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The Foster Parenting Toolbox
How do you meet the needs of the children who come to you from less than optimal situations?
For those caring for children who have come to them from broken and battered families through the child welfare system, the rewards can seem small and the challenges more intense than anything you have ever experienced. Raising children from tough beginnings, working with the child welfare system, and advocating for the children in your care can be difficult with a steep learning curve. But now, foster and resource parents have a place to turn to for answers, comfort, and a deep community connection.
Covering topics both timely and practical, The Foster Parenting Toolbox offers you the help you need whether you re just starting out on your foster parenting journey or you ve already welcomed hundreds of children to your home. This book provides words of wisdom, connections to others who ve walked in the same shoes, and advice for the most difficult situations you might encounter.
More than 100 contributors have created this useful resource specifically for foster parents and the professionals who work with them: caseworkers, social workers, judges, CASA s, GAL s and others who are a part of the foster child s team. This is a top of the nightstand resource that offers you access 24/7 to a wealth of useful information from professionals in the field and successful resource and foster parents in the trenches. This is a book you may not read all at once, but you will come back to it again and again.
Foster parenting, the toughest job you will ever love...
For those caring for children who have come to them from broken and battered families through the child welfare system, the rewards can seem small and the challenges more intense than anything you have ever experienced. Raising children from tough beginnings, working with the child welfare system, and advocating for the children in your care can be difficult with a steep learning curve. But now, foster and resource parents have a place to turn to for answers, comfort, and a deep community connection.
Covering topics both timely and practical, The Foster Parenting Toolbox offers you the help you need whether you re just starting out on your foster parenting journey or you ve already welcomed hundreds of children to your home. This book provides words of wisdom, connections to others who ve walked in the same shoes, and advice for the most difficult situations you might encounter.
More than 100 contributors have created this useful resource specifically for foster parents and the professionals who work with them: caseworkers, social workers, judges, CASA s, GAL s and others who are a part of the foster child s team. This is a top of the nightstand resource that offers you access 24/7 to a wealth of useful information from professionals in the field and successful resource and foster parents in the trenches. This is a book you may not read all at once, but you will come back to it again and again.
Foster parenting, the toughest job you will ever love...
464 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2012
89 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 22, 2016
This book will never look the same. Once you start reading it, corners will be turned down and post-it notes will stick out at odd angles. The spine will be cracked where it was laid flat to photocopy that inspirational page to post on the fridge. Like a well-loved teddy bear, this book will show its value.
That’s what happens when you bring together over 100 experienced contributors to write about the complex topic of foster care, kinship care and adoption. The Foster Parenting Toolbox is a comprehensive resource that provides 24-hour support from a superior panel of experts. Stories, articles and poems from social workers, caseworkers, foster parents, adoptive parents, birth parents, former foster children, CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates), therapists, psychologists and lawyers bring together a variety of perspectives from all aspects of the foster care spectrum.
A book like this is important because, as a foster parent, it’s easy to become trapped in my own bubble. Standing alone, my own views are reflected back at me until I can’t imagine another perspective. I have the same close circle of support who share my beliefs and may not challenge me as much as they should.
The Foster Parenting Toolbox reminds me of why I became a foster parent. Reading other foster parents’ stories brought me closer to my original motivation, and the quotes from the foster children reaffirmed my purpose. There is a balance to this book that treats all participants as ‘experts’ and values their perspectives equally. All these writers have come together to help us understand the unimaginable, however painful.
It would be difficult (and expensive) to obtain the knowledge and learn the strategies that are shared in this book by professionals. Instead of having to purchase a dozen books on specific topics, or attend numerous training sessions, this one volume has collected the best information and advice available. There are articles about child developmental stages, emotional health, attachment and the effects of abuse. This book also reinforces the importance of adults working together with the same goals: protecting, supporting and nurturing children.
Throughout this book, there is a theme of ‘taking care.’ Not only taking care of the foster children, but also caring for birth families and our families, and taking care of ourselves. Caring through discipline and advocacy, hanging on or letting go. Caring enough to have your heart broken, over and over again.
Through its writers, this book represents the sum total of hundreds of years of experience and wisdom. The information is essential for all travellers on the foster care journey. From individuals thinking of becoming foster parents to new foster parents to the experienced. From caseworkers to CASAs to GALs to anyone responsible for making decisions about our most vulnerable citizens.
The Foster Parenting Toolbox is cleverly laid out in smart chapters that helps the overwhelmed foster parent find that vital piece of advice, reassurance or inspiration quickly. EMK Press and Editor Kim Phagan-Hansel should be congratulated on championing this much-needed and very powerful resource.
Full Disclosure: I am one of the contributors to this tome, and I am honoured to have been included.
That’s what happens when you bring together over 100 experienced contributors to write about the complex topic of foster care, kinship care and adoption. The Foster Parenting Toolbox is a comprehensive resource that provides 24-hour support from a superior panel of experts. Stories, articles and poems from social workers, caseworkers, foster parents, adoptive parents, birth parents, former foster children, CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates), therapists, psychologists and lawyers bring together a variety of perspectives from all aspects of the foster care spectrum.
A book like this is important because, as a foster parent, it’s easy to become trapped in my own bubble. Standing alone, my own views are reflected back at me until I can’t imagine another perspective. I have the same close circle of support who share my beliefs and may not challenge me as much as they should.
The Foster Parenting Toolbox reminds me of why I became a foster parent. Reading other foster parents’ stories brought me closer to my original motivation, and the quotes from the foster children reaffirmed my purpose. There is a balance to this book that treats all participants as ‘experts’ and values their perspectives equally. All these writers have come together to help us understand the unimaginable, however painful.
It would be difficult (and expensive) to obtain the knowledge and learn the strategies that are shared in this book by professionals. Instead of having to purchase a dozen books on specific topics, or attend numerous training sessions, this one volume has collected the best information and advice available. There are articles about child developmental stages, emotional health, attachment and the effects of abuse. This book also reinforces the importance of adults working together with the same goals: protecting, supporting and nurturing children.
Throughout this book, there is a theme of ‘taking care.’ Not only taking care of the foster children, but also caring for birth families and our families, and taking care of ourselves. Caring through discipline and advocacy, hanging on or letting go. Caring enough to have your heart broken, over and over again.
Through its writers, this book represents the sum total of hundreds of years of experience and wisdom. The information is essential for all travellers on the foster care journey. From individuals thinking of becoming foster parents to new foster parents to the experienced. From caseworkers to CASAs to GALs to anyone responsible for making decisions about our most vulnerable citizens.
The Foster Parenting Toolbox is cleverly laid out in smart chapters that helps the overwhelmed foster parent find that vital piece of advice, reassurance or inspiration quickly. EMK Press and Editor Kim Phagan-Hansel should be congratulated on championing this much-needed and very powerful resource.
Full Disclosure: I am one of the contributors to this tome, and I am honoured to have been included.
June 10, 2024
Informative
The chapter on Family Holidays was the most important to me. I have friends who have become foster parents to their grandkids too. I think this book is a good starting point for anyone who is thinking about becoming a foster parent. As a foster parent, I cannot tell you how important our job is. Sometimes, there is no emotional support for foster parents and that’s where a book like this comes in handy. I recommend this book to all foster parents and to those thinking about becoming a foster parent. The personal stories are enlightening. Every kid has a different experience. There are quizzes at the end of the book for continued education credit.
The chapter on Family Holidays was the most important to me. I have friends who have become foster parents to their grandkids too. I think this book is a good starting point for anyone who is thinking about becoming a foster parent. As a foster parent, I cannot tell you how important our job is. Sometimes, there is no emotional support for foster parents and that’s where a book like this comes in handy. I recommend this book to all foster parents and to those thinking about becoming a foster parent. The personal stories are enlightening. Every kid has a different experience. There are quizzes at the end of the book for continued education credit.
Read
March 29, 2018Due back to the library so I didn't get to finish it.
Very informative. I'll be reading it through in the future.
Very informative. I'll be reading it through in the future.
September 17, 2014
This book should be on the shelf of every Foster Parent, CASA Advocate, Guardian Ad Litem and the professionals who work with them. Kim Phagan-Hansel (editor) has compiled the most complete guide available, which includes detailed and precise information. Woven among the practical and professional advice are the voices of foster parents and former foster children. The book is beautifully written and edited with a fine blend of explanations and strategies. Everyone who cares about children in foster care and everyone who cares for them will find this book essential and indispensable.
March 3, 2012
Definitive. Comprehensive. Covers all aspects of fostering.
January 15, 2022
Very helpful, if not a bit all-over-the-place, guide to foster parenting.
The Good: this book teaches a lifestyle more than it does a toolbox, but that mindset is helpful in practice. Reorienting your household from the perspective of trauma-aware family building and maintaining is useful and needed in real-world fostering situations.
The Bad: sometimes the hyping of the good things foster parenting does is too much. It can make one feel a bit uncomfortable when trying to get information on how, and not why, to do something.
The Interesting: less relèvent for this book (said without offense).
The Good: this book teaches a lifestyle more than it does a toolbox, but that mindset is helpful in practice. Reorienting your household from the perspective of trauma-aware family building and maintaining is useful and needed in real-world fostering situations.
The Bad: sometimes the hyping of the good things foster parenting does is too much. It can make one feel a bit uncomfortable when trying to get information on how, and not why, to do something.
The Interesting: less relèvent for this book (said without offense).
September 3, 2023
The title of this book made me think that I would come away with more actionable steps and ideas. This book had more of a “chicken soup for the soul” quality to it. Some snippets were better than others, but at the end of the day there was some value from hearing so many different perspectives about foster care.
Three stars
🏡🏡🏡
Three stars
🏡🏡🏡
April 6, 2018
I haven’t read the entire thing yet, but really enjoyed the sections on behavior and anger.
September 1, 2016
This book was useful, if overwhelming for someone just barely considering foster parenting. The big take-away for me is that foster parents (like regular parents) are really passionate about the things they bring to the table but that it would be impossible to incorporate all good ideas. Some of them even contradict each other! Still, reading about the perspectives of the people involved was certainly eye-opening.
February 16, 2012
Great book...especially since I contributed a chapter in it on Kinship Caregivers!
August 30, 2015
Useful collection of essays/articles for fostering/adoptive parents. Hefty but easy to read as each essay is at most a few pages long lots of good advice.
March 25, 2017
Super Helpful
This was by far the most helpful and insightful resource I've seen. Loved the combination of concrete strategies and tools mixed with personal stories
This was by far the most helpful and insightful resource I've seen. Loved the combination of concrete strategies and tools mixed with personal stories
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews