Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) includes children and young people in foster care that  are in extreme risk. While poorly defined legally, the impact upon this population is immense. Two Child Welfare Agency Executive Directors involved in research and programming to serve this population speak on our podcast about their experience and  potential opportunities. Hear from Susan McConnell, Executive Director of Let It Be Us and Carina Santa Maria, Executive Director of Shelter, Inc. McConnell is involved in program design and implementation perspective as a Doctorate in Social Work candidate at the University of Southern California.  Santa Maria is an adjunct professor at Dominican University’s School of Social Work, where she teaches a graduate level human trafficking course. In addition, she has spent 10+ years working in the anti-trafficking field, specifically with survivors and program implementation and evaluation.  

Learn more about Let It Be Us at letitbeus.org.

The team comes together to give tips and advice for how to navigate the first time a child is placed in your home - or any time they come!  Learn from Let It Be Us Founder and Executive Director Susan McConnell, MBA, Let It Be Us Directors Vanessa Baie, LCSW, and Karron Shaw, MJ, as well as seasoned foster parent and Foster Parent Licensing Coach, Cathy Newbury about what to do when a child arrives and how to navigate that important relationship.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent or joining our database of licensed homes find us at www.letitbeus.org

Parenting is a long road no matter how you do it. This mini-episode explores tips and advice on how to support yourself as a foster parent, adoptive parent, and ways to ensure you have what you need to care for children throughout their lives. Let It Be Us Director Karron Shaw, MJ, and Foster Parent Licensing Coach Cathy Newbury give advice and suggestions in this chat.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent or joining our database of licensed homes find us at www.letitbeus.org

The path of foster care that leads to adoption is often long and complicated, with legal jargon like “TPR” (termination of parental rights), but Let It Be Us Director Karron Shaw, MJ, and Foster Parent Licensing Coach Cathy Newbury - who has also adopted from foster care! - are here to explain it to you.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent or joining our database of licensed homes find us at www.letitbeus.org

Feeling open to having a relationship with the biological family is the first step, in this mini-episode, Alex Montgomery, JD, Deputy Director at Let It Be Us and mother through adoption, and Rachel Hoyt, seasoned foster parent, talk about the concrete steps they’ve both taken to open the door to relationships with the biological family.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent or joining our database of licensed homes find us at www.letitbeus.org

While children in foster care have experienced difficult situations with their biological families, many children still feel a strong bond with them, and many of them will return to their families of origin. Alex Montgomery, JD, Deputy Director at Let It Be Us and mother through adoption, talks about how she developed a relationship with the birth mother of her daughter, while Rachel Hoyt, seasoned foster parent, talks about how she has successfully opened the door to ongoing relationships with biological families that have continued even after the children reunified with their families of origin.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent or joining our database of licensed homes find us at www.letitbeus.org

In this special mini-episode, Cathy Newbury, Foster Parent Licensing Coach and seasoned foster parent, talks about how she ensures the children in her care receive all the support they need, while Dr. Heather Risser from our partner Northwestern University Family Care Parenting Lab talks from a therapeutic perspective about how to support the children. As mentioned in this episode, one way to find supports through DCFS is through Spider: https://spider.dcfs.illinois.gov/. To learn more about becoming a foster parent or joining our database of licensed homes find us at www.letitbeus.org

Children who have experienced foster care, or other kinds of difficult life experiences, may have a hard time adjusting - or may have mental or behavioral challenges that have never been diagnosed. Cathy Newbury, Foster Parent Licensing Coach and seasoned foster parent, chats with Dr. Heather Risser from our partner Northwestern University Family Care Parenting Lab about what children in foster care experience and how to understand what they need.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent or joining our database of licensed homes find us at www.letitbeus.org. To learn more about the Family Care Parenting Lab, visit sites.northwestern.edu/familycareparentinglab