Whats It Like to be a Birth Child in a Foster Home?
The writing contest in the last issue of Fostering Perspectives was a departure in some ways. Instead of asking for responses from children and youth who are or have been in foster care, as we usually do, this time we put the focus on a group of kids that is unquestionably affected by the child welfare system but often overlooked—the birth children of foster parents. For this contest, we asked them to tell us what it was like to be a birth child in a foster home and what they had learned from this experience. Their answers, which you’ll find on these pages, are diverse and eye-opening, reassuring and surprising. The lessons these children say they have learned include: How to handle stress People don’t always love you back (sometimes they don’t know how yet) It’s important to listen to everyone Kids need a home and a parent to love I hope that as you read the words of these children you will think about your own experience and what you have learned from your own work in foster care. —J
