Supporting youth in foster care with mental health needs #fosterparent #fostercare #mentalhealth
Oh, real quick. When I was at the store, I picked up those mechanical pencils you said you needed. They’re on your desk in your room. I want to let you know that I found a wreck league that meets on Saturdays and you don’t have any visits on that day. No appointments. Do you want me to sign you up and just see what it’s all about? You can always stop if it’s not fun. I want us to be able to talk about anything, even the things that are difficult to talk about. I know today was a lot with the visits, the meetings, and then the news about your mom. Do you want to take a mental health day tomorrow from school? You can sleep in, relax around the house tomorrow. I’d like to explore getting a CASA for Jackson. I just really think that having another supportive adult who isn’t their caregiver would be really helpful for their mental health. You are funny, smart, and so good at soccer. There isn’t anything that you can say to me that will change that. I would like to visit while they’re in mental health treatment if that’s possible. How can I set that up? What are the rules for things that I can bring him? I’d like to put together a care package if that’s possible.
36 Comments
Flag on the play. Its never okay to commit any child for any amount of time or any reason. No matter how much easier it made your life. It’s disgusting to include something like that like its a decent or okay thing and not just further traumatizing a child for convenience.
Would've loved this as a kid❤
I really wish my mom was willing to do these things for me growing up. I'm not even a foster kid but I think videos like this help me heal a bit
I think I day off is good idea but what if there program like at school is picky about that what do you do?
I will be fostering in the next five years and I will definitely be using these videos. My daughter has told me many times she will not birth children but she will foster and adopt. You are a great example and I wish you all the best! 🩵
I love this! I’m agoraphobic and my family never did anything for me while in treatment. I got locked up and ignored. Not a fan of it. Those facilities aren’t always the safest either. My last lock up should’ve gotten that place shut down!
Your videos are healing to watch. Thank you for showing us what good parenting looks like. ❤
I love this thank you Laura. ❤ how you do these videos is just perfect
Now that you mentioned kids going into psych wards, is it possible for you to make a video about what to do if a kid is breaking down at your home to the point they’ll have to be involuntarily admitted? I know it’s such a heavy and serious topic, but I think foster parents need to know what to do and how to handle that situation to make it less traumatic.
I’ve been IVC’d about six times in foster care and getting me in the ambulance was trally traumatic, as it felt I was a dog getting taken away by animal control. Placement would be disrupted right then and there – was not allowed to come back. Could you please make a video on that subject and what you would do in that situation? I think it would really help the foster community
The way the school systems are now, no wonder so many kids have mental health issues. This lady is awesome.
I teach in a juvenile residential treatment facility and so many of the kiddos have no familial support and it breaks my heart for them 😢
You’re a fantastic mom
I'm wondering how many kids you've had in your care? And how long on average they stay?
Beautiful ❤
This is the first time I've heard you mention a mentor. How does one become a mentor?
I've never been in foster care but I did have severe depression and anxiety at a young age which was difficult to navigate through. This is the best support.
Extra point – as well as supportive language, always be direct with young folk. There can be so much shame around mh crises. It's hard to talk about su1c1de (censoring for the Al Gore), SH, self hatred… But please don't give your young folk too much space to avoid the topic if you're worried. Obviously be sensitive, but softening your language ("have you had any bad thoughts" instead of "have you had any thoughts about xyz") can do more harm than good.
Children and teenagers are little people, developing people, they can't comprehend it yet because they feel readymade (their basic identities have mostly coalesced), but they have so much potential to Become at this age. i wish i could have understood that though i feel As I Am, i had so much Could Be still available.
i carried a lot of shame and frustration as a young teen because of bullying and I'm sure a physical outlet would indeed have helped, but the bullying involved my body and my weight so movement felt too terrifying. maybe if i had been encouraged to have a crazy dance to music once a week? 😂
Inpatient psych wards are hell, moreso when you're a child. Supporting kids through that is so necessary.
Thank you for demonstrating specific child-centered interactions and behaviors to motivate and inspire child-centered non-biological care scenarios. As an adoptee, I am aware of and have personally experienced otherwise. You guidance in gentle care techniques and thorough communication and documentation as well as your mindfulness of privacy is a model that more adults providing care need to embrace. Thank you for stepping up and thinking of ways to try to make your role in these kids' and families lives as healing, helping, mindful, and productive as possible with the time you may have and for keeping the narrative open and honest about biological family communications.
This lady is so kind and smart. Everyone should learn from her, not just foster parents.
i already have someone to be like a second mom to me but I wish you could be my third T^T
Makes me sad I didn't have this as a child but it makes me so incredibly happy to know my experience isn't the same for every child ❤
I haven't ever been in foster care but as someone who has struggled with significant mental health issues since I was young I've been to the psych ward many times (which usually never helped). On one my stays there was this one girl who had been stuck on the unit for 6 months because they couldn't find a placement for her. I still can't forget near the end of my 2 weeks how they finally found a placement. She was still there when I was discharged but when I ended up going back 3 weeks later she was gone. I hope that she was able to live a stable life from there and is doing okay now.
I love your shirt! I also love your videos. My parents were foster parents, and that’s such a hard thing to do. I appreciate all who do this work (unless they’re mistreating the child, of course)
I like giving the kid a mental health day from school, but then they get a day behind and trying to catch up can then be overwhelming in its own right. Thoughts?
thank you for including a kid with they/them pronouns in your examples! at least currently in the US, kids in foster care are disproportionately likely to be LGBTQ+ (I think it’s around 30% of kids in foster care?) and trans kids in foster care are disproportionately likely to experience abuse from foster parents or placement disruption compared to cis kids in foster care, so representing and modeling a supportive foster care environment for trans and non-binary kids really means a lot <3
Sort of unrelated, but have you ever had a foster child with complex medical needs/medical devices (ex. feeding tube, permanent IV, monitoring system, etc)? And if so how did you help them with those?
I don't understand what the part about locking a door and "safety" was about
You sound like a fab foster parent x the kids were lucky to have you x
I'm in foster care and this reminds me of when I was in institutions actually a year ago in June and how supportive everyone was but I do wish it went better and I'm happy your so supportive to your kids
I'm soooo glad you're continuing to make these videos. Forever grateful for all that you do, Laura! ❤
Helping them through the hard times thank you
I wish "mental health days" were a thing in the late 90's to mid-2000's when I was struggling. They just called it "truancy", but they didn't factor in the DOZENS of psych meds I was put through as an adolescent. I literally had to quit high school halfway through because of my mental illnesses. Now I'm 31, on disability & I live with my parents. 😅 So, PLEASE, take care of your mind & spirit! Kids & caregivers alike! 🙏🏻💕💕💕
im a recovering heroin/fentanyl/carfentanil addict that started in my early teens, and am just now in recovery in my thirties…can you do one where a kid is using and/or goes to rehab?! God Bless!
Am in foster and I hate it bc my foster mom said my dad had drugs and my dads stubid and I won’t even see him again