1:52 it broke my heart to imagine a little kid curled up in a blanket at a stranger's place after a traumatic event 😣 thank you to all the foster parents and case workers doing their best to provide them safety and comfort

Hi Laura I am not a foster parent but am verry interested in that process and your videos relay all the important information in a way that is easy to understand and thank you for showing the different roles you can have to support children in the foster care system

I like the way you broke this down. I think respite care would be the best for me. I like that it can be planned ahead of time and is a temporary situation. My son is a junior in HS but I would like to do this after he goes to college. I’ve been following you for a couple of years anticipating that I will do this one day. Thanks for showing the different ways to help.

I'm not a foster parent, but I am a CASA working on my first case. Love your content. Keep us the good work.

These services are desperately needed. Anyone who is considering helping out, be aware that sometimes the information you get up front is not correct. I provided what was supposed to be a three day respite stay for a teen. It turned into a two week stay. (They said respite but it was really more of an emergency placement situation although it took some time to realize this). I was told that she went to a school in my district. Turns out the paperwork was two years old and I ended up driving her 30 minutes each way to school. My advise is to expect nothing. Flexibility is a must if you are going to work with the system. The kids I have hosted have been fine but the foster care system is nuts!

Thank you for showing the different aspects of the foster process. I truly wish all locations had the same level of support you show in your videos. I also wish all foster homes are as wonderful as you. We’d have a lot less kids traumatized by the foster process. I had a friend whose daughter was taken into foster care for a short time. It was a sad situation all around, because the mom had just gotten out of an abusive relationship. Some things happened where she was temporarily taken while Mom was assessed. Anyway, the daughter had to spend the night in the CPS offices. It would have been so much less traumatic if there had been an emergency care home. The daughter still has nightmares about that whole experience.

i’m not a foster parent yet, but it’s one of my passions and I can’t wait for the day i’m able to help kids in situations like I was. your channel is so helpful and insightful and I appreciate everything you do ❤️

Hi Laura I’m a young teen who is looking to foster in the future and your channel has helped me see what is it like and what I need to be qualified to do this. ❤Thank you and keep up the hard work.

Love the camera work in this one! I've commented on several videos over the past several months. Back in April, I said I was taking two months to live alone before I started filling out the paperwork. At first it was hard to wait because I was chomping at the bit, then as the two months drew to an end, I realized I needed more time to work on myself and my house before I jumped in. After six months of living alone and a bunch of projects and some personal adjustments, I'm thinking I'm pretty close to ready, now. I actually filled out the application last week, but I haven't sent it yet. The list of things I think I should finish before becoming responsible for foster children has gotten very short--most of it could be done concurrently with the application process in order to have it completed before the licensing process finished. There's only one or two things that need to be done before I turn in the application, so... I think I'll be finally starting the process sometime this week or next! My current long-term substitute position and my degree will be both finished in December, and the average licensing process at the agency I plan to apply to is only three months. All of my time/energy intensive projects will be done a few weeks before I'd get my license, leaving me with plenty of free time, flexibility, and mental capacity to spend on children!

I LOVE this! Hope to see more in this format! I feel like all of your content has such valuable information given in a style that really let's you picture it. Being able to see more in depth like this is so helpful!

Wow! Just wow. You are amazing in all that you do! This video is one of your greatest ones because it (like always) shows all the different team members who help in the care of a child, but also breaks down their specific roles which is great in helping people learn more and potentially pursuing one of those roles. The camera work is very professional and you've improved a lot at explaining things and portraying certain situations. I love following your channel from the start and I'm excited for more of this! Thanks again Laura :)

Thank you so much for sharing this! I've dreamed of being a foster parent or adopting since i was a kid. However, I work full time and have loans so i wasnt sure what was possible. Respite sounds like a great way to dip my toe in that fits my work requirements.

I love your content, been seeing your shorts for some time and I’m glad to stumble upon your longer form videos too. I am not a foster parent, and I’m no where near the point in my life where I can foster children. But it has been a dream of mine to foster and/or adopt older children and/or siblings when I am stable enough to do so. Thank you so much for your videos, new subscriber here.

I know someone that has a child that used to be in foster care. I won't get into details but the birth mom ended up choosing an open adoption. Now the used to be foster parents are the little girl's adoptive parents.

My husband and I (both educators) have been thinking about fostering teenagers for a long time, but have always worried about woking full time.

Thanks so much for making these videos and showing what to expect and normalizing the process for potential foster parents.

I love your channel is so well put together, your videos are so informative as well. Thank you for your knowledge! I’ve always wanted to foster temporarily so I can help teens with a hard life feel appreciated and that they deserve safety and unconditional love.

Thank you for this. I really appreciate the clarity here.

Great overview, thank you for providing this information!

Wonderful video Laura! I so appreciate the time you give to make these videos to educate people. You’re awesome Laura! 🩷

I could NEVER be a foster parent. But I could bring food to one if I knew one.

Thank you for making these videos!!

I am not a foster parent nor I been in the foster care system. I was an abused child who went through court in my country. This videos are really validating and they give me much hope

Thank you so much laura this helps so much

what an incredible video to show how you can help at any level!

Thank you Laura!!!😊

My heart cannot wait to be a foster mom. ❤thanks for this video

Thank you for making this video, it was very helpful :]]

That was very helpful. I can see myself offering respite care one day.

I’m interested in providing respite care. Thanks so much for this channel.

Great content - thank you!

Hi i love your channel, i know you probably wont see this but i wondered if you have ever given a child one of the "Wreck this Journal" by Keri smith... she also writes books like "Pocket Scavenger and "F-nish T-is J--rnal"....my niece is unfortunately going through the foster care system while my sister tries to get off drugs. I always pray at night she finds someone like you. And i think she finally might have. She has been bragging about these journals and from what ive seen it gets kids outside searching for the "best rock" or leaf and has a lot of interesting activities. Its not just a journal its an activity book that helps kids express rage and sadness and happiness and seems to have changed my niece's world. She is 7 by the way and she has like 9 of these n other similar books by Keri Smith. Idk if youll see this but it might be an interesting try! I know my nieces foster mom said it helped break down alot of walls. My niece was self harming and isolating so this was fantastic. I hope you see this love your channel and calm advice ❤

I'm only 14, so this obviously something i'm not in all involved with, but I am genuinely curious about all this type of stuff, plusss I find your videos very comforting and a bit inner-child healing if that makes sense? I'm planning to study psychology and then get into child psychology, so I find your videos intriguing and helpful. Thank you!!!

Hi!!! Do you do any coaching or q&a zoom sessions for people who are considering foster care? Your videos are so helpful!!

Well done, Laura. 🎉

This was a great video. I cannot currently participate but it's still good to know what the different options are.

Laura, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to make these very insightful videos for us to watch! I am working on becoming a mentor for kiddos in Foster Care with the hopes to someday adopt as well. Do you have any input on how to navigate adopting children out of the Foster Care system while you have children of your own? Thanks a million.

Laura, you’re an angel on earth ❤

Laura, how is it with being able to hug and hold foster kids? I've not raised my own children, but have been a pseudo-auntie with friends kids, involved in a deep way. I also was a caregiver (nanny, sort of) for many years. In those relationships, I could be as physical as a parent with babies, toddlers, and little kids and any kid who wanted it and I knew them (but the parents knew me). The boundaries of foster parents are likely different. I'm sure emergency foster care is different from a longer term foster. Are there rules? If any place I'd get it wrong, I'd think it'd be there.

Hi Laura, I am not a foster parent but have a question- I was wondering what “hoops” (for lack of a better word) someone with a physical disability would have to jump through in order to be a foster parent? Is it even possible, legally practically, would someone with a physical disability be allowed to be a foster parent? Also, if you have the information, could you do a video on fostering a child with a physical disability, please? Thanks

I didn't even know there were different options!

Great video

I'm sixteen and I already think I wanna foster when I am old enough and have the financial stability. ❤

I'm currently a teenager but I'm looking forward to fostering and eventually adopting. I've grown up in a abusive household, would I still be allowed to foster and adopt ? This video was very helpful. Love this channel so much and keep up the good work!

There's so much that has to be accomplished under CA state laws for a resource parent home to be compliant, i.e., adhere to laws that apply to group homes. I've prepared the kitchen fire extinguisher, the emergency ladder, and locked storage for medications, but I have yet to repair small window screen tears and figure out how to secure dozens of scissors in the house without making daily life impossible, not to mention getting a mechanic to approve my elderly vehicle's checklist. These are just examples; there's so much to prepare. I'm glad to hear there are ways to help at shorter intervals, but the general setup requirements are very stringent and time-consuming to accomplish. Any insights?

Thank you for this. I really want to do respite, but I have to wait until I can afford a home with an extra bedroom.

Hi laura im a young teen but when im older im thinking about either adopting or fostering

I have wanted to foster for many years and am now in a stable relationship and permanent home (i was in a not so great relationship and moved often when i was with my ex husband). Thing is i worry about how I'd feel when the child moves to a permanent home, I would wonder if they are being cared for and loved. Also, i get very emotionally attached. Is that something that I'd get past over time or is it a reason not to foster? I love your content!

How does the process of adopting from foster care work? What does the process look like? Would I have to foster a certain number of kids before adopting? Do you have a say in what age group you get to adopt? I’m not sure what age I’m interested in adopting yet but I know I want to adopt from foster care? Does the process look any different for same sex couples? I’m in Indiana BTW.

i have been interested in fostering for a long time. Im a mental health clinician, work from home and my youngear child is 7. my house is the issue, its small and needs alot of repairs and im not sure if our home would be approved. we need direction on what has to be done so we cab prioritize

I have 4 placed with me as a family emergency placement. There have been some struggles. My husband and I already have 6 kids. We now have custody.

Could you help out foster parents you're friends with for a weekend respite or spontaneous daycare and babysitting or do you have to be approved by social services as respite fosters first? I could imagine myself supporting one foster family occasionally. I don't see myself as any sort of parent, but I could imagine being a "foster auntie".

I wish my spouse and I had the resources to participate, but it just isn't possible with our schedules. :/

Different shirts for the different characters would be helpful. I kept being like "oh this is supposed to be the case worker" "oh now this is another foster parent" "oh now it's the prospective adoptive parent, wait no actually this is the case worker again"

Hi Laura I am only 18 but in the future I would love to be a foster parent but i also have a passion for teaching can I still foster even though I want to teach as well

My parents have adopted 5 children from foster care.

How many kids have you fostered?

What is the most foster kids you’ve had at a time?

If a foster parent supplies drugs and alcohol to foster child but only proof is through social media can anything be done to investigate cause its very concerning and dont know how to help the child .

How to become a foster child without; losing your parents

mean it like a compliment girl i thought you were one of us (saphhics) 😭

LexEven if you work full-time and still be able to