Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and foster parents have a difficult role to play in child abuse prevention. The foster parents’ role is to help the child who has been abused to heal, feel safe, and learn to trust again.

This is no small task.

Often the children that are placed in a foster home have been neglected or hurt, either intentionally or unintentionally, by the very people who were supposed to love and protect them. As you can probably imagine, what these kids have gone through has broken their trust in all adults. Because they can longer trust that adults will do their job, the child is not free to do their job of just being a kid. Their brain now tells them, “Adults will let you down and hurt you. You have to be in control at all times and take care of yourself. No matter what they say or do, don't trust them! Stay alive!”
This broken trust and lack of safety set foster parents up for an incredibly difficult but necessary job. What a privilege to be the one called to reestablish these basic human rights for a precious child of God! Trauma that has occurred in a relationship can only be healed through a relationship. Building trust and connection with a child that has been hurt is hard and is often a thankless job. This is why foster and adoptive families need us.
Thankfully, God never calls us to face the hard stuff alone! As the foster family you support is seeking to provide the ‘boots on the ground’ daily care, you are called to be their tactical backup:

Reach out.  Let them know you see the valuable role they are playing in keeping God’s children safe and helping them heal.
Find out what they need. Let them know you are here to help. Offer to bring them a meal or a gift card from their favorite restaurant. Do they need some diapers or milk? Grab a few things for them from the grocery store.  
Ask how you can pray for them. What specific things are they facing this month? How can you pray for their family? For each child?

We all have a role to play in preventing child abuse. Thank you for supporting your foster family so well!