“Like just about everything else in life, my fear of the unknown was the most unsettling part of the equation. AASK gave me answers, and some of those answers surprised me. Replace myths with reality. That is my advice to you.”
— AASK Foster Parent, on how to reassure prospective families
Myth |
Reality |
|---|---|
| You must be a married couple, have a lot of money and own your own home to be a foster parent. | There are no such requirements. You can be married or single, a homeowner or a renter, as long as you have adequate space and the child has their own bed. The only financial requirement is that you have enough of an income to support yourself and your family aside from the money you are reimbursed to care for a child living in foster care. |
| Single parents and same-sex couples cannot adopt. | Single parents and same-sex couples can, and do, adopt. In 2012 nearly one-third of all adoptions from foster care were by unmarried individuals. |
| You can’t be a foster parent and work full-time. | Many foster parents work outside of the home and you can discuss with your AASK specialist what options may be available to assist with child care costs. |
| Older adults cannot foster or adopt. | Offering a perspective made possible only through life experience, older adults make fabulous foster and adoptive parents. Many open their homes after becoming “empty-nesters”, often bringing decades of parenting wisdom to the children they serve. |
| To be a foster parent you need to have parenting experience. | False! Many foster parents are childless. They are, however, responsible people who have made a commitment to children and demonstrate an ability to parent or learn. |
| Children in foster care have been abused so much that they're beyond repair. | Children are amazingly resilient. Foster parents can make the difference by providing a structured, nurturing environment. We need to remember that these children will grow up to be adults in our society. How we respond to their needs now will largely determine what kind of citizens they will be in the future. |
| The children in foster care are juvenile delinquents. | Children enter the foster care system through no fault of their own as a result of abuse, neglect or abandonment, and deserve every effort to find them a permanent loving family who can help them grow into responsible and productive adults. |
| Foster parents are on their own once they take in a foster child. | Not true! Children need stability and AASK staff offer foster parents plenty of support to maintain an even keel. For starters, before you even take in your first child, AASK staff works with you to develop a profile of the type of child best suited to the experience and capabilities of your family. There is respite care for those times you need a break. |
| The parents of the children adopted will resurface to claim their children. | Once parental rights have been terminated by the court, the parents have no further recourse for gaining custody of the children. The adoption is final. |