10 Tips for Talking to Your Family About Fostering
1. Be Excited
As you gather with those in your household, let them hear your excitement as you share your interest in potentially becoming a foster parent. Gatherings are the perfect backdrop for discussing this life-enhancing opportunity.
2. Use Togetherness
Use the togetherness of family gatherings or experiences to talk about how your family can be involved with a local foster youth. Mention how there is enough space and enough food for another seat at the table. Ask family members what is important to them and how they might be able to see themselves as part of a foster youth’s life during special occasions, the holidays, and all year long. Engage them in how they could play a role.
3. Talk About Traditions
Talk about family traditions and how important they are to your family. Ask family members what traditions they might like to start or learn about from a foster youth who could join your family. Open their minds to learning new traditions or creating new ones.
4. Do a Service Project
When your family does a service project or contributes to a charity, use it as an opportunity to discuss your family’s values and share your family's resources with a local teen all year long by fostering.
5. Talk About Misconceptions
Be prepared to talk about misconceptions. It’s natural to have questions about how becoming a foster parent can impact your family life. Our team will walk with you every step of the way to help you determine if this is the right next chapter for your family.
6. Spark Deep Conversation
With so many people at home right now, it’s a great time to spark deep conversations and begin the dialogue about what becoming a foster parent means. With local youth looking for family placements this year, the right time might just be now.
7. Talk about Resources
Foster teens in our program have access to college scholarships, independent housing, and many other resources as they graduate high school. Becoming a foster parent in 2022 could put a local youth on the path to a lifetime of success.
8. Everyone Is Welcome
Remind your loved ones that we welcome families composed of individuals or couples, married or unmarried, of same or different sexes, who rent or own their homes or apartments.
9. Be Confident
Your family can feel confident in exploring your interest. By starting the information process, you will be connected to a staff member who will invite you to complete an application and attend an orientation session before anything else takes place. Should you choose to move forward, you will be provided with specialized training and one-on-one meetings to ensure you are given the best possible match for your family’s lifestyle and circumstances.
10. Joining a Community
Let your family know they are joining a community. David & Margaret foster parents are connected with peers and mentors to lean on and learn from throughout the journey into foster care.
