Education

Communicating thoughtfully about Out-of-Home Care. As a leader talking about Out-of-home Care – foster care, kinship care, permanent care or guardianship – from the platform or within your church community, you may bring your own lived experience of the system and those navigating it, or you might be brand new to the space. If it’s …

A trauma-informed approach to working with children and young people. The Homeward Project Trauma-informed Training will equip your Kids and Youth Ministry staff and volunteers with understanding of how and why a child from a “hard place” or with a difficult history may behave differently in a church environment. They will also be equipped with …

If you’re wondering if Foster Care is for you, even if you’re still unsure, Foster Care: First Steps is for you. ‘First Steps’ will help deepen your understanding of a faith-based and holistic approach to Foster Care and help you to consider your readiness to pursue it. Topics include: Work through the material online at …

We’ve compiled a list of books and other foster care resources to help you dig deeper into various aspects of Out-of-Home Care. Click on the links below to navigate the types of resources. Please be aware that several of these books contain very strong themes and content that may be disturbing or triggering. We encourage …

The local Church can help transform Out-of-Home Care in your community. The Discovery Guide will show you how. Full of practical resources, ideas and stories, the Discovery Guide is an online resource that will equip you to build a model of ongoing model of foster carer recruitment and support where every member of your church …

Ensuring your church is a safe environment for all children. We all want our churches to be safe places for everyone, particularly children and young people. A foundation for this is ensuring that you have robust Child Safety Policy and Procedures in place. Your denomination likely has resources available to support you in this area. …

Understanding of some of the science around the brain, trauma, and the power of relationship in altering the brain, helps shift our approach to children who have been impacted by relational trauma (or complex developmental trauma). Trauma The term trauma is being used more frequently and often in unclear ways. Trauma is not an event …

Building a holistic support system for care families. We want carers to have a ‘team’, for the highs and lows and everything in between on the journey of providing home-based care for children and young people. The Wrap-around Teams resource equips a carer’s ‘team’ with understanding and practical plans to provide a range of support …

Kids & Youth Program Guidelines: Considering Out-of-Home Care. When designing and offering programs, churches can support Foster Carers to meet their obligations and provide inclusive environments for young people in Out-of-Home Care. We’ve prepared some guidelines to help you, which include considerations in the following areas: Download the guidelines below. We’ve also created some Communication …