Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care

Creating a Family
  • 4.7 (302)
  • Parenting
  • Weekly

Are you thinking about adopting or fostering a child? Confused about all the options and wondering where to begin? Or are you an adoptive or foster parent or kinship caregiver trying to be the best parent possible to this precious child? This is the podcast for you! Every week, we interview leading experts for an hour, discussing the topics you care about in deciding whether to adopt/foster or how to be a better parent. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are the national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: weekly podcasts, weekly articles, and resource pages on all aspects of family building at our website, CreatingaFamily.org. We also have an active presence on many social media platforms. Please like or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

  1. 2d ago ·  Video

    How Movement Helps Kids Regulate Emotions, Focus, and Learn

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What is the connection between movement and regulation in children, and could the right kind of physical activity help a child focus, learn, and manage their emotions more effectively?  In this episode, pediatric physical therapist, foster parent, and Tummy Time to Walking author Dr. Trevor Carlson explains how movement and brain development are connected from infancy through the school years. We explore how coordination, balance, posture, and body awareness can affect attention and learning; why some children need movement to reach a more regulated state; and why the same activity that calms one child may overwhelm another. Dr. Carlson also shares practical ways adoptive, foster, and kinship parents can observe their child’s cues, build movement into everyday life through play, and recognize when additional professional support may be helpful. Support the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

  2. 6d ago ·  Video

    How Do I Teach Safety Skills to a Foster Teen Without Being Overprotective? - Weekend Wisdom

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! How can you build safety skills for foster teens without becoming so protective that they feel you don’t trust them? Older youth who have experienced neglect, unsafe adults, exploitation, family disruption, or other trauma may need extra help learning to recognize risk and make safe choices as they gain independence.  In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we share practical ways to build relational safety, practice decision-making before a crisis, set clear expectations without making them feel controlling, talk about friendships, dating, peer pressure, and online safety, and surround teens with trusted adults they can turn to for help. The goal isn’t to prevent every mistake—it’s to help young people recognize risk, think through their choices, recover when things go wrong, and know they always have a safe place to land. Resources: Strengthening the Connection with Your Tweens & TeensNavigating the Internet with Adopted or Foster Tweens and TeensAdvice for Foster & Kinship Parents from Former Foster YouthSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

  3. Oct 21

    What the Research on Adult Adoptees Can Teach Us

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What can research on adult adoptees teach us about adoption across the lifespan? In this episode, adoption researcher and adult adoptee Dr. JaeRan Kim joins us to explore what adoptees’ experiences can teach families and professionals long after placement and finalization. We discuss adoption disruption and displacement from the adoptee perspective, the importance of relational and cultural permanency, how becoming a parent can reshape an adoptee’s understanding of their own adoption and loss, and what researchers are learning about adoptees who choose to adopt themselves. Throughout the conversation, Dr. Kim challenges us to listen closely to adult adoptee voices and consider how adoption, identity, race, family relationships, and support needs continue to evolve across a lifetime. Resources: Intercountry adoptees with adoption disruption and displacement histories – Adoptee perspectivesKorean adoptees as parentsSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

  4. Oct 17 ·  Video

    How to Teach Kids to Use AI Responsibly - Weekend Wisdom

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! How can parents teach kids to use AI responsibly when their children may already know more about tools like ChatGPT than they do? In this Weekend Wisdom episode, digital safety expert Chris McKenna of Protect Young Eyes explains why knowing how to operate AI is not the same as understanding how it works. He shares practical ways parents can build AI literacy and digital discernment, protect children’s privacy, set age-appropriate boundaries, and help kids question the information and advice AI provides. We also discuss why parents do not need to embrace every new technology simply because their children may use it someday—and why younger children especially need supervision and strong guardrails when using artificial intelligence. How to turn off ChatGPT using personal data to train future models: Click your name/profile in the bottom left hand corner of your ChatGPT Account.Click "Settings".In the left side menu, click "Data Controls." You can search for it if-needed.Find "Improve the model for everyone" and toggle it off.Resources: 5 Habits of the Tech Ready FamilyProtect Young Eyes - devicesManaging Technology & ScreensSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

  5. Oct 14 ·  Video

    The Impact of CASAs and GALs in Foster Care

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What do a CASA and GAL in foster care actually do, and how can one consistent advocate make a difference in a child’s life?  In this episode, we talk with Melissa Luddington of Illinois CASA and Michael Custos, a former foster youth whose CASA volunteer ultimately became his legal guardian. Together, they explain how Court Appointed Special Advocates and Guardians ad Litem represent children’s best interests, build trusting relationships, bring a child’s needs and wishes into the courtroom, and work alongside caregivers and professionals. Michael also shares how one volunteer’s persistence, advocacy, and willingness to keep showing up changed the course of his childhood. We also discuss what it takes to become a CASA volunteer and why consistency may be one of the most powerful things an advocate can offer. Resources: Her Name Was Kelly CASA IllinoisNational CASA/GALThe Power of One to Impact the Lives of KidsSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

  6. Oct 10 ·  Video

    How Can We Do Open Adoption from Foster Care? - Weekend Wisdom

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! How can families navigate open adoption from foster care while maintaining the safety and boundaries their child needs?  In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we answer a listener’s question about staying connected with birth parents after adopting a young child from foster care. We discuss how openness can help children maintain connections to their history, identity, culture, and important relationships while recognizing the circumstances that led to foster care and termination of parental rights. We also explore how to set clear and respectful boundaries, choose the right level of contact, respond to a child’s changing needs as they grow, and create an openness plan that is flexible, sustainable, and centered on the child. Resources: Is Older Child Adoption the Right Path for Your Family?Birth Parent Experiences in AdoptionOpen AdoptionWhen Birth Parents Struggle with Addiction, Mental Health, or Intellectual DisabilitiesSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

  7. Oct 7 ·  Video

    Keeping Kids Safe Online: Raising Tech-Ready Kids with Confidence

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! Keeping kids safe online takes more than setting screen-time limits or turning on parental controls. In this episode, digital safety expert Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes and author of Five Habits of the Tech Ready Family, joins us to talk about raising kids who can navigate technology with greater safety, confidence, and judgment.  We explore how children’s developing brains interact with persuasive technology, why parents should model healthy digital habits, how to build enough trust that kids will come to us when something goes wrong online, and how to use practical guardrails without making technology feel like a constant battle. For adoptive, foster, and kinship families, we also discuss how trauma, disrupted relationships, and a child’s need to maintain important connections can shape decisions about access, supervision, and digital independence. Resources: 5 Habits of the Tech Ready FamilyProtect Young Eyes - devicesManaging Technology & ScreensSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

  8. Oct 3 ·  Video

    What If Important Information Was Withheld About a Foster Placement? - Weekend Wisdom

    Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks! What do you do when you discover that important foster placement information was withheld before you accepted a child into your home—or even before adoption was finalized?  In this Weekend Wisdom episode, we respond to an adoptive parent who learned that behaviors they had specifically said they could not manage had been documented in previous foster homes. We explore how to hold the agency accountable without placing that conflict on the child, use newly discovered records as a roadmap rather than a verdict, respond to challenging behaviors with safety and compassion, and help a child learn that they no longer have to hide their struggles in order to belong. Resources: Before You Say Yes: Questions to Ask About a Foster PlacementStrategies for Managing Your Child’s Melt-Downs, Tantrums, and RagesUsing Scripts to Build Trust with Foster & Adopted KidsSupport the show Please leave us a rating or review.  This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family building

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Are you thinking about adopting or fostering a child? Confused about all the options and wondering where to begin? Or are you an adoptive or foster parent or kinship caregiver trying to be the best parent possible to this precious child? This is the podcast for you! Every week, we interview leading experts for an hour, discussing the topics you care about in deciding whether to adopt/foster or how to be a better parent. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are the national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content: weekly podcasts, weekly articles, and resource pages on all aspects of family building at our website, CreatingaFamily.org. We also have an active presence on many social media platforms. Please like or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

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