J.C., the sweet angelic boy I wrote about last time, lived with us along with his sister for 16 months until they were reunified with their parents. During the time we fostered them, J.C. refused to go on the “big boy potty.” Try as we might, nothing worked. Bribes, sinking cereal, promises of great presents and the potty dance all left him amused, and us exasperated.

One day, J.C. decided he wanted a puppy to add to the organized chaos we called home. With my fingers crossed, I told him …Continue reading this post

I’ve been asked many times why I chose to foster. My answer is simple. I didn’t. It chose me.

Sitting at a meeting one hot August night, I found myself accosted by a 2-year-old boy with an angelic face who promptly jumped into my lap, buried his sweaty little head in my chest and sat there for the entire two-hour meeting. When the meeting ended, I looked at his presumed parents and playfully asked …Continue reading this post

This morning, Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin celebrated National Adoption Day at the Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Center in Milwaukee. Families, adoption advocates, policymakers, judges, child welfare agencies and volunteers came together to finalize adoptions and find safe, permanent, loving homes for nineteen children who were in foster care. …Continue reading this post

At the International Adoption Clinic, I often discuss racial and ethnic identity development with families (and children themselves). More and more, adoptive parents are exploring numerous ways to support positive racial/ethnic identities for their children. One way to do this is to visit the child’s birth country. Studies show that children who are adopted internationally into U.S. families benefit from traveling to their birth country. Thankfully, there is a group in Wisconsin dedicated to helping families do this …Continue reading this post

Have you driven past State Fair Park or Miller Park and noticed the billboard that says “Ordinary people needed to do extraordinary things?” Have you glanced at foster care fliers, table tents and posters in your local coffee shop, barber shop, school, college, place of worship and restaurant? Have you read the plea for more foster parents on a tray liner at McDonald’s, in Applebee’s when receiving your bill or at your place of business by participating in foster parent lunch and learn? If so, you have seen just some of Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin’s recruitment efforts. …Continue reading this post