In today’s video, I show some considerations if you were talking to an older child’s parent for the first time.
Of course, there is so much to cover with parents For this video, I tried to showcase some of the initial conversation starters for your consideration.
This includes:
if possible try to introduce yourself first in an initial conversation.
ask about the youths needs and preferences. This showcases your care and openness to collaboration. Sometimes things are missing in the case file so this is a chance to confirm important details.
this can be a chance to establish contact boundaries and communication needs/requests (for both foster parent AND parent).
it’s important to get clear guidance on if calls need to be fully supervised (on speaker phone)
sharing about yourself and your home setup can help put parents at ease
showcase your openness to answer questions and talk about concerns. This can lay the groundwork for future conflict resolution.
Sometimes a worker will set up a formal icebreaker meeting so that parents and foster parents can meet. Other times it’s up to foster parents to initiate and have these initial conversations. And sometimes there is no conversation at all.
It’s important to know that this is a social media one minute video so there are some nuances that will always be hard to showcase in a video like this. Parents may or may not be in a place to be able to take in and have this detailed conversation with you. It’s important to remember that this is a traumatic situation for them as well. These conversations may happen overtime and through multiple conversations and touch points. Sometimes these conversations may not be able to happen at all if the worker does not allow direct communication or if it isn’t possible at all (eg if the parent is not able to be located)
I invite you to share in the comments how you have initial conversations with tweens and teens parents. What types of things come up or do you discuss first? How do you support the youth in these initial conversations? Let me know below. ⬇️
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Laura - Foster Parent Partner