Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care

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What happens to kinship benefits after adoption, and could adopting a relative child affect Medicaid, monthly kinship payments, or other financial assistance your family currently receives?

In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we answer a grandparent caregiver’s question about what to investigate before moving from legal custody to adoption. Because Medicaid, kinship assistance, and adoption benefits vary by state and by each child’s circumstances, we walk through the questions caregivers should ask about their current benefits, possible adoption assistance, Medicaid eligibility, Social Security benefits, and other post-permanency supports. We also explain which agencies and professionals can help you get clear answers before an adoption is finalized.

Resources:

• Child Welfare Information Gateway – Adoption & Guardianship Assistance by State - Their national information line is 1-800-394-3366.
• Medicaid.gov – Find Medicaid and CHIP Help in Your State
• Social Security Administration: Social Security Benefits for Children - Families can call 1-800-772-1213 to ask about benefits for an adopted child or dependent grandchild.
• The Adoption Tax Credit and IRS Adoption Credit
• Legal Services Corporation – Find Legal Help - A national starting point for caregivers who cannot afford a private family-law or adoption attorney.
• Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network – Legal Options for Grandfamily and Kin Caregivers

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

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What is the connection between movement and regulation in children, and could the right kind of physical activity help a child focus, learn, and manage their emotions more effectively?

In this episode, pediatric physical therapist, foster parent, and Tummy Time to Walking author Dr. Trevor Carlson explains how movement and brain development are connected from infancy through the school years. We explore how coordination, balance, posture, and body awareness can affect attention and learning; why some children need movement to reach a more regulated state; and why the same activity that calms one child may overwhelm another. Dr. Carlson also shares practical ways adoptive, foster, and kinship parents can observe their child’s cues, build movement into everyday life through play, and recognize when additional professional support may be helpful.

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

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How can you build safety skills for foster teens without becoming so protective that they feel you don’t trust them? Older youth who have experienced neglect, unsafe adults, exploitation, family disruption, or other trauma may need extra help learning to recognize risk and make safe choices as they gain independence.

In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we share practical ways to build relational safety, practice decision-making before a crisis, set clear expectations without making them feel controlling, talk about friendships, dating, peer pressure, and online safety, and surround teens with trusted adults they can turn to for help. The goal isn’t to prevent every mistake—it’s to help young people recognize risk, think through their choices, recover when things go wrong, and know they always have a safe place to land.

Resources:

• Strengthening the Connection with Your Tweens & Teens
• Navigating the Internet with Adopted or Foster Tweens and Teens
• Advice for Foster & Kinship Parents from Former Foster Youth

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

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What can research on adult adoptees teach us about adoption across the lifespan? In this episode, adoption researcher and adult adoptee Dr. JaeRan Kim joins us to explore what adoptees’ experiences can teach families and professionals long after placement and finalization. We discuss adoption disruption and displacement from the adoptee perspective, the importance of relational and cultural permanency, how becoming a parent can reshape an adoptee’s understanding of their own adoption and loss, and what researchers are learning about adoptees who choose to adopt themselves. Throughout the conversation, Dr. Kim challenges us to listen closely to adult adoptee voices and consider how adoption, identity, race, family relationships, and support needs continue to evolve across a lifetime.

Resources:

• Intercountry adoptees with adoption disruption and displacement histories – Adoptee perspectives
• Korean adoptees as parents

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

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How can parents teach kids to use AI responsibly when their children may already know more about tools like ChatGPT than they do? In this Weekend Wisdom episode, digital safety expert Chris McKenna of Protect Young Eyes explains why knowing how to operate AI is not the same as understanding how it works. He shares practical ways parents can build AI literacy and digital discernment, protect children’s privacy, set age-appropriate boundaries, and help kids question the information and advice AI provides. We also discuss why parents do not need to embrace every new technology simply because their children may use it someday—and why younger children especially need supervision and strong guardrails when using artificial intelligence.

How to turn off ChatGPT using personal data to train future models:

• Click your name/profile in the bottom left hand corner of your ChatGPT Account.
• Click "Settings".
• In the left side menu, click "Data Controls." You can search for it if-needed.
• Find "Improve the model for everyone" and toggle it off.

Resources:

• 5 Habits of the Tech Ready Family
• Protect Young Eyes - devices
• Managing Technology & Screens

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

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What do a CASA and GAL in foster care actually do, and how can one consistent advocate make a difference in a child’s life?

In this episode, we talk with Melissa Luddington of Illinois CASA and Michael Custos, a former foster youth whose CASA volunteer ultimately became his legal guardian. Together, they explain how Court Appointed Special Advocates and Guardians ad Litem represent children’s best interests, build trusting relationships, bring a child’s needs and wishes into the courtroom, and work alongside caregivers and professionals. Michael also shares how one volunteer’s persistence, advocacy, and willingness to keep showing up changed the course of his childhood. We also discuss what it takes to become a CASA volunteer and why consistency may be one of the most powerful things an advocate can offer.

Resources:

• Her Name Was Kelly
• CASA Illinois
• National CASA/GAL
• The Power of One to Impact the Lives of Kids

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

How can families navigate open adoption from foster care while maintaining the safety and boundaries their child needs?

In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we answer a listener’s question about staying connected with birth parents after adopting a young child from foster care. We discuss how openness can help children maintain connections to their history, identity, culture, and important relationships while recognizing the circumstances that led to foster care and termination of parental rights. We also explore how to set clear and respectful boundaries, choose the right level of contact, respond to a child’s changing needs as they grow, and create an openness plan that is flexible, sustainable, and centered on the child.

Resources:

• Is Older Child Adoption the Right Path for Your Family?
• Birth Parent Experiences in Adoption
• Open Adoption
• When Birth Parents Struggle with Addiction, Mental Health, or Intellectual Disabilities

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Keeping kids safe online takes more than setting screen-time limits or turning on parental controls. In this episode, digital safety expert Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes and author of Five Habits of the Tech Ready Family, joins us to talk about raising kids who can navigate technology with greater safety, confidence, and judgment.

We explore how children’s developing brains interact with persuasive technology, why parents should model healthy digital habits, how to build enough trust that kids will come to us when something goes wrong online, and how to use practical guardrails without making technology feel like a constant battle. For adoptive, foster, and kinship families, we also discuss how trauma, disrupted relationships, and a child’s need to maintain important connections can shape decisions about access, supervision, and digital independence.

Resources:

• 5 Habits of the Tech Ready Family
• Protect Young Eyes - devices
• Managing Technology & Screens

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

What do you do when you discover that important foster placement information was withheld before you accepted a child into your home—or even before adoption was finalized?

In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we respond to an adoptive parent who learned that behaviors they had specifically said they could not manage had been documented in previous foster homes. We explore how to hold the agency accountable without placing that conflict on the child, use newly discovered records as a roadmap rather than a verdict, respond to challenging behaviors with safety and compassion, and help a child learn that they no longer have to hide their struggles in order to belong.

Resources:

• Before You Say Yes: Questions to Ask About a Foster Placement
• Strategies for Managing Your Child’s Melt-Downs, Tantrums, and Rages
• Using Scripts to Build Trust with Foster & Adopted Kids

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

The transition from foster care to adoption can bring relief and security, but it can also stir anxiety, grief, uncertainty, and behaviors families may not expect. In this episode, adoptive dad Adrian Potter shares what his family learned while adopting three siblings who had spent years in foster care. We discuss building trust through predictability and routine, helping a parentified child return to the role of sibling, giving children voice in the adoption process, responding to mixed emotions and changing behaviors, maintaining important connections, and building the support system families need before and after finalization.

Resources:

• Foster Care Adoption – resource page
• Preparing Children Already in the Home for an Adoption
• Equipping The Kids in Your Home to Welcome a New Child

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Question: My niece has been living with her paternal grandparents for two years. She is now four and they have decided that it is getting too hard for them. We’ve agreed to take her in. She knows us, but we haven’t spent much time with her. What’s the best way to move her to our home that will cause the least psychological damage to her. She is very attached to her grandparents.

Resources:

• Kinship Parenting Resources
• Transitioning a Child to Your Home
• Creating and Cultivating Attachment

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

With so many trauma-informed parenting approaches available, how do foster, adoptive, and kinship parents know which strategies will actually fit their child and family? In this episode, childhood trauma consultant Beth Tyson helps parents cut through the overwhelm and understand what to look for in a trauma-responsive parenting model. We explore why safety, trust, attachment, and connection should be at the foundation; how trauma can affect a child’s behavior, developmental age, sensory needs, and relationships; and why caregiver self-awareness matters just as much as understanding the child. You’ll also learn how to evaluate claims such as “evidence-based” and “brain-based,” recognize red flags in parenting programs, and decide when to adapt, combine, or move on from an approach that isn’t working.

Resources:

• Helping Children Heal from Trauma
• Parenting Children With Challenging Behavior
• Therapy Resources for Adoptive, Foster, and Kinship Families

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

What should you do when a birth mother doesn’t want contact in open adoption, but other birth family members still want a relationship with your child? In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we answer one adoptive parent’s question about how to support a child who wants to see his birth mother while continuing a meaningful relationship with his birth grandmother. We discuss how to talk honestly with your child without blaming or making promises, prepare for visits with birth family, make space for sadness and disappointment, keep relationships separate rather than treating one as a substitute for another, and leave the door open for future contact if and when the birth mother is ready.

Resources:

• Birth Parent Experiences in Adoption
• Open Adoption: Handling Difficult Birth Parent Situations
• Understanding Adoption: Voices From All Sides

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

How can parents support transracial adoption identity and belonging as children grow and begin defining who they are for themselves? In this panel conversation, three young adults with lived experience in adoption and foster care share how family, race, culture, community, trauma, and relationships shaped their developing identities and sense of belonging. They discuss the difference between having a placement and truly feeling wanted, what it means to be fully known by the people who love you, how parents can respond to bias and difficult conversations, and why families adopting across racial or cultural lines must be willing to listen, learn, and be changed by the child they welcome into their family.

Resources:

• Kirti Pickard and Mission 143: https://mission143.net/
• Tyron “Qpidluv” Smith: https://forever-safe-home.vercel.app/
• Mayia Warren: https://mayiawarren.org/
• Raising a Transracial or Multicultural Child
• Parenting Adopted Teens and Young Adults

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

When should a parent consider residential treatment for an adopted teen who has been struggling for years? One listener shared that after trying therapy, different supports, and everything they knew to help their child heal, simply hearing the words “residential treatment” felt like a parental failure.

In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we explore how to move beyond the question, “Am I giving up on my child?” and instead ask what level of support your teen needs right now. We also discuss how gathering information, expanding your child’s support team, and considering a higher level of care can be part of continuing to show up for your child—not abandoning them.

Resources:

• A Hard but Helpful Step: Navigating Residential Treatment for Adopted Kids
• Fair Play Camp
• Does Your Child Need Residential Treatment

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

How can parents protect kids from sexual exploitation without teaching them to fear the world around them? For adoptive, foster, and kinship families, this question can feel especially important when raising children who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, disrupted attachment, or other challenges that may affect trust, boundaries, and their need for connection. In this episode, child safety advocate and author CJ Scarlet, also known as The Badass Grandma, joins us to discuss how parents and caregivers can help kids recognize grooming and unsafe situations, trust their instincts, set healthy boundaries, identify trusted adults, and build the confidence and practical safety skills they need. We also explore how parents can become the safe, responsive adults their children will turn to when something goes wrong—without placing the responsibility for preventing sexual exploitation on the child.

Resources:

• https://www.thebadassgrandma.com/
• https://www.heroickids.app/
• Protecting Our Kids from Sexual Exploitation
• Understanding How Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) Help Kids Thrive

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Are you considering whether your family is ready to foster or adopt a sibling group? Keeping siblings together can preserve important family relationships, shared history, and connection, but parenting multiple children who have experienced trauma also requires careful preparation.

In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we explore the questions prospective foster and adoptive parents should ask before saying yes, including each child’s individual needs, sibling dynamics, trauma history, your family’s time and emotional capacity, the needs of children already in your home, and the support systems you will need for a successful placement.

Resources:

• Practical Tips for Fostering a Sibling Group
• Combining Kids by Birth and Adoption
• Adopting Siblings

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

If you want to adopt a relative from another country, the process involves much more than simply proving your family connection. International relative adoption—sometimes called international kinship adoption—must meet U.S. immigration requirements as well as the adoption laws of the child’s country.

In this episode, we talk with Debbie Price, BSW, Executive Director of Children’s House International, and Kathy Holliday, International Specialist, also of Children’s House International. They explain who may qualify, USCIS and Hague requirements, age limits, realistic timelines, and why families should work with a Hague-accredited adoption agency from the beginning. We also explore how to prepare your family for the child’s transition, including grief and trauma, attachment, changing family roles, cultural identity, school adjustment, and the importance of patience and support after adoption.

Resources:

• International Adoption Resource Page
• Kinship Adoption Resource Page
• Raising a Child Through Transracial Adoption Resource Page

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

Question: I recently received an autism diagnosis in my mid-30s. I have relatively low support needs and am working with my therapist to identify the best ways to manage my energy. I think I could still be a good foster parent, but will it be an issue for an agency?

Resources:

• Adult Autism Diagnosis Tool Kit – from Autism Speaks
• Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• So You Want to Be a Foster Parent

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!

What does healthy openness in adoption really look like—and how can adoptive parents maintain meaningful birth family connections over time? In this episode, we talk with adoptive mom Annie Iverson about practical strategies for open adoption, including staying consistent when life gets busy, setting healthy boundaries, keeping your child’s needs at the center, and adjusting openness as children grow. We also explore how connection with birth family can support an adoptee’s identity and sense of belonging, plus ways parents can honor a child’s birth family and story even when direct contact is limited or inconsistent.

Resources:

• Cards That Connect - use discount code Family20
• Open Adoption: Perspectives from the Triad
• #1 Secret for Navigating Open Adoption
• How to Handle Open Adoption Even When the Birth Parent Chooses to Close It

Support the show

Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by http://www.creatingafamily.org/. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building