Foster Parent Forum

As a foster parent, one is in a unique position as a caregiver who is not legally a foster child's parent and with no promise of the child being adoptable but who must care about the child and his or her needs. The average child in foster care is between the age of seven and nine. About 50 percent of these children are pending reunion with their birth family.

Because of the circumstances that led to the child's placement in the foster system, many foster children may exhibit qualities that suggest they're troubled by their former home life. They may not have been raised in a functional family dynamic and may have behavioral, emotional or physical needs that require extra patience and resources. The emotional effect this can have on a foster parent is something that's expected rather than being incidental. Foster parent groups can be helpful for dealing with especially problematic children or situations in which a foster parent is attached to a child who is being reunited with his or her family. But, meeting in a group setting isn't a luxury many people have time for. Therefore, turning to online foster parent forums can be more convenient as well as functioning as a far-reaching and worldwide platform for foster parent discussions.

Finding support is not a mark of weakness or an inability to continue fostering, but instead a way to empower the desire to foster other children in the future.