Children First Foster Family Agency

The First Day: How To Help a Foster Child Feel At Home

When a foster child comes to your home, it’s often a frightening and overwhelming experience for the child. He or she is being dropped off at the house of strangers and is now at your mercy. She doesn’t know if you’re safe and he doesn’t know if you’re going to be a harsh and exacting taskmaster. Everything is new and strange. Avoid Coerced Actions Welcome the child to your home with a soft voice and a warm smile, but unless the child initiates it, do not force them to hug [...]

By Children First FFA|2021-02-09T17:08:30+00:00September 13th, 2016|Foster Care in CA|Comments Off

Helping Foster Children Overcome Eating Disorders

Some foster children have experienced the trauma of not having enough to eat. Others turn to food to feel a sense of control in the middle of out-of-control circumstances or emotions. For these reasons, they may exhibit a variety of unhealthy food obsessions—even at extremely young ages. It’s important that foster and adoptive parents know how to respond in this situations. Types of Eating Disorders Food insecurity, the fear of not having enough food, and eating disorders show up in various ways. Here are some of the signs that your [...]

By Children First FFA|2016-08-24T15:22:42+00:00August 24th, 2016|Foster Care in CA, foster to adopt|Comments Off

How to Address Bullying, A Problem That Many Foster Children Face

Bullying is a prevalent problem in American schools. In 2015, almost a quarter of American students reported being victims of bullying in some form. Foster children are especially vulnerable to this. Sometimes, they are the aggressors, acting out their anger and frustrations on other children or simply trying to gain the acceptance of a social group. Here are some ways that parents can help to stop bullying. What Is Bullying? Bullying can take multiple forms of expression: Physical (tripping, shoving, hitting, kicking, taking/breaking belongings), Verbal (name-calling, threats, taunting, degrading comments), [...]

By Children First FFA|2016-08-10T11:48:21+00:00August 10th, 2016|Foster Care in CA|Comments Off

Developmental Challenges That a Foster Child Might Face

Foster children enter the system when there’s been a traumatic situation in their family, such as abuse, neglect, domestic violence, homelessness, or exposure to criminal activity, drugs, or alcohol. As a result, a high percentage of these children suffer from a variety of physical, cognitive, academic, and social-emotional challenges. Except for infants, the younger the child is when he or she is removed from his home, the higher the likelihood that he or she will face these challenges. Young children are especially vulnerable to disruptions to their safety and security. [...]

By Children First FFA|2021-02-09T18:29:55+00:00July 5th, 2016|Foster Care in CA|Comments Off

Helping a Foster Child Heal from Trauma

Whether you’re a foster parent or an adoptive parent, you may encounter a child who’s gone through trauma. Trauma results from any situation where the well-being of a child or someone they loved was threatened. Many foster children have experienced either neglect or abuse or witnessed domestic violence. When traumatized children come into your home, you’ll need to develop your home into a place for them to grow and heal. Create a safe place. A foster child may be surrounded by a whirlwind of chaos, relational instability, and domestic uncertainty. [...]

By Children First FFA|2020-12-29T16:19:15+00:00June 14th, 2016|Foster Care in CA|Comments Off

4 Huge Advantages to Adopting Locally

Now that you’ve decided to adopt, the next question is whether to adopt a child locally, domestically, or internationally. There are children everywhere that need homes, but there are a few benefits to adopting one (or several) from your local area through foster care adoption. The child can stay in his home area. With all the other changes going on in the child’s life, it’s very helpful to have have at least one area of continuity. If the child is able to stay in an area with familiar places and [...]

By Children First FFA|2016-05-31T11:30:03+00:00May 31st, 2016|foster to adopt|Comments Off

Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Foster Adopt in Shasta County

Foster parenting and foster adoption are noble undertakings. But they’re not for everyone. So how can you tell if you’re cut out for the task? The foster adoption agency in Shasta County will take you through an application process, but there are still a few more questions you should ask yourself before committing to it. Am I ready to help a child heal? Many foster children have gone through traumatic circumstances, such as abuse or neglect. They may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and exhibit extreme fears, attachment difficulties, aggressive [...]

By Children First FFA|2016-05-04T15:52:48+00:00May 4th, 2016|foster to adopt|Comments Off

Adjusting to Life After Foster Adoption in Shasta County

The decision to foster adopt in Shasta County is a life-changing decision—both for the adoptive parents and the adoptive child. Getting through the adoption process can be challenging by itself, but then there are also ongoing adjustments that need to take place for a healthy and happy life together. Grieving Losses Foster children—especially older ones—may have developed attachments to birth parents, relatives, or previous caregivers. Because the foster care system keeps rehabilitation and reunification with birth families as the first plan of action, a foster child is only released for [...]

By Children First FFA|2016-04-20T13:54:53+00:00April 20th, 2016|foster to adopt|Comments Off

Success Stories to Encourage Redding Parents Who Want to Foster Adopt

Perhaps you’ve heard the horror stories and statistics of foster children gone bad. But you may not have heard about the success stories. They do exist. Foster adoption does have it’s challenges, but it can be extremely successful. If you’ve been considering foster adoption in Redding, read these success stories of foster children who turned out well. Josh Shipp As a kid, Josh Shipp bounced from one foster home to another. He says, “I mastered the art of getting kicked out of foster homes.” Josh kept a notebook where he [...]

By Children First FFA|2016-04-06T14:51:07+00:00April 6th, 2016|foster to adopt|Comments Off

How Foster Care Adoption in Shasta County Will Impact Homelessness

We see homeless people in Shasta County every day, but most people are unaware that many of them came out of the foster system, but never got a forever family. This is a reality nationwide. Homelessness is often a by-product from a lack in healthy family infrastructures. In 2014, California had 62,097 children in foster care. That’s almost 15 percent of the total number of children in foster care throughout the United States. Foster care adoption in Shasta County would make a huge difference in that number. Here’s why. The [...]

By Children First FFA|2016-03-23T11:19:13+00:00March 23rd, 2016|foster to adopt|Comments Off

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