Support Groups for Adoptive & Foster Families

"There is a beauty in journeying with other families in the adoption and foster care process. The groups are a place where you can come hurting or joyful, weary or celebrating, and you'll be welcomed and encouraged. I leave our group feeling loved, supported, and heard." - JJ Blandford
 
"I didn't know how desperately I needed to be surrounded by a community who "gets it."
- Support Group Attender

Our support groups provide much-needed support for families so you do not have to walk this journey alone. New locations include:    Aurora  |  St. Charles  |  West Chicago  |  Wheaton  |  Elgin/Bolingbrook Already part of a support group, but there is now one closer to you? Email us and we'll happily switch you! replanted@churchrez.org      Support Group Signup

Addressing Secondary Trauma in Foster Parents

Providing care and support for children in the foster care system is challenging work! Secondary traumatic stress is a real condition that occurs when people who did not directly experience the traumatic event empathize and internalize it as if they had. As parents listen to their children’s’ stories and navigate behaviors that are sometimes destructive, it takes an emotional, physical and spiritual toll on foster families and those involved with the families.

As Dr. Rachel Remen described, “The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet.”

There are several indications that one might be experiencing secondary traumatic stress:

 Severe sadness, anger and/or anxiety

• Feeling isolated and detached from loved ones
• Difficulty concentrating
• Persistent fatigue
• Cynicism
• Physical illness or pain
  
  
  

  Addressing Secondary Trauma

  When you see these indications, there are several ways to address secondary trauma:
• Connect with Others. Connecting with others is the best way to combat feeling alone and overwhelmed. In addition to professional help, foster/adoptive support groups can be beneficial to validate traumatic experiences. By providing child care or helpful counseling resources Support Team Members can help alleviate barriers to seeking services.
• Establish Plans For Self-Care. Determine what coping skills and hobbies have been helpful in the past and re-implement them into a daily routine! Support Team Members and respite caregivers can provide activities and care for children in order to promote rest & self-care.
• Take Parent Out For a Special Day. Plan a day or afternoon with activities that might be a blessing for one of the parents. Perhaps a spa day, hike or fishing trip would provide them a mental and physical break from the pressures of caring for a child. Support Team Members could take turns treating both mom and dad to a day out to spend with caring team members.
• Meet Them Where They’re At. Families are in need of community that is not focused on cheering them up or expecting them to be “pulled together” all the time. Allowing them to speak honestly allows them to purge the things they cannot express around their children. Encouraging words can be appropriate as long as they do not tell the parent what they “should” be doing differently or minimizing their thoughts or feelings.
• Pray For Hope. “Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.” (Psalm 119:116) Through Christ alone we can have hope in this world because He has overcome and is sufficient when we are lacking.

Resources:

• Secondary Trauma and Foster Parents: Understanding its Impact and Taking Steps to Protect Them, Conrad, David.
• Secondarytrauma.org
• Fostering Perspectives: Resource Parent Self-Care and Secondary Traumatic Stress

Refresh Retreat/Conference for Foster & Adoptive Parents

Upcoming Safe Families Volunteer Trainings!

Have you been considering becoming a Safe Families Host or a Family Friend?  We have 1-day training sessions near you where you can make that happen!

Offered as an alternative to online training, this event is designed to equip you to welcome a child into your home (Host Family) or support a host or placing parent (Family Friend) and move you through the training process efficiently. The live Comprehensive Training Session includes everything you need to become a certified Safe Family Volunteer—all in one place. 

• Start or submit your application
• Get fingerprints taken for the background check
• Complete your training hours
• Meet like-minded families who will support you

The training will be in two parts.  The first two hours will be for all volunteers.  The second two hours will be for Host Families.  So, anyone interested in being a Family Friend only needs to stay for the first two hours.  Host Families need to stay for the whole training.

Doors open at 8:30 AM for those who need to start an application, schedule a home study, start a background check, or ask one-on-one questions.  The training session begins at 9:00 AM sharp.  

Saturday, July 16, 2016  Willow Creek/North Shore Campus, Northfield, IL 

8:30 - 1:00

REGISTER

Saturday, September 24, 2016 Village Church of Bartlett, Bartlett, IL

8:30 - 1:00

REGISTER

Saturday, October 8, 2016  The Moody Church, Chicago, IL

8:30 - 1:00

REGISTER

Saturday, October 22, 2016  Willow Creek Comm Church, So. Barrington, IL

8:30 - 1:00

REGISTER

ETC Workshop: Factors of Fear!

The Vulnerable Children's Ministry and
Bethany Christian Services

Presents

An Empowered to Connect Workshop!

Join us all year long for Empowered to Connect workshops, every 4th Wednesday of the month! 
 

These workshops are video-driven, and facilitated by Alison Lamsma, MA, LSW from Bethany Christian Services.

Factors of Fear: Tragically, children who have been harmed,neglected, and/or abused are at significantly increased risk for behavioral disorders, relationship failures, and early onset mental illness.  Developmental psychologist and former director of the TCU Institute of Child Development, Dr. Karyn Purvis, explains concepts to help caregivers and parents understand a child's brain chemistry and how neurotransmitter testing can be used to enhance therapeutic approaches.
 

Wednesday, July 27th
7:30pm - 8:45pm
Willow Creek Community Church, Room: Guest Central
67 E. Algonquin Road, So. Barrington, IL 60010

***Training Credit Hours are offered for licensed foster parents.

Questions?  E-mail vulnerablechildren@willowcreek.org

Childcare for infants through pre-K is available, and Awana is available for Kindergarten through Grade 5 at Midweek for Kids.

Webinar: Caring for Caregivers

Caring for Caregivers: A Critical Component of Improving Childhood Wellbeing

Wednesday, July 20, 2016 2:00- 3:00 pm (Eastern)

Register Now!

Research and common knowledge both suggest that the most influential relationship in a child's life is with his or her caregiver.  A strong caregiver relationship can limit the effects of trauma, increase a child's confidence and independence, and empower a child to explore life from a safe base.  Therefore, caring for caregivers- and coaching them to care for themselves- may be one of the most helpful roles we can play in caring for vulnerable children.  How do we encourage them in self- care?  How do we help them cope with secondary trauma?  How do we support them in the long-term? This presentation opens the conversation around nurturing and caring for caregivers domestically and around the world.  It. will center around practical tools for supporting caregivers to increase their health, and ultimately to optimize the wellbeing of the children they care for. This is the seventh module in the CAFO Knowledge + Practice webinar series,  which translates research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide.

Presenter:  

Jayne is recognized internationally as a speaker, trainer, and author working with Back2Back Ministries in Ohio.  She is the primary author in their training curriculum, Trauma Competent Caregiving, a nine modules training series.  Jayne is author of 8 books, including her recent publications, "Wounded Children, Healing Homes," and "Parenting in Transracial Adoption."  Jayne and her husband David are parents both by birth and adoption and grandparents of 4. 

"8 DAYS" Trafficking Film at Willow Creek

You are invited to a showing of the film 

"8 Days" (rated PG-13)

Wednesday, July 20th, 2016

7:30 p.m.

Willow Creek Community Church 

(Room TBA, please check the monitors)

67 E. Algonquin Road, So. Barrington, IL

 

If you are a foster parent or if you have a teenager in your life, please come to see this amazing movie. Great discussions will follow.  Please share with your circle of friends. Human Trafficking is such an important topic and it exists in our own backyards. Become informed and take a stand!

WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN FOSTER CARE AND SEX TRAFFICKING?

Foster care children are targeted by traffickers because of their need for love, affirmation, and protection.

Victims are trained to call sex traffickers “daddies” andthemselves “wifies” – a perverted reflection of the family unit that these children are seeking.  These children long for a family…even if it means being subjected to extreme violence and abuse.

Selling America’s Foster Youth and Children

In 2012, studies estimate that between 50 and 80 percent of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) in California are or were formally involved with the child welfare system.

58% of 72 sexually trafficked girls in Los Angeles County’s STARS Court in 2012 were foster care kids.

In Alameda County, 41% of 267 victims in 2011-2012 were foster care kids

HOW CAN FOSTER PARENTS PREVENT HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

We can significantly reduce the volume of foster children falling into the hands of traffickers by giving them what they need and long for: healthy families who will parent and love them unconditionally. It’s the right thing to do for our children!

For more information visit CAS Research and Education.