Sharing Your Home and Family

Michael and Megan started thinking about fostering more than ten years ago. They wanted to help kids and serve their community, and both felt open to exploring it further. They were raising two children and busy with work and family life when, unexpectedly, they met a lady at church who was a foster parent. They saw this older Caucasian woman doting on an African American infant. She loved and cared for the little one like great moms do, and they wanted to (respectfully and non-intrusively) hear about her experience. They introduced themselves to Susan. After they got to know each other and she discerned their intentions were good, she became a wealth of knowledge for the couple. They found her open, honest, realistic and encouraging, and she connected Megan and Michael with PCHAS.

They contacted the agency and were excited to start when Michael’s job moved the family far away for a few years. When the assignment ended, they returned to Texas, reconnected with PCHAS, and started the process again. Verification requires documentation, background checks, training in Trust-Based Relational Intervention®, references and thorough assessments. Most families take about six months to complete everything. It can feel like a lot, but every requirement is essential and intended to ensure families are ready and able to provide the safe, loving, nurturing care kids need and a chance to begin healing from all they have gone through.

73% of Texas children living with non-relative foster parents (traditional foster care) are children of color. Only about 12% of Texas kids are African American, but that percentage nearly doubles in the state’s foster care system. It is common for foster families to care for kids of different races and ethnicities. Transracial placements are necessary because of the disproportionate representation of children of color and essential because we live in an increasingly multicultural world where more people now understand the value of learning about and embracing others. 

Michael and Megan are Caucasian and were always open to caring for children of any race. Their first placement was a Caucasian brother-sister pair who lived with the family for about eight months before they moved to live with their adoptive family. Michael, Megan and their children took a break to process the experience and welcomed another child about seven months later. They found PCHAS’ annual training and special events on cultural competency particularly valuable as they cared for the African American boy. Their hearts had always been in the right place, but they learned more than they could have imagined as they shared their lives with the child for about five months before he was able to go live with a relative through kinship care.

Megan shared about their experience as foster parents: “Foster care has been a gift to us. …They (the children) come to your house and share their life with you. They share their joys, hopes, struggles and accomplishments. We can see their progress and enthusiasm for new things.”

“It takes some adjustment,” Megan said, sharing that foster families must make space in their homes and schedules. They meet with different people on the children’s team and keep up with appointments. Foster parents need to create a consistent and predictable environment for children. She also says it is important for parents to pay attention to their children's preferences. “They have opinions, and this requires adjustment for them, too. In a lot of ways, the kids in foster care need to come first because of appointments and rules, and simply helping them to feel comfortable in your family. It helps if you are clear about expectations and don’t impose your opinions on the children,” Megan said.

She says she has been pleasantly surprised by the children's flexibility and resilience, and she is grateful for the support of her case manager and the team at PCHAS because they help her process her experience as a compassionate caregiver.

Her advice for people who are thinking about fostering:

There is a huge need. There is something everybody can do to help these kids.

Fostering is sharing your home and family, things you already have in place.

This can be a great experience for your children, too. Playing and interacting with your children helps kids in foster care adjust more easily, and they can even help with learning letters and numbers and practicing reading together.

PCHAS offers several ways to learn more and ask questions if you have ever considered fostering. You can Join an Online Info Session, email PCHAS at fosteradopt@pchas.org, or connect with your Foster Care & Adoption Guide at 281-324-0544.