In this episode of the Foster Friendly Podcast, hosts Brian and Courtney welcome Charell Starr, a former foster youth and advocate. Charell shares her personal journey through the foster care system, discussing the challenges she faced, her reunification with her mother, and her experiences in boarding school. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the unique circumstances of each child in foster care and the need for empathy towards families.

Charell also discusses her transition into advocacy, sparked by her desire to raise awareness about the needs of foster youth, leading to her participation in a documentary series that highlights various foster care experiences. She emphasizes the role of mentors, like CASAs, in helping youth navigate their challenges and highlights her memoir, 'Trash Bag Tales,' which details her journey and the significance of community and trust in healing from trauma.

Pickup a copy of her book "Trash Bag Tales":
https://a.co/d/0eP3OiC1

Takeaways

• Charell's journey through foster care began at a young age.
• She experienced six different homes in six years.
• Reunification with her mother was a challenging process.
• Education provided a grounding force in her life.
• Every child's experience in foster care is unique.
• Advocacy can stem from personal experiences and feelings.
• Empathy towards families is crucial in foster care.
• Documentaries can raise awareness about foster care issues.
• Charell's story is part of a larger docu-series on foster care.
• Understanding trauma is essential for supporting youth in care. No youth in foster care deserves to be in foster care.
• Stereotypes about foster youth often stem from misconceptions.
• Support from mentors can significantly impact a youth's success.
• Charell credits her success to her great grandmother and supportive teachers.
• Writing her memoir was a way to share her story and inspire others.
• Healing from trauma requires community and trust in others.
• CASAs play a crucial role in advocating for foster youth.
• Youth with CASAs are more likely to reunify with families and graduate high school.
• Everyone deserves someone who believes in them.
• Charell's story illustrates the power of empathy and understanding.

In this episode of the Foster Friendly Podcast, hosts Brian, Courtney, and Travis discuss the I Belong Project, a program aimed at helping children in foster care find families. This is a unique episode because some of the stories shared on this episode come from our staff on the ground in various states across the country. The hosts listen and react and also share their own personal stories and insights from their experiences in foster care and adoption, highlighting the importance of storytelling and social media in raising awareness and engaging potential adoptive families. The conversation emphasizes the need for better matching of children with families and the challenges faced by kids in the foster care system.

The hosts discuss the challenges faced by hard-to-place children in the foster care system, the importance of creative advocacy in finding families for these children, the significance of sibling bonds in the adoption process, and the complex emotions surrounding grief and loss in adoption. They emphasize the need for awareness and compassion in addressing the needs of these children and the families that support them.

Learn more about about our I Belong Project and meet kids waiting for adoptive families:

https://americaskidsbelong.org/meet-the-kids/

Takeaways

• Courtney has been a foster mom for 18 years.
• The I Belong Project helps children find families through storytelling.
• Social media plays a crucial role in raising awareness.
• Many families inquire about children they see in videos.
• The project has filmed over 4,258 kids without turning anyone down.
• Kids in foster care often wait years for adoption.
• The best advocates for children are the children themselves.
• Matching families to children is a critical process.
• The project has led to increased inquiries from first-time foster parents.
• There is a family for every child, and connections can be biological. Kids who are hard to place often wait a long time for families.
• Reunification efforts may fail, leading to the need for adoption.
• Many hard-to-place kids have special needs or siblings they want to stay with.
• Creative advocacy can change perceptions and outcomes for children.
• Siblings being separated in adoption is a common but challenging issue.
• Keeping siblings together can provide emotional support during adoption.
• Adoption comes with grief for biological families and foster families.
• Understanding the grief involved in adoption is crucial for adoptive families.
• Adoptive parents often face their own grief while supporting their children.
• The journey to adoption can lead to unexpected family connections.

In this conversation, Patton Dodd shares insights from his memoir about fatherhood (The Father You Get), exploring his relationship with his father and the impact of father figures in one's life. The conversation also explores the complexities of father figures, personal expectations, and the importance of presence in parenting. Patton discusses his own journey of becoming a dad, the emotional challenges he faced, and the significance of being fully present for children as dads.

Follow Patton's work and checkout his book:
https://pattondodd.com/

Takeaways

• We wanted to talk to people about poverty and inequality.
• We use stories to facilitate conversations.
• We've generated an audience who care about these issues.
• We're not pushing towards particular policy outcomes.
• We're trying to get people to become more aware.
• I was haunted by my dad's story.
• I felt a little bit of boldness to write.
• I didn't really know my father until I researched him.
• You don't become the way my dad was without trauma.
• Father figures aren't just mentors, you create them. I gave him a lot; I expected him to be something he was never going to be.
• Part of the answer to anxiety is just listening to the stories of other dads.
• What’s needed is not to feel like you know how to do it, but to keep showing up.
• Presence comes from deep within; you have to choose to be attentive.
• You can do a lot of dutiful stuff and be completely absent-minded about it.
• Fathers play an essential role that can't just be replaced.
• We are wired for fatherhood; it's part of our evolution.
• Little moments become the big moments in life.
• You have to actually choose to be attentive to your children.
• It's important to be all in during those moments with your kids.