New Year, New Connections

The power of community connections in foster care

By: Amanda Polinski

Hundreds of children in Michigan have entered into foster care for a variety of reasons related to abuse and neglect. Each of these children are placed in a home or facility. For those placed in a home, the children will be cared for by either a relative, fictive kin, or licensed foster parent. These caregivers are not expected to simply take on the daunting task of caring for a child at a moment’s notice without support. Building a strong support system is imperative to the success of a foster caregiver, whether that is a relative or licensed foster parent. If you are thinking about expanding your family and welcoming your home to foster children, you are in the right place. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” has quite a bit of truth to it!

A parent or family should not be afraid to reach out to those close to them who may be able to assist with providing support. This could include transportation, babysitting, a mentor for the child, or if the caregiver just wants someone to talk to. Although the connections that we already have may be positive and helpful, it would also be beneficial to expand and strengthen that support system.  There are loads of opportunities to build new community connections. Some of these may include support groups (including virtual), volunteering for a local cause, attending or working community events, joining an online community or forum, and participating with your foster care agency where other caregivers and the children in their care are going through a very similar experience.

Building our community is so incredibly important not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of those around us and the people we serve. For foster caregivers, this means in addition to helping the caregivers, building a community will help support the children in their care and provide them with meaningful connections. In an article written by Beth Shapiro called Marginalized Youth, Mental Health, and Connection with Others: A Review of the Literature, the author powerfully states in the conclusion “Connection with others has the potential to not only protect marginalized youth against negative outcomes, but to foster growth and resilience as well. … Given the many obstacles marginalized youth encounter in the transition to adulthood, it is time to expand the definition of a successful transition to adulthood to one that recognizes healthy interdependence as well as greater independence.”

It is widely known that it is in our nature as human beings to be social. There is no argument that humans have to rely on other humans to survive (i.e. food that someone else grew, clothing that someone created, shelter that someone built, transportation that someone provided, income that someone paid us). Our mental health needs are just as important as our physical needs, including a sense of belonging. Feeling isolated is unhealthy and not at all helpful when it comes to being a caregiver. Eliminate those feelings of isolation by becoming more engaged in the various communities that surround you. If you have a hobby, reach out to those around you and see who would want to join you! If you are looking for some positive parenting examples, attend a support group or invite some friends over who have demonstrated some positive parenting with their children. 

It is imperative that foster children have a sense of community and sense of belonging. The following results were documented from a study titled “Foster parents’ emotional investment and their young foster children’s socio-economic functioning.” The authors report “In our study, we investigated the degree of emotional investment including acceptance, commitment, and awareness of influence in a group of foster parents and the relationship to the foster children’s social-emotional functioning. Our results indicate that placing young children with highly committed foster parents will have a positive impact on the children’s functioning and therefore such placements must be of high priority.”

This New Year can be all about building positive connections and engaging in new communities, allowing caregivers to become more invested in the care and attention to themselves, their families, and the children in their care by inclusion and engagement. Everyone is encouraged to take that step, put themselves out there, and work towards strengthening their support systems with community connections. Let’s see how strong your village can truly be!