Culture of Foster Care

1. Understanding
the Culture of
Foster Care
Alumni of Care
Together
Improving
Outcomes Now
(ACTION) Ohio
What does this
picture tell you
about the foster
care experience?

2. Alumni of Care Together
Improving Outcomes Now
We bring together the voices of foster
care youth, alumni and allies, to create
lasting change and generate hope for
current and former foster youth, based on
access to resources, ally support and
alumni expertise.

3. Transition to Young Adulthood for
a young person growing up with their
biological family

4. Challenges faced by a young person
who “ages out” of foster care

5. Lack of Family Privilege

6. Point of Transition:
Child and Adult Systems
Disconnection
Child Mental Health
Mental Health
Child Welfare
Special Education
Juvenile Justice Criminal Justice
Food Stamps
Workforce
Housing

7. Life’s Transitions
Do Not Happen Overnight

8. Foster Care Alumni of America’s
“Culture of Foster Care” Postcard Project

9. Foster Care Alumni of America’s
“Culture of Foster Care” Postcard Project
Risk of Stigma

10. Anonymous confession: Write down the
worst thing you ever did as a teenager.
Case file exercise

11. Foster Care Alumni of America’s
“Culture of Foster Care” Postcard Project
“Reclaim and Reframe”

12. “Take Another Seat”
If your chair has a post-it with a letter
on it, you need to exchange places with
another person who has the same letter
as you.

13. Foster Care Alumni of America’s
“Culture of Foster Care” Postcard Project
Context of Behavior

14. Impact of Trauma
￭ Fight or flight
response
￭ Freeze response:
‘Playing possum,’
feeling helpless
￭ Disassociation:
Flee the scene
emotionally.
Blame self
afterward.

15. Aftershock of trauma
￭ Am I safe yet?
The world seems dangerous.
￭ It’s hard to concentrate:
Scattered, thoughts
Distracted, unable to focus.
Hard to sort out relevant details.
￭ Hyper-vigilance:
Body remains on alert.
Restless, can’t relax, easily
startled.

16. Triggers of sensory memories
￭ Traumatic memories
are stored differently
Emotions, sensory details
Difficult to communicate
verbally
￭ Sensory cues
A familiar building, a shadow
approaching from behind, a
smell…
￭ Brain is trying to process
and heal
- Flashbacks
- Intrusive thoughts
- Nightmares

17. Restorative Relationships

18. Capturing Positive Memories
Foster Care Alumni of America’s
“Culture of Foster Care” Postcard Project

19. Copyright Lisa Dickson
Siblings as
Survival Unit

20. Why we hate
the Family Tree project

21. Copyright Lisa Dickson
We define who our siblings are

22. Foster Care Alumni of America’s
“Culture of Foster Care” Postcard Project
Chosen family

23. Respect our boundaries
Copyright Lisa Dickson

24. Copyright Lisa Dickson
Normalcy matters

25. Blindfold activity
Empower and inform us

26. Be aware of resources that can
help us move forward

28. How the system defines
permanency
• Safe, enduring relationship
• Lifelong connections
• Legal rights
• Social status
• Provides for all levels of development
• Sharing the same family history, culture,
tradition, religion, language

29. How YOUTH define permanency
• “Staying in one place”
• “Not having to move”
• “A feeling of
connection”
• “Like a permanent
marker” (Indelible
mark on your life)

30. Permanency Pact

31. The need for
post-adoptive support

32. Copyright Grace Hilliard-Koshinsky, used with permission
Support with
post-adoptive conversations

33. Reconnecting with bio family
• Forgiveness is
important and
healing
• It is still okay to
keep yourself
safe
• Forgiveness does
not always mean
reconciliation
Forgiveness takes one person;
reconciliation takes two. We are only
responsible for our own choices.

34. Cognitive Dissonance of the
Abuser/Enabler
Cognitive dissonance:
“I want to believe I am a good person.
But I did this / let this happen.”
Choices:
• Denial: “What I did wasn’t wrong.”
• Excuses: “The other person deserved
it.”
• Truth: Confess and take responsibility

35. Cognitive Dissonance of the
Person Who Was Abused
Cognitive dissonance:
“This is my parent. I love my parent.
How could someone I love do this to
me?”
Choices:
• Denial: “What they did wasn’t wrong.”
• Excuses: “I must have deserved it.”
• Truth: “They should have protected
me. I was and am worth being
protected.”

36. Reconnecting with
People from the Past
• Am I emotionally ready for this?
• Will this be helpful or cause me harm?
• Am I taking baby steps? (email before
phone calls; calls before visit in
person)
• When visiting, do I have a back-up
plan, in case I need to leave early?
• Have I planned time with supportive
friends afterwards?

37. “When helping you is hurting me”
Keeping YOUR boat afloat