Parenting Children in Foster Care

Foster families are in a unique position to help children in their care by providing a safe and stable home. They may parent children who have experienced loss and who have various levels of resilience. This may impact the way children interact with those around them, how they perceive their world, or how others perceive them. To support a child's social, emotional, and physical well-being, foster parents should be prepared to maintain the child's current connections while building a relationship with the child. The following resources provide information to better prepare foster parents to handle the ups and downs of parenting children in foster care.

• Understanding the child in foster care
• Education and the child in foster care
• Sibling groups in foster care
• Cross-cultural issues in foster care
• Parenting children who exhibit challenging behavior
• Normalcy for youth in foster care

10 Tips for Foster Parents to Help Their Foster Youth Avoid Teen Pregnancy
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (2006)
Offers ideas to help foster parents strengthen their relationships with foster youth and on how best to communicate about sex, love, and relationships.

Help Your Children Grow Their Money Skills
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Offers parents age appropriate information to assist their children to make financial decisions with money such as; planning, saving, and spending. Resources and activities to educate young Americans to be financially conscious are also listed.

Helping Youth Start and Maintain Good Credit (PDF - 91 KB)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2013)
Outlies key steps parents can utilize to ensure that their children have access to their credit report status and maintain good credit standing.