB 871 and HB 872.
Questions/Issues Discussed:
Some parents just need a break, at no fault of their own. Maybe they lost their job, are suffering abuse, or they have post-partum depression. Why aren’t there more resources through churches and non-profits to help these parents – without the fear of CPS involvement?
Why is respite care so helpful?
What is “voluntary guardianship”?
Can CPS use a parent’s plea for help to open an investigation?
How much will this program cost tax payers? [Hint: nothing!]
Will parents be permitted visitation rights through this program? Listen as Kevin Roberts discusses more from his proposed program.
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November 3, 2016
Title: Helping the Helpless
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Brandon Logan
with Texas Public Policy Foundation (www.TexasPolicy.com)
Part 1 of 2
The Texas foster-care system is strained with too many abused and
neglected children and not enough places where they can heal and recover.
New guest, Brandon Logan, is the Director of the Center for Families and
Children within the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The purpose of the
Center is to serve the needs of the nearly 30,000 children who are currently
under the State’s care in Texas.
Questions/Issues Discussed:
What is the current state of the foster-care system in Texas?
Did a Federal Judge recently state that older children often “age out” of state
custody in worse condition than when they entered?
What is the plan for the next Texas Legislature concerning this issue?
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Title: Part 2 of 2 - Helping the Helpless
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Brandon Logan
with Texas Public Policy Foundation (www.TexasPolicy.com)
Listen in as Brandon describes some of the ways the Center for
Families and Children is helping the State of Texas and the children in need.
Texas has doubled the number of employees and tripled the money it spends for
children in foster care. Is this good or bad?
How can faith-based groups help? Should the State of Texas be more willing to
aid faith-based organizations?
Why are most children removed from a home?
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May 9, 2016
Title: Follow Up Interview on Foster Care
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Dr. John DeGarmo
with Dr. John DeGarmo (www.drjohndegarmofostercare.weebly.com)
We have Dr. John DeGarmo back with us today for a follow-up on his interview from May 5, 2016. If you missed it check out our archives!
There is a wide-spread, unfair misconception about the foster care system. Dr. DeGarmo says, “Many people think that the children are bad. But that’s the furthest thing from the truth. They are the victims.” Today, the focus of the interview with Dr. DeGarmo is to encourage churches to become involved in the foster care process.
Dr. DeGarmo says that a church of any size can act as a “safe haven”. He explains that most visitations between foster children and their family members are conducted at a jail or an empty, cold, unwelcoming room with a CPS agent. Churches, however, can open their doors to be a visitation location with volunteers acting as moderators. Listen in as he explains that this is a way churches can really be the hands and feet of Jesus to both the children and the parents and family members.
Dr. DeGarmo shares some heartbreaking stories of children who did not even know how to open up a present when they came to their home. One fifteen-year-old didn’t know he could keep his Christmas gift! When the teenager realized the gift was for him, and no one else, he cried! Dr. John gives suggestions of how churches can help by hosting a “suitcase drive” or a “backpack drive”. He also encourages church members to be honorary present-givers for birthdays and Christmas.
Order a copy of Dr. John DeGarmo’s book, “Fostering Love: One Foster Parent’s Journey”, for yourself, a friend or family member, or for your church library
by clicking here here.
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May 5, 2016
Title: Faith and Foster Care: How We Impact God’s Kingdom
Topic: Foster Care
Discussed by Dr. John DeGarmo
with Dr. John DeGarmo (www.drjohndegarmofostercare.weebly.com)
What is the church doing about the devastating numbers of children who are in the foster care system in America? Over 200,000 new children each year are added to the system and not nearly enough are placed in loving, caring Christian homes. Has God called you to help?
New Guest Dr. John DeGarmo has a passion and willingness to serve as a foster parent, speak about foster care issues, and train others about the foster care system. Dr. DeGarmo is the host of the weekly radio show “Parent Talk with Dr. John” and is the author of “Fostering Love: One Foster Parent’s Journey”.
One of the greatest needs is for foster parents of children who are older, nearing the “age-out limit”. When a foster child reaches the age of eighteen (some states wait until they are twenty-one), they are just dumped into the real world, with no family and no one to help them find their way. Dr. DeGarmo gives the grim statistics for these children in this interview.
If you have ever thought of being a foster parent, what is stopping you? Many people don’t know where to start, but most are just fearful; they are scared of “feeling” too deeply for a child who may only stay in their home briefly. Dr. DeGarmo says,
“You give them what they need the most: You love them unconditionally.” There is definitely grief involved, but think of the grief those children feel not having anyone to love them every day!
Dr. DeGarmo also discusses how biological and foster care children interact with each other. He and his wife have adopted three children, in addition to having three children of their own.
“It’s all they’ve known,” he says. “And I hope that our children learn to put other people first, to serve and help others in need.” It’s not always easy, but that’s life, right?
In his book, “Fostering Love: One Foster Parent’s Journey”, Dr. DeGarmo
covers the good, the bad, and the ugly of the foster care system. Listen in as
he talks more about the book, which you can order
here.
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