If you have siblings, think about all of the memories you share with them from when you were younger. Watching cartoons, walking to the bus stop, maybe sneaking a snack out of the kitchen, even bickering on car rides or arguing over who broke something in the house.
Did you know that approximately two-thirds of children in foster care in the United States have a sibling in care? Especially for children entering foster care, their siblings share a special bond with them. For many, their siblings were the support system for them through an abusive or neglectful situation.
Now imagine leaving your home, being separated from your parents; and then, on top of everything, getting separated from your siblings, one of the only constants who you shared your life with.

Why Do Siblings Get Separated?
Unfortunately, many foster parents don’t have the space in their home for multiple children. Even those that have space may not want to take on the responsibility of multiple children, or aren’t comfortable with some of the siblings ages or needs. While child services will always do everything they can to keep siblings together, they unfortunately can’t always find homes to take on siblings.
What Happens When Siblings Stay Together?
Siblings who are placed in the same foster home together typically have fewer moves from home to home, probably because they are facing some comfort in their homes and able to focus on settling in. They have better grades and more emotional stability. Siblings who are placed together are also associated with better permanency outcomes and are more likely to leave foster care together than if they are separated.
What Happens When Siblings Are Separated?
When siblings get placed in different homes, some are able to move together later, or visit each other frequently. However, many children are not reunited with their siblings. These kids are more stressed without their siblings, and are more likely to run away or have to switch homes due to behavioral issues. They are also less likely to reunite with their siblings after leaving foster care.
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What Can I Do To Help?
If you’re interested in fostering, give us a call or email today at 703.817.9890 or info@fcsva.org! You can learn more about the support you can get from our case management and our team here at For Children’s Sake. You can also email or call to learn more about our donation needs. Taking multiple siblings on at one time can create a lot of financial stress on a home, and donating clothes, games, toiletries, and more can make a huge change!
Thanks to AdoptUSKids and ChildWelfare.Gov for the statistics!

We’re back-to-school, and school is tough this year! Whether you’re 100% virtual, hybrid, or in-person entirely, there are a lot of adjustments happening. What are some ways you and your family can get into the groove?

1. Create a Dedicated Study Space. While this can have pictures, fun colors, etc., and your child should be able to personalize it to make it fun, it should not have toys or distractions. It shouldn’t be near a TV, or in a loud part of the house, and should have easy access to all of your kiddo’s school supplies, so they can sit down and focus entirely.
2. Build a Routine. This should work for you and your family, so may look different family-to-family. Whether this is 30 minutes of hanging out, then homework, then playing, until dinner or 15 minutes of studying interrupted by chores, or something else entirely, your child should know when they should plan to sit down and focus. This helps your child mentally prepare for study time.
3. Write Things Down and Communicate. Whether this is your child putting their notes in a planner, you writing out their agenda, having pictures or magnets to reflect the tasks due for the day, or something else entirely, it helps them prepare for the day they need to create their own to-do list! Be sure you’re reviewing your teacher’s notes as well, so that you can help your child adjust to this year’s expectations.
4. Stay Organized. Make sure your workspace, if you have one at home, is clean, to model organization. Remind your child to keep information neat as well. Especially at the beginning of the year, remind your child to put out their clothes the night before, clean their lunchbox, their backpack, and their home work space.
5. Learn Different Study Styles. Not all children learn the same way, so be sure to help your child understand what style learner they are and educate them on skills associated with this. For example, if your child is a visual learner, having them highlight key information, and if they are a auditory learner, have them record themselves reading their textbook and listen to it.

Ask your case manager if you have additional questions or feel like you’ve started off on the wrong foot to help set the children in your care up for success, and they’re happy to help!

As a therapeutic foster care agency, we work with counties all over to find homes for children that county foster homes aren’t able to care for. Unfortunately, teenagers often fall into this group, simply because of their age, and are frequently put into group homes because there are no foster homes available to them. But there are many perks to fostering an older child that people don’t realize!

1. Teens understand their situation

When children first come into foster care, or transition homes, it can be a difficult transition. For younger children, who don’t understand what is going on, this transition can be even more challenging. Frequently, though, older children understand what has been happening in their previous home and be able to grasp why they are in your home now. You can explain their situation to them, and they have a better understanding of what’s going on. In fact, some teenagers even share input on what kind of foster home they think they’d be a good fit in, and can appreciate the safety of your home, more than a younger child can.

1. Older children can communicate their feelings & needs more effectively than younger children

Really young children have a tough time communicating at all, and this is even more so the case when they are emotionally dysregulated and confused. When they cry, they may not even understand why, and therapeutic interventions can be tough for children before they’re verbal or able to share their thoughts. Teenagers, though, are able to express themselves more clearly, both in what they are feeling and in what may be upsetting them, and when necessary, can work with therapists on better sharing their thoughts and feelings. This makes it easier as a parent to understand how to intervene.

1. Teens can be somewhat self-sufficient and can work towards goals

Teens are working their way towards a goal of self-sufficiency. Many teens may already have a basic understanding of money, chores, hygiene, and the importance of setting themselves up for the future. With younger children, you spend a lot more time teaching the basics, but with teens, you can help them hone these skills for building their future!

1. You can share hobbies and interests

While a foster child, and a teenager, may not always want to hang out with you, you are much more likely to have something in common with a teenager. Whether that’s a video game, music, movies, sports, a hobby, or something else, there is likely to be something you can talk about and relate to, whereas younger children you likely don’t engage in many of their activities in the same way.

1. You can mentor and provide a home to someone who would otherwise have no one

When children age out of foster care, they’re left with no safety net. Between 30 and 45% of children who age out of foster care report being homeless at least once by the time they turn 26.
Imagine being able to provide a teenager with somewhere to call home while they start their first job, get their driver’s license graduate high school, move on to higher education, and more. These experiences are not possible for many teens who don’t have a foster home to move into, and can make all the difference in their future.
Want to hear someone’s experience fostering teens? https://fosteringperspectives.org/fpv13n2/minds.htm
More reasons to foster a teen: https://childcrisisaz.org/top-5-reasons-why-you-should-foster-a-teen/
A teen’s perspective on wanting a foster home: https://www.today.com/parents/teen-foster-children-search-place-call-home-t129675
Myths about adopting a teen in foster care: https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/360932-myths-about-adopting-teens-in-foster-care

For Children’s Sake is incredibly proud to announce that our foster care program, as well as our outpatient behavioral health program, received a three-year CARF Accreditation.
What Does This Mean?
CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services providers in the areas of Aging Services, Behavioral Health, Child and Youth Services, Durable Medical Equipment, Employment and Community Services, Medical Rehabilitation, Opioid Treatment Programs, and Vision Rehabilitation Services.
Our accreditation is a public commitment that we strive to:

• Involve persons served and their families in their service planning.
• Respect individual cultural preferences.
• Be accountable to our funding sources, referral agencies, and the community at large.
• Address health and safety concerns, such as building safety and emergency preparedness.
• Maintain management practices that are efficient, cost-effective, and based on outcomes and consumer satisfaction.

Receiving a CARF accreditation demonstrates For Children’s Sake’s quality, accountability, and commitment to the satisfaction of the persons served.
To receive this is a huge honor, and we’re so proud of our whole team for the work they did, and do every day, to receive this accreditation. We wouldn’t receive this without the hard work that our staff and all of our supporters do every day.
For more information about CARF International, the standards, or the survey process, visit www.carf.org.

Racism is in direct opposition to the mission of For Children’s Sake.  We believe in a nurturing home environment for every child that includes relationships that last a lifetime.  As we strive to meet our mission goal, we recognize that institutional racism and the rate of black children being placed in foster care are linked.  Children of color are far more likely to enter the foster care system than white children. The resources for families of color are not readily accessible due to waiting lists, cost, insurance refusal, transportation issues, and many other factors.
We know that Black Lives Matter, and we are all devastated by the death of George Floyd and far too many other people of color. We firmly stand against racism, violence, and hate.  Our foster children teach us how devastating racism can be every day, it is never far from our minds. For Children’s Sake stands against racism and is committed to work and services that encourage inclusivity and are anti-racist. We commit to adhering to the following steps.

1. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and agency where everyone feels empowered to have a voice, and feel they belong to the For Children’s Sake family.
2. We are committed to developing and providing diversity training and anti-racism training to our staff and our foster families.
3. We are committed to providing services for children and families of all races that are inclusive, supportive and educational.

We know we have a lot to do to change our world for the better with regard to racism. Working with children and families who are victims of institutional racism is a privilege and a commitment to talking about racism, to understanding how white privilege fits into institutional racism, and knowing that changing the way children are raised and see themselves, can change the world one child at a time.  Please join us in this collective and continued action to challenge racial injustice.
–Deborah K. Evans, LCSW, BCD
CEO, For Children’s Sake
See For Children’s Sake’s Cultural Competency & Diversity Plan by clicking here
Want to talk to your kids about current events? Check out the below article for some suggestions!
Talking to Kids About George Floyd

National Foster Care Month may be winding down, but For Children’s Sake is still hard at work approving new foster parents to help provide amazing care to our kiddos! Meet two of our new families below:
Benjamin Alderman & Alaina Hopkins
Benjamin Alderman and Alaina Hopkins are new parents here at FCS!
Benjamin was introduced to For Children’s Sake and fostering by his girlfriend, Alaina Hopkins, who’s mother is currently a FCS foster parent as well! Benjamin and Alaina live together, have a kind, loving, and strong relationship, and they want to be “role models and positive influences to help make children’s futures better”.
Alaina wants to “create a safe environment their foster child(ren) can experience, watch them flourish as individual(s) overtime, to help assist them to better understand their emotions, and how they can appropriately deal with them”.
Benjamin is looking forward to “build and develop connections and relationships with his foster children that can last a lifetime”, and “to have a family I could cherish and take care of, and to show them that they are loved and secure no matter what”.
D’Anthony Spann
Welcome to Dr. D’Anthony Spann! D’Anthony has wanted to be a foster dad for many years and was inspired by his family, faith, and friends, to become a foster dad. D’Anthony attends church every Sunday and plays the organ as well as several other instruments such as a keyboard, drums, saxophone, and clarinet, and enjoys singing in a gospel praise band, writing his own music, and creative writing. D’Anthony’s friends describe him as someone who “is happy, level-headed, and who enjoys laughter” and someone who has a “strong work ethic, honesty, and kindness in helping others”. D’Anthony says about fostering; “Fostering and Adoption is a mutually rewarding opportunity for chosen parents and children to genuinely experience a living demonstration, example and representation of the message of hope, strength, and care that is usually more spoken than purposefully shared.”
Yvette Garrett
Yvette has over 30 years of experience caring for, raising, and helping children who are in need of a safe and nurturing home. Yvette is tremendously kind and accepting of others, has a calming presence, and is patient and diplomatic. Yvette’s hobbies include cooking, reading, and planning family outings.
We’re so excited to have these families join us!

We can’t imagine how tough it is right now having kiddos stuck in the house, with so many emotions swirling around their heads and nothing to keep them busy! We’ve attached a list of resources here to help keep your kiddos calm, happy, and busy!
For more info on talking to your kiddos about COVID 19, click here
And helping answer little’s questions about them, click here
As well as not passing along anxiety to your child, click here
Want some suggestions for educational content for your children?
Check out Scholastic, Khan Academy, Education.Com, and this site that lists Educational Netflix Shows for all ages
And looking for ideas to keep your kiddos busy?
Visit this site or this site for lists of ideas to help you keep busy!
This workbook helps you create a COVID time capsule, helping your kiddos remember this time and keeping them busy!
You can also follow the Busy Toddler on Instagram and visit Kids Listen for audio stories and podcasts!
And check out this list of recommendations on how to work from home with kids.

For Children’s Sake (FCS) is a local therapeutic foster care agency that provides support to foster families as they help children in need. FCS also provides a variety of therapy services to the whole community. This month, FCS wants to address a disorder that affects approximately 9.4% of the children in the United States – ADHD.
What is ADHD?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder with symptoms that start at 3-6 years old, with a subset of symptoms that frequently continue into adulthood. Boys are much more frequently diagnosed than girls.
What Are the Symptoms?
Individuals with ADHD have ongoing problems with three different types of behaviors; inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Children frequently have trouble functioning at home and at school. Boys frequently present with more hyperactivity in a form that appears disruptive, whereas girls typically display more inattention. While these three behaviors can all present differently, some examples of these behaviors could include; seemingly careless frequent mistakes as the individual rushes through work, having trouble sitting still, interrupting, being easily sidetracked, not appearing to listen when being spoken to, and frequently losing or forgetting things.
What Causes ADHD?
ADHD is to some extent genetic, and if you have a relative with ADHD you are 25-35% more likely to have it. However, there are a number of other causes; prenatal exposure to alcohol or smoking, prematurity, and, in some cases, head injuries or toxins in the environment may lead to ADHD.
How Do You Treat It?
Everyone experiences ADHD slightly differently, and so there are a number of ways you can treat it. First and foremost, identifying a pediatric therapist that can assist in formally diagnosing your child or ruling ADHD out is key! ADHD symptoms can also be symptoms of anxiety, depression, and number of other disorders, so diagnosing is vital in determining treatment. From the diagnosis, a therapist may recommend continued therapy, medication, exercise and structured routines, and/or parenting skill and support groups to help you best understand how to support your child.
Other Resources/Sources
Thanks to the sites below for their information, all of which are great sources if you’d like to know more about ADHD!
National Institute of Mental Health www.nimh.nih.gov  
Center for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/  MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine) https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/attentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder.html
WebMD https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/understanding-adhd-basics 
You can also reach out to FCS at 703-817-9890 to learn about available services or to help a child in foster care.

The last few weeks at FCS have been so much fun as we’ve been gearing up for the holiday season! We’ve had an exciting event last weekend, and another one coming up this weekend!
Our Holiday Party is held every year to give a huge thank-you to our foster parents and to give gifts to all of the children in their homes. We held this year’s event at Uptown Alley and had so much fun! There was bowling, lots of great holiday snacks, and an arcade. Our foster parents had a great chance to catch up with each other, and all the children loved the games! We all had a great time and can’t wait for next year!
This weekend, we’ll be holding our JustSing event. For the first time ever, we are partnering with JustSing to raise awareness about the critical need for more foster parents. We plan to have a number of our foster families, our staff, and a huge group of local supporters, join us as we sing ‘I Won’t Give Up’ by Jason Mraz, as well as family and friends join us virtually from across the country. We cannot thank all of our supporters enough for celebrating the resilience of the children in foster care and helping raise awareness of the need for more foster children. Come join us at Independence High School from 11AM-1PM this Saturday! If you can’t make it, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fcsva to watch us live stream!