Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey

Madame Voodoo is an amazing woman that we met through her business in our area. She has a tattoo shop in Warrenton, MO where Amanda and I met her. She has a heart for helping others and leaving the world a better place than it is today. Her experience growing up in a family member's home she experienced foster care from a sibling perspective. Some of her experiences involved kids that were in a national media story due to the harrowing nature of their story involving a satanic cult. They also took in a number of babies during the crack epidemic in the 80's. Their family eventually became an adoptive home as well. This makes her specifically qualified to talk about the challenges of foster care and adoption from a variety of perspectives. We discuss some of her life experiences that span a variety of topics like: Human Sacrifice Foster Care Creating Good from Loss Losing her Brother and a Close Friend Finding Transcendence Helping the Hateful Raising Good Kids Protecting kids from Predators And a few places in between… You can find Madame Voodoo and her tattoo shop Madame Voodoo's House of Ink on her Facebook Page. Her shop will be highlighted on Tattoos and Turnpikes on youtube in June of 2020 You can find our Group on Facebook If you would like to support us you can become a Patron! Or check out the website where you can see all that we have to offer! #fostercarenation

Lauren Bujorian is an adoptee and a birth mom who realized her own limitations at a time in her life when she became pregnant. She had a hard choice to make - and her decision has shaped many lives! She has become active in a support group that supports birth moms in adoption. You can find some of her links here: Caring for Kids (the adoption agency) Caring for birthmothers (Facebook page) CFB events page (website) Instagram The birth mom only Facebook group: The birth mom only Facebook group You can find our links here: The website The podcast on itunes The podcast on Spotify Patreon All of our links in one place

Being a trauma-informed human is all about learning what trauma is and the best way to handle people (kids in the foster care system, adopted kids, adults who have been on either journey, and pretty much anyone else who has experienced trauma in their lives). Robyn Gobbel is a psychotherapist who is currently focused on teaching, training, and writing. Her clinical focus has always been children with a history of complex trauma and their families. Last summer, she closed her private practice in Austin, TX, and she and her family relocated to Grand Rapids MI for a simpler, cheaper life. You can find Robyn at: Robyn's Website Robyn's Facebook Page The books we talked about on the show: Parenting From the Inside Out You can find us at: Podcast notes, blog, contact info and whatever else you can find www.fostercarenation.com Show notes for this episode fostercarenation.com/index.php/trauma-informed-humans-with-robyn-gobbel-lcsw-rpt-s/ Facebook Page www.facebook.com/7timedad Patreon Page www.patreon.com/fostercarenation All of our links in one place www.linktr.ee/fostercarenation Our Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/?gl=US&tab=r1

Darren W Carter and Theresa Carter join us in this episode to talk about their lives, struggles, and joys through the lens of being foster parents. They are both strong parents and business owners located in Cleveland, Ohio. We talked all about bio kids, adopted kids, foster kids, and god kids. We dove into tough questions about learning to guard your heart and working diligently to help bio parents get their lives on track so they can care for their own kids. https://fostercarenation.com https://patreon.com/fostercarenation https://linktr.ee/fostercarenation

Caseworkers in the foster care system get a bad rap. To be fair, there are a few turds in every group of employees. Most caseworkers are hard-working people who truly care about the children on their caseload. Libby gives us a personal perspective about what it is like trying to help at-risk youth. Find us online: https://www.fostercarenation.com Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fostercareuj Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fostercarenation

This episode contains stories that allude to sexual violence against children. If you have children in the area or are strongly affected by this content you may want to listen to this episode when you are away from small children or not at all if it will affect you negatively. Trauma and childhood sexual abuse are an all-too-common occurrence for kids in foster care. This episode is no different. Janielle is a 14 year old girl with a story that she wanted to share. We were amazed at her willingness and ability to share such a personal story in the hope of helping others to find their strength to speak up. Her harrowing story and impressive resilience is a testament to the strength of the human soul.

We talked with Rebecca Britt from Stable moments a little while back on her podcast. This week we talk to her about how she is helping kids with her program "Stable Moments." Her journey involved her own trauma and abuse that went unnoticed at a young age and a relationship with a horse that helped her begin to heal her trauma. She began by using a horsemanship program and local volunteers to share that healing message with kids in her community. Now her program has spread to several different states and may be available near you! If you are interested be sure to check her out at www.stablemoments.com

Trauma-informed parenting requires us to understand our kids and how they see life through their filters. This week on Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey we talk to Jeremy Roadruck about understanding those traumas and how to understand them while parenting them in the most successful way. Whether you are a foster, adoptive or biological parent all kids experience some level of their own trauma. Understanding what that looks like, how they see the world, and how to best connect with them through their world view will create connection and make your family more connected and healthy. All of his links can be found on our website at www.fostercarenation.com. Go to the podcast notes link and click on his episode! Whatever you do, don't forget to get his FREE book. It just takes a click to get it! (Details on the podcast notes page)

This week on Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey we talk with Beka Dominguez at bark.us about the frightening realities of the dark side of social media and internet access for children. In this episode, we talk about the best practices to keeping your kids safe from online child predators and exactly how bark.us does this without removing all privacy from your child. Beka also tells us about an upcoming price change to reflect some of the new services that are coming and how to be grandfathered into the lower price point! This is not a paid endorsement. We received no monetary benefit for this interview. We strongly believe there is a need for a platform of this nature and bark.us is the best one we have seen, and it has been recommended by personal friends of mine that vouch for its quality and usefulness.

Foster Care news isn't all bad! Jason and Amanda talk about stories we found in the news around the country related to foster care! #fostercarenation Fostering hope in the city of sin The Lost Children of Los Angeles County After spending much of his life in foster care, former foster boy spends much of his time caring for shelter dogs

Sean and his wife devastated when infertility took away their chances to build a family. That was until a movie by The Dave Thomas Foundation "A Home for the Holidays" introduced them to the idea of adoption. It was not as simple as adopting a new puppy, it took a lot of time and dedication to be able to find their daughter and their inspiring story of finding their daughter.

Luke Zitzman is a pilot with the US Coast Guard and a foster dad. He is literally protecting our country from threats, both foreign and domestic! Luke and his wife have had many placements in their home since being stationed at their current duty station in Alabama. Their relationship with God has played a major role in choosing to take care of children in need. Living life intentionally is also one of the guiding principles that led them into their foster care story.

Zoe, a 16-year-old girl found herself in a difficult situation trying to be an adult before her time. After a volatile situation in her bio-mom's home, she tried to go it on her own and ended up dealing with all the problems a young girl might find. She was eventually picked up by the police and placed in foster care where she was introduced to a Christian family. Her journey led her down some much healthier paths that will hopefully lead her to a life that will be amazing!

Today we talked to Rebecca Britt from The Stable Moments Podcast. She found our podcast and wanted to talk to us about our involvement with kids who have experienced trauma and ended up in the foster care system. Her organization, Stable Moments is a mentorship program curriculum utilizing equine-assisted learning and community mentors to achieve life skills for children impacted by early developmental trauma. It was a great opportunity to talk to someone who works toward the same goals as us, from a different angle. You can find her at stablemoments.com and her podcast at stablemoments.com/podcast or on Spotify or any of the major podcast platforms.

This episode of Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey was Amanda and I talking with another crazy couple of foster parents. Tom and Courtney Gilmour have an amazing story about coming from foster care and becoming foster parents and how it has shared the heart of their family! We talked about all the things that we hold dear about being a unique family.

Erin was adopted as an infant from South Korea. Being raised in Minnesota, she was obviously different from most of the kids around her. However, her family and friends made it an enjoyable childhood. Listen as she tells her story of how adoption has become an opportunity for her and blessed her and her family!

Jason and Amanda on a Youtube Live talking about the effects of trauma on adults and the children they are trying to raise. You can see the video on our youtube channel Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey

Caroline Bailey is from Southwest Missouri. She has worked in child welfare for 18 years. She runs the blog barrentoblessed.com and Facebook Page or Instagram with the same name - barren to blessed. She and her husband fostered for 4 years and adopted 2 children from care. They are that rare family that ended up adopting the only 2 kids placed with them! They also did respite a few times but decided to close their license after the adoption of their daughter. She also writes for adoption. com and has been featured on various blogs and websites. In this episode, we explore her journey through foster care, adoption and her barrenness that began with an emergency hysterectomy at age 11! Her personal struggle has given her the ability to help others walk gracefully through their own!

This is a youtube live with Jason and Amanda where we are discussing the benefit of FMLA surrounding new placements and needed time off of work and the protection it affords with your employer. This is a benefit that neither one of us knew about and you may not either. As with anything involving the important things in your life, be sure to contact the experts in your life such as an HR Director that can give you the scoop as it pertains to your employer and your employee status.

This week's show is all about saying no. Always be willing to say no if it is the best thing for the kids! This was the audio from a Youtube live video we tried. I think it is going to be a new weekly feature.

Aubren Dudley tells the story of trauma and ramen. Her son opens up and tells her the story that inspired millions of views on her Facebook Post and was featured on Good Morning America. Her training and years of service working with at-risk youth in the foster care system told her the story she was hearing was important to listen to. 19 million Facebook users agreed. Listen as she tells the story and discusses the importance of understanding trauma-informed decisions. https://www.facebook.com/7TimeDad https://jasonmpalmer.com

On this Youtube Live, we talked about the struggles of dealing with and being a social worker or case manager. This topic was inspired by a social media post we saw from this week's guest on the big show. Be sure to check it out too. It is called Trauma and Ramen with Aubren Dudley. Be sure to rate and review the podcast on whatever platform you use!

We are trying something new. We are uploading a video version of these shorter podcasts to youtube on our channel Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey! Let us know what you think!

In this episode of Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey "Amy" finishes telling her story. She is a rare case of a biological parent with issues that she is willing to talk about. Her riveting story involves overcoming her struggles with drugs. And details her long road back to having a home with her kids. Her openness, honesty, and vulnerability is an amazing opportunity to see foster care from the other side. Please leave us a rating and review, it helps others be able to find the show!

I talked with Mark Savant from the Lifestyle Savant Podcast. We talked about foster care, podcasting, social media and how it affects our ability to get our message out to the masses. It was a great chance to connect with another Dad who is busy changing the world with his mission!

In this episode of Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey "Amy" tells her story. She is a rare case of a biological parent with issues that she is willing to talk about. Her riveting story involves drug use, manufacturing, sales, death, and the effect it had on her children. Her openness, honesty, and vulnerability is an amazing opportunity to see foster care from the other side. Today she does the hard work to try to get her kids back! Please leave us a rating and review, it helps others be able to find the show! Come find us online: http://jasonmpalmer.com https://www.facebook.com/7TimeDad/

In this episode of Foster Care: An Unparalleled Journey "Amy" tells her story. She is a rare case of a biological parent with issues that she is willing to talk about. Her riveting story involves drug use, manufacturing, sales, death, and the effect it had on her children. Her openness, honesty, and vulnerability is an amazing opportunity to see foster care from the other side. Please leave us a rating and review, it helps others be able to find the show! Come find us online: http://jasonmpalmer.com https://www.facebook.com/7TimeDad/

Foster care began as a passion for us and has led us into adoption as well. This is the finale of Turtle's story. This story is as true and accurate as we could tell it from memory over the last 6 years. I hope you have enjoyed the story. If you aren't on an iPhone, you can find us on Google Play - Spotify - Tune In - Overcast - or anywhere you get your podcasts. Just search "Jason and Amanda Palmer"

Foster care began as a passion for us and has led us into adoption as well. This is the finale of Turtle's story. This story is as true and accurate as we could tell it from memory over the last 6 years. I hope you have enjoyed the story. Stay tuned for Amy's story coming up next. Amy tells her story of addiction, jail, drugs, and losing her children to the foster care system for a while. Listen in as she recounts her long journey back to becoming an intact family again. http://jasonmpalmer.com

Foster Care is a wild ride. Listen to part 4 of Turtle's exciting and sometimes dangerous journey with us through his time as a foster kid! Don't forget to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on the next step in his story!

Foster care is a tricky business that takes you to places and experiences that you never expected. Whether you are looking at domestic adoption, foreign adoption or a kinship adoption there are certain to be surprises along the way. You will most likely be working with DFS, CPS, or some other form of the child welfare system. If you are adopting a child, you want to adopt a baby, or becoming a foster parent there are going to be unexpected hurdles along the way. This is our story of fostering a child and eventually working through the kinship adoption process.

Episode 2 of The Legacy of Standing With Turtle. In this episode, we talk about drugs, gang affiliation, and death. Turtle finally comes into care and we are relieved to finally have some authority figures step into his life and begin providing some structure to his young life. We struggle through figuring out how to navigate his life and our own family tragedies. Find us at: http://jasonmpalmer.com

The foster care system brought us a little guy we called "G," this is the first of a 5 part series telling his story. We are talking drugs, prostitution, gangs and plenty of other twists in his origin story. http://jasonmpalmer.com

Jahnyia found herself in foster care at 2 years old. She and her brother were witnesses to their father's murder. Their mother was a heroin addict. After 2 years in foster care, we adopted them into our family. Today, we talked about life after foster care and how she navigates middle school as an adopted kid.

Amanda and I had the joy of fostering "Carl" in our home for almost a year. Here is one of our stories that was beautiful and hard at the same time!

Foster care and adoption are deep topics, so I decided to interview a subject expert: my 6-year-old son. He spent 2 years in foster care in our home, and has been adopted for the last 3 years. His answers can be poignantly simple, even when they are a little bit silly!

Jason and Amanda talk about the reasons why foster care became a part of their life. Don't forget to subscribe!