Foster Parent Champ ( Challenging Homes And Managing Placements) Program:


As a foster parent, you might feel overwhelmed caring for a child with so many needs. Children in foster care have experienced trauma from past abuse and neglect, and placement moves likely add trauma. Many have medical conditions, developmental disabilities, and behavior problems that require extra care. You may be asked to foster multiple siblings of varying ages, with different needs. You may feel isolated — perhaps your friends and family don’t understand why you are fostering and can’t relate to its challenges. Even experienced foster parents can find that caring for a foster child just becomes too hard, and request that the child be moved to another home. This difficult experience might make you less likely to answer the call the next time a child is in need. You may even decide to stop fostering altogether, which means one less home for children in care.

A “Foster Parent Champ” from Heart of the Kid Social Services, Inc. calls and asks how things are going. Maybe you need help and guidance in providing services, locating daycare, or finding a child therapist in your area. We will be there to help and ensure that services are being implemented in your homes. We will conduct monthly checkups in your home to provide guidance, updates on minimum standards, support, strategies to reduce stress and incidents in the home. When things get tough, the Champ is also there to offer help, even if it’s just a listening ear. The program aims to reduce foster parents’ stress levels, thus supporting the stability of foster placements.