Foster parenting is a noble endeavor that brings several challenges and tons of rewards. It allows you to welcome a child in need into your home, give them the care and attention they require, and provide a safe and stable place to live until they are able to reunite with their biological parents. Or, at least, that is the ultimate goal of foster care.

Reunification between the child and their family is the number-one goal that foster care specialists aim for with every child who enters foster care in Georgia. Although it may not be the result in every case, it’s important to work toward reunification diligently and wholeheartedly.

As a foster parent, there are ways you can help support the efforts to reunify your child and their family, and that is by honoring the birth and foster parent partnership. 

What Is the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership?

The birth and foster parent partnership, sometimes referred to simply as partnership parenting, is a family-centered practice model or approach to foster care where foster parents and birth parents work together to care for the child and support the original family unit.

Traditional models of foster care were not as focused on serving the family unit but instead served the child and the biological family separately as they worked toward reunification. Biological parents would still do the work to reach a point of reunification. But, they would lose the ability to exercise their parenting abilities or carry out any parental responsibilities. At best, their bond with the child was loosened, and, at worst, it was eliminated entirely while the child was in foster care.

Partnership parenting is a newer, more family-focused approach that helps nurture the relationship between children and their parents more effectively, enhancing everyone’s efforts for successful reunification.

What Are the Benefits of Partnership Parenting?

There are numerous benefits to partnership parenting and supporting the relationship between the child and their biological parents, two major ones being:

More Emotional Support for the Biological Parents and Child

Disruption to the family unit is hard on everyone, and that is putting it lightly. As soon as a child is removed from the home and placed in another, everyone involved will experience at least some level of grief and the stages that come with it. Both parents and children work through the shock, denial, anger, depression, and acceptance of the situation in their own way and at their own pace. During the journey through grief, there are often negative emotional and physical outcomes, such as emotional outbursts, insomnia, consistent stomach upset, depression, anxiety, and so much more.

Through the traditional foster care model, bio parents are more isolated and are essentially left to cope with their grief alone. However, through partnership parenting, parents have allies through their case manager and foster parent. They become part of a parenting team that provides far more emotional support throughout the process, especially in the beginning when the pain and grief of the situation are heightened.

More Parenting Support for the Biological Parents and Child

“Kids don’t come with an instruction manual” is a popular saying for a reason. When a couple or individual has a child, they must begin developing their parenting skills based on their own upbringing, observances, parenting beliefs, intuition, and more. No two parents or parenting methods are exactly the same because everyone’s experiences, theories, and capabilities are unique to them. Plus, as the saying indicates, there is no instruction manual for raising a child.

With foster care, children are not removed from a home for no reason. Children are placed into foster care when there is evidence of some failure on the parent’s or parents’ part to provide a safe and stable home for the child. In the majority of foster care cases, bio parents are missing the tools, resources, education, or capabilities to offer the type of parenting the child needs for a safe and stable upbringing.

In the traditional foster care model, biological parents work to build their parenting skills and knowledge while remaining completely separated from their child. But through partnership parenting, bio parents co-parent with foster parents so that they can have a far more hands-on experience and gain the tools, resources, and education needed to reunify with their child and maintain quality parenting skills moving forward.

Who Is Involved in Partnership Parenting?

There are four leading players in the partnership parenting model:

The Foster Parent(s)

The foster parent is the person or couple who has undergone the training and certification to open their home to children in need of temporary placement. A foster parent is expected to provide stable, loving care to the child throughout the duration of the placement, and they are expected to partner with the biological parents by maintaining contact and collaborating with the parents. 

The Biological Parents

The biological parents are the birth parents of the child who has been placed in foster care. It is their responsibility to work toward reunification with their child by cooperating with their case manager and their child’s foster parents and co-parenting their child throughout the duration of the placement. Biological parents are expected to partner with the foster parents through communication and collaboration.

The Child

The child is the minor (under 18) who has been removed from their biological home due to a lack of safety or stability. While there are house rules the child may be expected to obey or behaviors the child may be encouraged to exhibit, there are not many expectations for the child from the system’s standpoint other than overall cooperation. It is up to the adults in the situation to do what they need to do to ensure reunification between the child and their biological parents.

The Case Manager

The case manager, sometimes referred to as the family’s social worker, is the one overseeing the process and managing the case for the bio parents, foster parents, and foster child. The case manager is responsible for organizing specific meetings, assisting bio and foster parents as they collaborate and co-parent, checking in on the well-being of the child, ensuring that everyone is working together toward reunification, and more throughout the duration of the foster placement.

Ways to Honor the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership

Honoring the relationship between the birth parents and the foster parents is key to a successful foster placement and a more efficient path toward reunification. Both foster parents and biological parents can honor the partnership by:

Creating a United Front

Birth and foster parents should come together as one in an effort to co-parent the foster child.

• Elevate one another and speak positively of one another, especially in front of the child.
• Stick to any agreements and avoid any intentional or unintentional sabotage of each other’s parenting.

Communicating Clearly

Communication is key when it comes to co-parenting.

• Let each other know of changes to schedules, meeting times, or anything else as soon as possible.
• Keep multiple lines of communication open so there is never difficulty reaching one another.
• Even if it seems like a small or minor piece of information related to the family or case, share it with one another. Again, communication is key, and the more each other is in the know about even the small stuff, the better.

Supporting One Another

Losing custody of a child, even temporarily, is a very difficult and vulnerable position to be in. Biological parents need emotional support throughout the process.

Welcoming a new child into the home, even temporarily, is also a vulnerable position to be in. Foster parents also need support during this time.

Both types of parents should encourage one another and support each other however they can and as often as they can throughout the duration of the placement.

Becoming a foster parent and participating in partnership parenting is a highly rewarding experience. Learn more about the benefits of partnership parenting by talking to the team at Generational Child Care.

We would love to speak with you about what it means to become a foster parent, what partnership parenting can look like, and what it takes to get started on your journey to fostering. If you’re ready to find out more, give us a call today at 478-477-1289.

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