Family Support

You are not alone. Foster, kinship and adoptive families can join the alliance by getting involved with these opportunities and resources.

FIND YOUR COMMUNITY
Are you a foster, adoptive or kinship parent?

Do you feel alone or like your “normal” friends and family just don’t understand?

Then come find your COMMUNITY! Our monthly support groups are a place to be encouraged and equipped alongside fellow foster, adoptive and kinship families.

Learn from our experienced leaders and fellow foster, adoptive and kinship parents as they discuss planned topics that will help you parent children from hard places. Also, enjoy the freedom to be honest with a group of other parents who can truly empathize. You will have the opportunity to connect with local resources and earn training hours if needed.

No family should walk this journey alone…we are better together.

Support groups are hosted throughout our area. All groups are open to any foster, adoptive or kinship family. Each group meets 10 times per year. Please contact the support group coordinator for specific times and locations.

Alliance monthly support groups are a place to be encouraged and equipped alongside fellow foster, adoptive and kinship families.
ALLIANCE SUPPORT GROUPS
Click each location for more details

The group leader email is provided. Please contact the leader for information and to join the group.

PLAY YOUR PIECE
Help Your Friends and Family Play Their Piece

Do you struggle to find trusted foster care approved babysitters? You do the heavy lifting of serving children in the foster care system 24/7, finding help for a night or weekend off should be easy. 

The Babysitting Collaborative allows your friends and family to easily work through all the steps needed to support you. The virtual platform is self paced and meets the requirements for 12 local child placing agencies. We have helped over 600 people become verified babysitters through this process. 

We know, it is so hard to ask for help but people who love you want to help. They only need to be invited into this mission with you. 

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FAMILY RESOURCES

Here's Our Recommendations

INBRIEF: THE SCIENCE OF NEGLECT

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WHAT NEUROSCIENCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE TELL US ABOUT THE EFFECT OF CARE ENVIRONMENTS ON CHILDREN

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EMPOWERED TO CONNECT VIDEOS

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REMOVED (TWO-PART SERIES)

View Part 1 | View Part 2

Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)

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Remembering Trauma

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How Childhood Trauma Affects Children over a Lifetime

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THE FOSTER MOVEMENT PODCAST

The Foster Movement Podcast, featuring former foster youth and national leaders in foster care advocacy, provides powerful insights and practical tools to help you work with others to provide More Than Enough for kids and families in foster care where you live.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND LISTEN


TAPESTRY PODCAST

Tapestry’s Empowered to Connect podcast is for parents, professionals, and ministry leaders. Join us as we discuss how to connect with, empower, and correct our kids.

 

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND LISTEN


THINK ORPHAN PODCAST

The Think Orphan podcast is hosted by Kelly Stewart, Social Worker and adoptive mom, and Philip Darke, President of Providence World and co-author of In Pursuit of Orphan Excellence. Each week, they discuss the difficult issues and hot topics involved in the global orphan crisis with leading voices from around the world, such as Jedd Medefind, Rick Morton, and Peter Greer. From poverty alleviation and family strengthening, to best practices in caring for orphaned and abandoned children, to human trafficking and mentoring, Phil and Kelly will work with you to navigate the issues that affect millions of children and families all over the world.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND LISTEN

 

TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE

THE CONNECTED CHILD: BRINGING HOPE AND HEALING TO YOUR ADOPTED FAMILY

By:  Karyn Purvis, David Cross, and Wendy Lyons Sunshine

The adoption of a child is always a joyous moment in the life of a family. Some adoptions, though, present unique challenges. Welcoming these children into your family and addressing their special needs requires care, consideration, and compassion.

Written by two research psychologists specializing in adoption and attachment, The Connected Child will help you to build bonds of affection and trust with your adopted child, effectively deal with any learning or behavioral disorders, and discipline your child with love without making him or her feel threatened.

This book is truly outstanding because of its numerous examples of scripts and phrases that parents can use. This book is strongly recommended.

Buy on Amazon

BORN FOR LOVE: WHY EMPATHY IS ESSENTIAL AND ENDANGERED

By: Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz

Buy on Amazon

PARENTING FROM THE INSIDE OUT

By: Dan Seigel, MD

Buy on Amazon

ANATOMY OF THE SOUL

By:  Curt Thompson

Buy on Amazon

THE WHOLE BRAIN CHILD

By:  Tina Payne Bryson, PhD and Daniel Seigel, MD

Your toddler throws a tantrum in the middle of a store. Your preschooler refuses to get dressed. Your fifth-grader sulks on the bench instead of playing on the field. Do children conspire to make their parents’ lives endlessly challenging? No – it’s just their developing brain calling the shots!

Buy on Amazon

NO DRAMA DISCIPLINE

By:  Daniel Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD

The pioneering experts behind the bestselling The Whole-Brain Child – Tina Payne Bryson and Daniel J. Siegel, the New York Times bestselling author of Brainstorm – now explore the ultimate child-raising challenge: discipline. Highlighting the fascinating link between a child’s neurological development and the way a parent reacts to misbehavior, No-Drama Discipline provides an effective, compassionate road map for dealing with tantrums, tensions, and tears – without causing a scene.

Buy on Amazon

READY OR NOT: 30 DAYS OF DISCOVERY FOR FOSTER & ADOPTIVE PARENTS

Entering the journey of foster care and adoption can be one of the most daunting decisions that you make as a parent. Parenting a child who has experienced trauma and loss is a rewarding experience, but it’s not easy.

In this biblically-centered and straight-forward book, Pam Parish helps parents to:
  • Consider the impact of foster care and adoption on their lives and families.
  • Evaluate their motives and expectations for the foster care and adoption experience.
  • Explore foster care and adoption through the lens of scripture.

Buy on Amazon

 

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

A DAY OR FOREVER, I’LL LOVE YOU THE SAME

By:  Michelle Thompson

Buy on Amazon

NO MATTER WHAT: A FOSTER CARE TALE

By: Josh Shipp

Buy on Amazon

BEING ADOPTED

By: Amy Wilkerson, LCSW

Buy on Amazon

FAMILIES CHANGE: A BOOK FOR CHILDREN EXPERIENCING A TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

By: Julie Nelson

Buy on Amazon

THE INVISIBLE STRING

By: Patrice Karst 

Buy on Amazon

REDO ROO

By: Cindy Lee

Buy on Amazon

ADOPTION IS BOTH

By: Elena S. Hall

Buy on Amazon