When a child is in the foster care system the foster parent’s role should be pretty straight forward. You open your hearts and homes to children that have been removed from their biological families care. You offer these children a safe place to live in a caring family environment. You care for these children as if they were your own, with the knowledge that this is a temporary place for them to be. Most foster parent’s go into position for all the right reasons, to give an innocent child unconditional love and a safe place to call home. However, there are foster parent’s that see these foster children as a paycheck.
You can tell why the foster parents are in it just by looking at the children in their care. If the children have clothes that fit, are visiting the doctor and dentist on a regular basis and look happy and healthy the likelihood that the foster parents are in it for the kids. When a child has clothes that don’t fit, don’t visit the doctors and dentist, no toys to call their own and the parents are not working on the basics like potty training they are with foster parents that see them only as a paycheck.
If you have children whether you are a biological parent, adoptive parent or a foster parent you have a special place for kids in your heart. You show pride in your children no matter how they came into your life. A great foster parent shows care, concern and love for the children they bring into their hearts. They offer them a safe place that they can grow and thrive whether it is for a day, week, months or even years. You document the milestones like first steps, first solid foods, and the first words they say. You take pictures of the child while they are in your care so they have something to look back on for years to come. You do for the foster children the same as you would do if they were your forever kids.