Did your child experience trauma or loss before they came to you? Do you want to help them heal? Join our conversation with Dr. Amanda Baden, a Professor and the Doctoral Program Director at Montclair State University in the graduate counseling program and a licensed psychologist in private practice in Manhattan. She is an adult adoptee from Hong Kong and an adoptive parent of a daughter from China.In this episode, we cover:What is trauma?What types of events/things create trauma?Why are trauma, abuse, and neglect so harmful to children?Is neglect a form of trauma?How trauma impacts children, and what factors influence how much the trauma impacts the child later in life?How to tell the difference between typical developmental behavior and behavior that is the result of trauma or loss?What is triangulation?How to break the triangle?Helping our kids integrate their birth, adoptive or foster, and self-identities. Many children who do not live with their birth families struggle to incorporate parts of their birth families, foster or adoptive families, and who they innately are into a whole that is their identity. How can parents help their children form a healthy, complete identity?  Practical tips for helping children heal. Often, we do not know exactly what trauma our children have experienced. Either they don’t remember, or it happened before they were verbal, or they cannot or have not told us. How can we help them if we do not know what happened to them?This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Have you wondered if you could be the right place for an LGBTQ+ youth or child to land? Join us to talk about how to be an affirming and supportive home for LGBTQ+ youth. Or guest will be Angela Weeks, the Director of the National SOGIE Center at the Institute for Innovation and Implementation. Under the Center, she directs the Center of Excellence for LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity and the National Quality Improvement Center on Tailored Services, Placement Stability, and Permanency for LGBTQ2S Children and Youth in Foster Care.In this episode, we cover:Why are these young people over represented in child welfare?LGBTQ+ youth are 1.5 -2 times more likely to have a foster placement failure. Why?What does the research indicate about how sexual orientation and gender identity are formed?Are LGBTQ+ youth more likely to have a mental health diagnosis or behavioral issues.Are LGBTQ+ youth more likely than heterosexual or cisgender young people to sexually abuse or otherwise pose a threat to others, including children?How to help youth evaluate the safety of their communities, schools, social networks, and homes to decide whether to disclose their LGBTQ+ identity, when to do so, and to whom.Parents often think, especially with younger kids, that this is just a phase. And kids are coming out (acknowledging their sexual orientation/gender identity to themselves and others) at younger and younger ages. And there is some fluidity. So how’s a parent to know how to handle?Studies by the Family Acceptance Project have found that most people report being attracted to another person around age 10 and identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual by age 13 (on average). Most children have a stable sense of their gender identity by age 4Sexual orientation vs sexual behavior.How can parents create a welcoming and affirming home?Additional Resources:Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: A Guide for Foster Parents https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/lgbtqyouth.pdfGlossary of Terms (Human Rights Campaign) The National SOGIE Center. The National Center for Youth with Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, & Expression provides a centralized site for accessing resources on providing culturally responsive care to children, youth, and young adults with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE) and their families across systems, including child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health (including school mental health), substance use systems, and housing and homelessness. https://www.sogiecenter.org/Family Acceptance Project® LGBTQ Youth & Family Resources To Decrease Mental Health Risks & Promote Well-Being https://lgbtqfamilyacceptance.org/Learning About Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Expression (SOGIE) (Video)A Guide for Understanding, Supporting, and Affirming LGBTQI2-S Children, Youth, and FamiliesSupport for LGBTQ Youth Starts at Home (Video) Be True and Be You: A Basic Guide for LGBTQ+ YouthSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

How do you handle a birth parent showing up to a meeting with the child stoned or drunk? What do you do when a birth parent often breaks promises to the child? Join us to talk about nine sticky situations that adoptive parents often find themselves in. Our guest is Lori Holden, the author of The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole.In this episode, we cover:What do we mean by openness and why is openness or some form of a relationship considered best for adopted kids?Difficult/Sticky Situation #1: Birth Parent Addiction to drugs or alcohol.How to handle things when a birth parent shows up for a meeting with a child high or stoned.How to set healthy boundaries with birth parents who are addicted? How to set these boundaries when you have an open adoption with a birth parent dealing with addiction?Explaining drug addiction of birth parents to children.Difficult/Sticky Situation #2: Failing to show up for meetings/visits or showing up late?Determining the cause.How do you protect your child from disappointment?How to handle it if the parents are struggling with substance abuse disorder.Difficult/Sticky Situation #3: Making promises they can’t or won’t keep. Difficult/Sticky Situation #4: Should you maintain any type of relationship with a birth parent who abused or neglected the child? Difficult/Sticky Situation #5: How should parents deal with the obvious difference between openness in multiple adoptions within the same family?Difficult/Sticky Situation #6: DNA testing. If the birth parents have not told others about the child, what obligation do you have to their desires regarding DNA testing on the child? What if there are medical reasons for doing the testing?Difficult/Sticky Situation # 7: When the adoptive parent is the problem. Over-reacting, assuming the worst intentions, etc.Difficult/Sticky Situation #8: Birth family doesn’t want contact. Difficult/Sticky Situation #9: Birth siblings being parented by the birth parents.Why should parents try to maintain relationships with the birth family in difficult situations?This podcast is produced by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

When should your child get a smartphone? What can you do if your child spends too much time playing video games? How can we protect our kids from the downsides of social media? Join us to talk about parenting and technology with Krista Boan, co-founder of the nonprofit Screen Sanity.In this episode, we cover:Digital Health: Screen Sanity’s 5 Rules of Thumb.Ride, practice, drive” approach for device and app introduction.How to handle a foster, adoptive, or kinship placement of a child that has already gone down that slippery slope of too much screen time and tech. How do you establish reasonable boundaries?Is it still recommended that parents establish a "no expectation of privacy" policy for online activity? At what age/stage should that start to change?How to handle when your family has vastly different rules from your child’s friend’s families when you don’t want your child to feel left out? Screentime:What is a reasonable rule of thumb for how much screen time a child should be allowed by age?What is considered screen time?School work?Facetime with family or friends? Drawing or coding games?Social media?How do we handle cell phones and tablets when we see more negative behavior from any usage? Smartphones:At what age should a child be given a smartphone? What questions should you ask before you give a child a smartphone?What are the alternatives to a smartphone? What are good starter phones? Video Games:How to manage the addictive nature of video games?How to strike the balance between limiting the time of video games when this is where many kids socialize.Screen Sanity’s Video Game Decision Tree Social Media:What are the pitfalls, and how can we protect our kids?When should kids be allowed to be on social media? How can parents keep up with what their kids are doing on social media?The Social Media Playbook is a parent-child workbook for starting powerful conversations about social media. Families are prompted to dig deeper into the purpose of social media in their lives and question the false standards it places on its users. Pornography:How do we protect our kids and youth from pornography?Good Pictures, Bad Pictures bookScreen Sanity has parent guides, training, webinars, and study groups. This podcast is produced by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Kari Dady joins us to talk about applying the guiding principles of Trust-Based Relational Intervention® to typical parenting situations. Kari Dady is a Regional Training & Consultation Specialist with the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development. She is also an adoptive mom who uses the TBRI® approach daily in her family.In this episode, we cover:What is parental attachment style, and how does it influence how we parent?How does trauma affect the developing child? What are some of the different types of trauma that impact a child?What are the core principles of Trust-Based Relational Intervention®(TBRI®)?TBRI® talks about parents needing to make a mindset shift when looking at challenging behavior.  What is this mindset shift?How can parents apply Trust-Based Relational Intervention®(TBRI®) to the following common behaviors:Inability to accept rules, restrictions, or the word “no”Tantrums, WhiningSleep issuesLyingStealingThis podcast is produced by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Do you have a child that is more—louder, more energetic, more argumentative, more everything? Intense children can be harder to raise, but their intensity is a gift as well as a parenting challenge. We talk with Howard Glasser, creator of the Nurtured Heart Approach to parenting. He is the author of Transforming the Difficult Child and Transforming the Intense Child Workbook.In this episode, we cover:What do you consider to be an intense child? My child was “more”—more loud, more energy—their reaction to most things was simply more. They go from 5 mph to 60mph in about a second. How to raise the intense child.What are the labels and diagnoses that intense children often accumulate? ADHD, ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder), conduct disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorder, depression.What makes some kids more “intense” than others? What do you mean by energy-challenged kids? Unable to handle or effectively control their physical, cognitive or emotional energy. They have a disorder of self-control. They have more energy than they have self-control.Energy is a gift as well as a challenge.You mention in Transforming the Difficult Child that many intense or difficult kids love video games—more so than the average child.  Why? Structure-while I think all children need structure, the high-intensity child really needs structure. Positive forms of structure vs. negative forms of structureTraditional parenting techniques did not work well for my intense little wonder. Your approach to raising an intense child is based on your Nurturing Heart Approach as outlined in your book, Transforming the Difficult Child and Transforming the Intense Child Workbook. What are the basic principles of this approach to parenting? The 3 strands.Strand 1: Refuse to energize the negative. What are some of the challenges parents face when applying this? What are some common ways we might accidentally energize the negative?Strand 2: Energize the positive. active recognition, experiential recognition, proactive recognition, creative recognition.Is there a problem with too much praise?Strand 3: Absolute clarity on limits and consequences. How to set limits?Intensity is not something that a person outgrows.This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Do you worry that your decision to foster or adopt will hurt the kids you are already raising? Check out this podcast with Dr. Jana Hunsley, an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Dallas, trauma therapist, TBRI® Practitioner, and founder of Project 1025. In this episode, we cover:FosteringWhat are some of the common impacts of fostering on children already in the family? Both potentially negative and positive.What does your research show on how significant and how often children already in the home are negatively impacted by fostering?Should you Include kids in the decision to foster? If so, how does that look at different ages?For children already in the home, is there a better age to start fostering because of their ability to understand what the family is doing?Is it harder to introduce a foster child when there is only one existing child in the home. Do only children have a harder time adjusting?How much information about the new child should you share with the other kids in the home?AdoptionHow do the impacts of adopting differ from the impacts of fostering? With adoption you usually have more time.The child may already be living with you.Adoption is for forever, while fostering is usually temporary.You may care more about creating a lasting sibling relationship between the children.How much of a say should you give kids already in the family over whether you adopt?Common WorriesThe new child may have developed behaviors that helped them survive in their prior home or are the physical symptoms of the trauma they experienced, such as tantrums, stealing, cursing, etc. Parents worry that these behaviors will rub off on their child.How to handle possible behaviors that could be harmful to kids already in the family. For example, acting out sexually with the other kids.New foster kids and some kids being placed for adoption have often had a diet higher in processed foods. How to handle this difference if you don’t want the kids in the family to eat too much processed foods.The lack of time and attention will hurt kids already in the family.Tips for ParentsHow can parents lessen the impact and increase the benefits of fostering or adopting for kids already in the family.Prepare children in the family in advance. What do children in the home need to be prepared for? (Differs significantly depending on the age of all the children involved)How to handle rule differences and behavioral expectations.How to handle the differing privileges and expectations that may have been assigned to kids by age in the past but age may not be the best measure or gauge now. For example, staying at home alone while dad runs to the store. Or bedtimes. Or visits alone to grandparents.How to prepare your children for the time commitment a new child will require to avoid feeling of jealousy? How to find time for all the kids.How to avoid secondary trauma in existing kids and how to recognize it.This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

What happens when identical twins born in Vietnam are separated by adoption, with one adopted by a US family and one adopted by a Vietnamese family? Join us to talk with Erika Hayasaki, a journalist and author of Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity and the Meaning of Family.In this episode, we cover:The story.Twin studies.Adoption studies.The similarities of the twins in your story and in twin studies.The differences between the twins in your story and in twin studies.ReunitingHow did the twins' reunion affect them, their family in Vietnam, and their adopted family in the US?Complications that the disparate degrees of wealth caused.Adoptive parents’ role in reunion.Twin studies referenced:Polderman, T., Benyamin, B., de Leeuw, C. et al. Meta-analysis of the heritability of human traits based on fifty years of twin studies. Nat Genet 47, 702–709 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3285Website based on the research cited above: MaTCH. This website provides a resource for the heritability of all human traits that have been investigated with the classical twin design. The traits have been classified into 28 broad trait domains, as well as according to the standard classification schemes of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) or the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). Currently, the database includes information from 2748 papers, published between 1958 and 2012, reporting on 17804 traits on a total of 14,558,903 twin pairs. https://match.ctglab.nl/#/homeThis podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Have mealtimes become a battleground in your house, is your child a picky eater, or do you have a child who eats too much? We provide lots of tips in our conversations with Dr. Katja Rowell, a family doctor and author of Love Me, Feed Me, 2nd edition, and Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating. She has a special interest in supporting foster and adoptive parents.In this episode, we cover:What are some of the typical food issues for adopted or foster kids, especially those who have experienced trauma?How does trauma impact feeding?Responsive eating leaves space to recognize what the body needs.What do you mean by felt safety and focusing on connection?What is a responsive and flexible framework for feeding kids with brain-based differences?How to best deal with kids who are significantly underweight.How to best handle extreme pickiness.How to handle children who are eating too much, emotional eaters, or who are overweight.Why do kids from foster care or institutional settings often become larger than optimal for their health?Practical tips for establishing healthy eating patterns in adopted or foster kidsmodified family style servingsupporting nutritionsensory support at mealtimesfood “exposure” therapyAdditional Resources:Love Me, Feed MeBlog: Parents on dessert with dinnerFollow Dr. Rowell on InstagramThis podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Are you planning on claiming the Adoption Tax Credit when you file your taxes this year? If so, this is the podcast for you! We talk with two of the top experts in the US on the Adoption Tax Credit: Becky Wilmoth, an Enrolled Agent and Adoption Tax Credit Specialist with Bill’s Tax Service, and Josh Kroll, the Adoption Subsidy Resource Center coordinator at the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC).In this episode, we cover:What is the Adoption Tax Credit for adoption being claimed on 2022 federal taxes?How to advocate for refundability?What is a “credit” and how does it differ from a deduction or some other form of tax savings?If you get a tax refund every year, how would you use the Adoption Tax Credit?If you don’t have any federal tax liability, should you still apply the credit to your federal income taxes?What types of adoptions are included or excluded? Stepparent adoption? Embryo adoption? Same-sex partner second-parent adoption? Unmarried heterosexual second-parent adoption? Surrogacy?Can you get credit for each adoption you complete even if completed in the same year? What about adopting siblings at the same time?What is a Qualified Adoption Expense for purposes of the Adoption Tax Credit 2022?When can you claim the Adoption Tax Credit?Domestic private adoptionInternational AdoptionRe-adoption in the US for international adoptionFoster Care AdoptionHow does the Adoption Tax Credit work with kinship adoptions? What if the child never was involved with foster care?Special Needs Adoption: How does the Adoption Tax Credit differ for adoptions from foster care? What does the IRS accept as proof of “special needs”?$0 subsidy agreementSpecial needs child for international adoptionCan you reclaim your expenses for an attempted adoption that did not result in a placement? How?What income level (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) is excluded from claiming the Adoption Tax Credit in 2022?How long can the credit be carried over?Are you able to amend the previous year's tax return to claim the adoption tax credit? Is the adoption tax credit something you can amend, and if so, how do you amend and how many years back?Will the Adoption Tax Credit offset self-employment tax?How does the Secure Act impact claiming the Adoption Tax Credit for 2022 taxes?What should you do if the child’s Social Security Number is not available when you file?Should you use an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN #) if you don’t have the child’s social security number?How does the Adoption Tax Credit work in conjunction with employee adoption benefits? For special needs adoption?Qualified Birth or Adoption Distribution from Qualified Retirement Plan without penalty. Under Secure Act.If you adopt, can you still get the Child Tax Credit?What do you need in order to get the Child Tax Credit for your adopted child?Do you need to send to the IRS any documentation for the Adoption Tax Credit when you file your taxes? What type of documentation should you keep in your records?How to find a tax specialist knowledgeable on the Adoption Tax Credit? https://adoptiontaxcredit.orgThis podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship paSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Are you thinking about adopting this year? You don't want to miss this discussion of how to adopt and current trends in private infant adoption, foster care adoption, and international adoption. Our guests are Chris Peszka, MSW, Regional and District Supervisor at Adoptions From The Heart Adoption Agency, and Robin Sizemore, Executive Director of Hopscotch Adoptions.In this episode, we cover: Domestic infant private adoption in the USWhat is the process?What are the reasons that pregnant moms are placing their child?Open adoptionExpectant parent choiceSpecial needs of children availableHow long does it take? What factors influence this time?How much does it cost? What factors influence this cost?Adoption agency and adoption attorneyWhat is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting a baby?Adoptions from foster care in the USWhat is the process?Adopting your foster childAdopting a waiting childWhat are the reasons that children are available for adoption from foster care in the US?What age and race of child is available for adoption from foster care?Special needs?How long does it take?How much does it cost?What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting from foster care?International adoptions to the USWhat is the process?What type of children are available for adoption from abroad?How long does it take? What factors influence this time?How much does it cost? What factors influence this cost?What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting internationally?What are some of the shifts in adoption in the last 5 or so years?What are some of the changes anticipated for 2023 and beyond?Additional resources:Adoptions in the US: How Many? How Much? How Long?Choosing an Adoption Agency or AttorneyThis podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

How do you know when enough is enough? What do you do when infertility treatment and adoption don't end up with you having a child. Join us to talk with Rebecca and Sallyann Majoya, co-authors of the memoir Uncertain Fruit, and Carole LieberWilkins, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist providing individual and couples counseling, as well as psychoeducational consultations, for those moving into alternative paths to parenthood and living child-free.In this episode, we cover:Deciding to live child-free is becoming increasingly common in the US. Research has found that 30 percent of women of childbearing age identifying wanting to live child-free. However, that is not reflective of the people we are speaking to who have likely tried infertility treatment or adoption and it hasn’t worked for them.What is the right name: childfree or childless? Are you childfree by choice or childfree not by choice?Age is less of a biological cut off point than in the past and that complicates the decision of whether to stop trying to have a child.How do people know when it is time to stop trying? What are the signs that it is time to stop. How do you know when enough is enough?Is making the decision to live childfree ‘giving up’?Are there predictable steps for reaching the decision of when it is time to stop fertility treatment or adoption? Determining when you should stop.How to decide to stop?‘Trying on’ the futureSeeking new goal/visionTherapyHow can “giving up the dream” of children impact a couple’s relationship?How to handle when both partners are not on the same page.Once you’ve made the decision, should you take steps to not get pregnant? The “not-try-but-not-prevent” approach.For many, the decision to live child free not by choice causes grief, but this loss is invisible. It’s hard for others to see or understand, so we mourn without the support of our community.What can people do to help themselves resolve the grief of not having kids?Writing a letter to the child you will never know.Giving this dream child a “funeral.” Doing something with the letter that is akin to a funeral. Concrete reminders that the person is gone. Create a ritual to say goodbye.Writing a memoir. Create a new life goal. A new vision for your future.This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Are adoptive parents eligible for parental leave? What about foster parents or kinship parents? We talk with Dr. Amy Beacom and Sue Campbell, with the Center for Parental Leave Leadership and co-authors of The Parental Leave Playbook.In this episode, we cover:What are the laws and rules surrounding parental leave in the US?Who is eligible for parental leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?Parental leave on the company levelHow does parental leave differ from maternity leave paternity leave?Policies that require employees to pay back their parental leave if they do not stay employed with the company/organization for a certain period of time. How does this differ from other countries?Are the laws/rules different for mothers and fathers? Are they gender neutral?Do you receive your salary when you are on parental leave?Does parental leave differ for someone adopting a child?Are adoptive families are protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?Are birth mothers eligible for parental leave?Does their have to be a legal relationship between the parent and the child? Does parental leave differ for someone fostering a child? Are you eligible for parental leave with every new foster placement?Can kinship caregivers receive parental leave?The Parental Leave Playbooklays out a process for approaching parental leave in three phases: preparing for your leave, during leave, and returning from leave.What steps should you take to be successful in each phase?To support the Paid Leave for All Act This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

We talk with Isaac and Julie Etter, a mom and son, about what they have learned about transracial adoption and what they wish they had known at the beginning. Isaac is the founder of Identity, a startup focused on using technology to help adoptive and foster families thrive. Julie Etter is a mom of five and a humanities teacher.In this episode, we cover:Isaac, tell us your adoption story from your perspective. Why were you placed for adoption? What were the first two years of your life like? Where you were raised?Julie, what was your motivation for adopting? Were there other children in the family?What was the racial demographics of your community?Julie, what were you taught about transracial adoption before you adopted?Isaac, how did you identify racially as a young child? When did you start identifying as black?Did you experience racism growing up?Julie, did you see racism directed towards Isaac as a child?Did you tell your parents?Julie, what do you wish you had known before you adopted a Black child? Would you have done anything differently?Isaac, what do you want transracial adopted parents to know?Julie, what advice would you give other parents who have or are considering adopting tranracially?This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

How do some kids survive a life of poverty, homelessness, abuse, and foster and eventually thrive? We talk with David Ambroz is a national poverty and child welfare expert and advocate and the author of the memoir, A Place Called Home.  He was recognized by President Obama as an American Champion of Change. Currently serving as the Head of Community Engagement (West) for Amazon, Ambroz previously led Corporate Social Responsibility for Walt Disney Television, and has served as president of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission as well as a California Child Welfare Council member. After growing up homeless and then in foster care, he graduated from Vassar College and later earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law. He is a foster dad and lives in Los Angeles, CA.In this episode, we cover:Poverty and Homelessness:His story.SchoolWhat made a difference?What should adults who encounter or work with homeless children/youth know?Foster Care:His story.Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are overrepresented in foster care (Human Rights Campaign, 2015). While approximately 5 percent of the general population is estimated to be LGBTQ+, studies estimate that about 30 percent of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ+. Why are these young people over represented in child welfare? LGBTQ+ youth are 1.5 -2 times more likely to have a foster placement failure.What would you want foster parents to know?What made the difference in your eventually succeeding? (Going to Vassar and UCLA Law School.)The lack of available treatments for mental illness.Why did you become a foster parent?Why did you title the book “A Place Called Home?”Support the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

How much do you really know about your fertility, menstrual cycles, and conception? Join us to learn more with Dr. Joyce Harper, a Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, and the head of the Reproductive Science and Society Group. She is the author of  Your Fertile Years.In this episode, we cover:Understanding the menstrual cycleUnderstanding the basic of conceptionPredicting ovulationBasics of InfertilityWhat percentage of infertility is caused by the female partner, the male partner, or both?What causes a woman to not ovulate?Initial workup for women who meet the definition of infertilityWorkup for Recurrent Pregnancy LossTreatment Options for Infertility How does the infertility workup differ for the LGBTQ+ community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Non-binary, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and Gender Nonconforming Individuals)? This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Are you a foster or adoptive parent whose child is taking mood altering medications or medications to help them sleep? You will learn a lot about these medications and what you can do to make them as effective as possible. We talk with Dr. Adam Langenfeld, a Developmental Pediatrician at Children's Minnesota hospital. He also has a Ph.D. in chemistry.In this episode, we cover:What are psychotropic medications?What are the classes of psychotropic medications? What are some commonly prescribed medications in each class?What mental health issues are these medications addressing?Symptoms of anxiety and depression in children.Situational anxiety or depression. SCARED checklist anxiety Childhood Depression InventoryHow do psychotropic medications work? A basic overview of Psych Pharmacology.Simulation of a brain synapsisHow are medications in each of these classes administered?Does timing of the day matter?How effective is melatonin? Does proximity to meals matter when administering these medications?What are some of the side effects of the most commonly used psychotropic medications?Psychedelics? Supplements (such as CBD)?Why are children in foster care more likely to be on psychotropic medications?Does use of psychotropic medications in childhood increase the likelihood of substance abuse in adolescence or adulthood?What can parents do to help these medications be as effective as possible?How to know when a child should taper down or get off of psychotropic medications?If parents believe that the child is on too many psychotropic medications, what should they do? Additional Resources:Children in Foster Care Much More Likely to be Prescribed Psychotropic Medications Compared with Non-Foster Children in Medicaid Program National Alliance on Mental Illness, Quick Reference to Psychiatric Medications Common Medications Used in Psychiatric Treatment Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) Children’s Depression Inventory 2nd Edition  (there is a fee for this inventory)Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children Simulation of a brain synapsis This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog posts Resource pages on alSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Do you wonder if your child was prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs? There may be nothing in the files, but something feels not right? We talk about diagnosing and treating these kids with Dr. Larry Burd, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and the Director of the North Dakota Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Center.In this episode, we cover:Most of our audience is foster, adoptive, and kinship parents and professionals. Often they don’t know for sure if a child has been exposed. The US government estimates that about 10% of all children in the US have been prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs. Do you have a feel for the percentage of children in foster care or who have been involved with the child welfare system? International adoption? Domestic infant adoption?Does prenatal exposure increase the likelihood of a disruption to a foster or adoptive placement? How is prenatal exposure to alcohol detected or diagnosed?What type of training do pediatricians receive during their education or residency on prenatal exposure and on how to diagnose?Can you tell at birth or in infancy if a baby has been exposed to alcohol in utero?How is prenatal exposure to drugs detected or diagnosed?How does birth order change the likelihood that a child who is at risk has been exposed during pregnancy?What are the long-term impacts of alcohol exposure? What are the symptoms that are most noticeable to parents, teachers, and other professionals working with these children?Alcohol exposure affects multiple systems in the body.Does it matter what type of alcohol was consumed?Who can diagnose a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?What are the long-term impacts of the following drugs?OpioidsHeroin and FentanylDepressants (benzodiazepines, such as Valium, Xanax)-Prescribed and unprescribedStimulants-Prescribed and unprescribedMethamphetaminesMarijuanaTobacco/NicotineDo pediatricians have a body of resources to offer parents regarding raising a child with prenatal exposure?Tips for parentsAdditional Resources Mentioned in Interview:Still Face Experiment This podcast is produced  by 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 podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Are you a transracial adoptive or foster parent? Have you wondered how you can help your child form a healthy racial identity. Does racial identity formation change depending on the race of the child? Today we talk about all this and more with Dr. Gina Miranda Samuels, a professor at the University of Chicago and Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. She is a transracial adoptee and co-author of the book Multiracial Cultural Attunement.In this episode, we cover:How do children in the US come to understand race at different ages and developmental stages?How early do children develop a racial bias? How early do children associate certain characteristics to race and show a preference towards a person of a certain race? How does transracial adoption or fostering or kinship care impact a child’s understanding of race?How does transracial or transcultural adoption or fostering or kinship care impact children? Racial identity formation: How does being adopted transracially impact the adoptee’s racial identity formation?Coping with racismIn your research and in your experience, do you see a difference in the experience of race is perceived by both transracial adoptees or adoptive or foster parents depending on the race of the child? Asian, Latinx, Black, Bi-racial?Why is taking the colorblind approach to parenting not helpful? “It’s About More Than Hair”Transracial parenting requires the family to be fluent in “race talk” – socialization is not a conversation, it is a daily, incremental, and developmental family process.As our kids age, what is it like for our tweens, teens, and young adults to have parents of a different race?How does transracial adoption or fostering impact siblings in the family who are the same race as the parents?How does transracial adoption or fostering affect extended family members, such as grandparents and aunts and uncles?Practical tips for parents raising a child of a different race or ethnicity.Additional Resources:Diverse Book FinderThe Brown Bookshelf – highlights Black voices writing for young readers.The Conscious Kid Multiracial Cultural Attunement by Gina Miranda Samuels and Kelly Faye Jackson, 2019Tips for parenting your transracially adopted child by Dr. Gina Samuels EmbraceRace was founded to create the community and gather the resources they needed (need!) to meet the challenges faced by those raising children in a world where race matters.Dr. Erin Winkler, Children Are Not Colorblind: How Young Children Learn RaceHamilton ER, Samek DR, Keyes M, McGue MK, Iacono WG. Identity Development in a Transracial Environment: Racial/Ethnic Minority Adoptees in Minnesota. Adopt Q. 2015;18(3):217-233. doi: 10.1080/10926755.2015.1013593. PMID: 26300622; PMCID: PMC4540225.  This podcast is produced  by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professioSupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

What are the common health issues foster parents and those adopting from foster care should expect? We talk with Christy Street, Program Director of Fostering Health NC, which is a program of North Carolina Pediatric Society.In this episode, we cover:Term “health” broadly to encompass physical, emotional, mental, behavioral, developmental, educational, and oral health.Impact of trauma on kids physical and mental health.Those areas of the brain most affected by trauma, especially early trauma, are those involved in stress response, emotional regulation, attention, cognition, executive function, and memory. An issue with foster care parenting is limited access to health care before entering foster care and lack of knowledge about previous health care. How does this impact care and what can foster or adoptive parents do?The role of transience and uncertainty for kids in foster care provides challenges for foster parents and doctors in providing health care to kids in foster care.ImmunizationsMedicaid Care managementFoster kids often come to us with a bag full of medications that have been prescribed somewhere along the line and a host of diagnoses. What role can foster or soon to be adoptive parents play?  What are psychotropic drugs and why are so many foster children on them?What can foster parents do if they question the amount or type of medication their foster child is taking or even the underlying diagnosis? What role does a foster parent have in seeking a change in medication for their foster child?What doctor do you take your foster child to? Your pediatrician? Their previous doctor, if they had one? The doctor that has prescribed the medication?Pre-natal exposure to alcohol and drugs: impact, diagnosis. One of the most confusing aspects of caring for a child in foster care is identifying who has the authority to consent for health care on behalf of the child or adolescent. Varies by state (caseworker can tell you).Sleep issues with foster children. What causes sleep issues? What can foster parents or parents adopting from foster care do to help children in foster care sleep better?How common are weight issues in foster children? Why is obesity and being overweight an issue? What can foster parents or parents adopting from foster care do? Dental care for foster children. How much and how soon?Coping with feelings of “why bother” when a foster child will return to the same chaotic household they came from.Additional ResourcesGuide for Use and Monitoring of Psychotropic Medications in Children & AdolescentsTips to Help Your Child SleepNCPeds.org - Fostering HealthNCPeds.org - LibrarySupport the showPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily