Adoption has a lifelong impact on those it touches,
and members of adoptive families may want
professional help when concerns arise. Timely
intervention by a professional skilled in adoption,
attachment, and trauma issues often can prevent
concerns from becoming more serious problems.
This factsheet offers information on the different
types of therapy and providers available to help,
and it offers suggestions on how to find an
appropriate therapist. Foster parents also may find
definitions and descriptions in this factsheet useful.

A major step in building your family through adoption is the home study. The laws of every State and the District of Columbia require all prospective adoptive parents (no matter how they intend to adopt) to participate in a home study conducted by a licensed social worker or caseworker. This process has three purposes:
Educate and prepare the prospective family for adoption
Evaluate the capability and suitability of the prospective family to adopt

For an adoption to take place, the person available to be adopted must be placed in the home of a person or persons eligible to adopt. All States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands have laws that specify the persons who are eligible to adopt and the persons who can be adopted. In addition, all States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories have laws that designate the persons or entities that have the authority to make adoptive placements.

The Self-Help Support Group Directory
Your Guide to Local New Jersey Support Groups
XXVIII Edition | 35th Anniversary Edition.

The Self-Help Support Group Directory Link

Health care is a basic necessity for all children and youth. Children and youth who enter foster care because of abuse or neglect often have significant health-care needs. Changes in the nation’s health-care laws have increased access to and affordability of health care for some of our most vulnerable children and youth—those involved with child welfare. This issue brief reviews the eligibility pathways for children and youth in foster care to receive Medicaid or other health-care coverage and looks at some of the newer benefits now mandated through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), especially those for older youth in or formerly in foster care.

There are three types of Resource Family Care providers: foster, adoption, and kinship. Foster caregivers are individuals and families who voluntarily open their hearts and homes to become temporary parents to children in need of a home due to protective or other social service reasons.
Adoptive caregivers provide permanent care for children whose parents have had their parental rights terminated.
Kinship caregivers are related to a child in placement through blood, marriage, civil union, domestic partnership, or adoption. Kinship caregivers may also be connected to the child by an established positive psychological or emotional relationship.
While children are in placement, the resource family offers them loving experiences that promote healthy growth and development. They provide the vital physical and emotional care that children need when they are separated from their biological parents. Foster and adoptive caregivers must first be licensed to provide care. Kinship caregivers may provide care before being licensed if they’re eligible for licensure and are in the process of being licensed.

Youth in foster care or kinship care often have experienced abuse, neglect, chaotic living situations, and placement(s) away from their families. Their histories can lead to complicated emotions and behaviors, and many experience trauma. While youth can heal, often it will take small steps over time with stability, supports, and services.

Haciendo lo que puedas para sentirte lo mejor possible.
Todos podemos beneficiarnos al aprender qué hacer para tener buena
salud. Los jóvenes en cuidado de crianza (foster care) tienen que enfrentar
muchas cosas estresantes en sus vidas. A menudo, se sienten muy heridos
emocionalmente. A veces sus capacidades de manejar los problemas están
agotadas. Pueden necesitar ayuda en resolver cómo manejar sus sentimientos y
mejorar su salud.
Los adolecentes que se sienten tristes o enojados puede que se sientan mejor si
hablan con una persona en quien confían, si hacen algún pasatiempo preferido
o si hacen ejercicio o juegan un deporte. Los jóvenes que se sienten muy mal o
que se comportan de manera inesperada a menudo necesitan ayuda y apoyo
de otras personas. A veces necesitan terapia y/o medicamentos que los puedan
ayudar a controlar sus emociones y sus comportamientos.
Cuando estás herido, a menudo hay varias cosas que puedes hacer para sentirte
mejor. Imagina si te caes y te lastimas el tobillo—puedes tomarte un calmante,
tratar de no caminar sobre él y/o aplicarle hielo. De la misma manera, cuando
te sientes herido emocionalmente, puedes tomar medicamentos, y evitar las
actividades que empeoran la condición.

Having the tools and information to make healthy choices and knowing how to prevent illness is a key part of staying well. This book is intended for individuals who may be living on their own for the first time and not know how to set up a kitchen, shop for groceries, or the basics of cooking. The recipes contained in this book are a sample of recipes
that contain a limited number of ingredients and steps, to make it relatively easy for individuals to shop and eat healthier.

EACH YEAR, child welfare agencies make over 40,000 requests for home studies to determine whether children in foster care can
be placed with parents, relatives and others living in another state.
Each of these requests is governed by the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (“ICPC”), a uniform law adopted by every state to coordinate the placement of foster children in other states. Under the ICPC, a child can only be placed in foster care in another state after the receiving state conducts a home study and approves the proposed placement.