Fostering - Rules for sharing info?

cadgirl · March 2012

So, I am working on a note to send to friends and family about how to protect the privacy of our foster children we are receiving soon. I've come up with so far...

1. We cannot post pictures showing their face/distinguishing features

2. We should not be referring to them online by their given name - initials are better

3. Please don't share their history/reason for removal. This is their story to share not ours.

Any you would add?

Thanks for your help!!!

MommaT357 · March 2012

Great idea!

mom2one · March 2012

The best way to protect the children is to follow those rules yourself. Don't tell family and friends the kids' stories...they are theirs to tell and not yours.

cadgirl · March 2012

Very true! Thank you for the reminder!

mommytoconnor · March 2012

Sounds good to me. I was also told I couldn't share any info on diagnosis, medical conditions, etc.

afloggie · March 2012

That is pretty much what we were told. We call our foster child Baby E.

mamatojts · March 2012

I wouldn't share with complete strangers, but close friends and family, I told.

1. if the child displayed certain behaviors, I wanted to make the people we were visiting aware.

2. if the friends and family had children, I wanted to make them aware.

We however, have very supportive friends and family and never judged and always helped. I was glad to have shared the basics with people who are close to us.

cadgirl · March 2012

Thanks for the input ladies. We are picking up baby C (3 wks) tomorrow at 2 and her brother X in a few weeks... can't wait! So excited!

lilmufish · March 2012

For us, each of our foster children has a "cute nickname" that we give them, so that way family and friends aren't tempted to use their real name. "Chunky Monkey" "little man" etc.

Anytime anyone is around with a camera, I kindly remind them that the pictures cannot be on facebook or anywhere on line.

We don't share the reasons for removal, therefore our family and friends aren't tempted to share that. My mom is the absolute worst with that, we really try to limit what we share with her.

You have great suggestions! I think you just about covered it!

Cissi64 · March 2012

mamatojts:

I wouldn't share with complete strangers, but close friends and family, I told.

1. if the child displayed certain behaviors, I wanted to make the people we were visiting aware.

2. if the friends and family had children, I wanted to make them aware.

We however, have very supportive friends and family and never judged and always helped. I was glad to have shared the basics with people who are close to us.

All of this. Sharing diagnosis/behaviors is important for people who might be caregivers so they can tell you about anything they observe and can care for the child properly. It is also important for people to know so they can protect other children from negative behaviors the child might have. Sharing with virtual strangers or people who can't keep their mouth's shut is a recipe for disaster.

cadgirl · March 2012

Thanks ladies. As it turns out we brought home both Baby C and her older brother X (who as it turns out is just about to turn 2 - we had so much back and forth with the workers who couldn't figure out how old he was!) today. We only found out we were getting X just a few hours before hand, so the house was not nearly what I had hoped it would be when he came in.

Amazing how quickly you realize you're house isn't ready for a toddler once they start going around picking up everything you hadn't thought about!

Let the fun begin Big Smile

Fostering - Rules for sharing info?

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