Foster parents offer a special community of know-how and support. Thanks to the internet and Facebook, Indiana foster parents have a statewide resource, the Indiana Foster and Adoptive Parents group. On IFAAP, with its nearly 10,000 members, our state foster and adoptive parents can communicate back and forth regularly with one another on a large variety of practical and parenting issues.
Family get-togethers can be planned. These can lead to shared childcare and sleepovers allowing foster and adoptive kids to meet and play with one another. Birthdays and adoptions can be celebrated. Families can fill in for one another, offering respite care, a night out, a chance to recoup.
Clothes for boys and girls can be exchanged as they are outgrown. Toys can be passed on from one family to another.
Foster families can share their expertise on practical matters, like help with DCS paperwork, filling out forms, and where to obtain necessary documentation and certificates.
They have used and know the local resources. They can help one another locate the best daycare and after-school activities. They can share their experiences finding good medical care and a knowledgeable attorney.
Having faced most behavior problems, foster families can provide suggestions on what works and what doesn’t. They offer a variety of information on issues like the uncommunicative child, lying, hoarding food, stealing, hyperactivity, and much more.
If you are an Indiana foster or adoptive parent and wish to join the IFAAP group, you may contact them by emailing [email protected] or by calling 812-605-1341.