This course explores how providing children in care a normal childhood relates to:
supporting normalcy
reasonable and prudent parenting standards
making decisions about and advocating for their participation in activities
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Children in care should have as close to a normal life as possible, and be able to engage in the same positive youth activities as children who are not in care. The reasonable and prudent parenting standards were developed by each state so parents would have the necessary guidelines to encourage normalcy. This course explores how to provide normalcy for youth in care using the prudent parenting standards.
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
describe "normalcy" and "reasonable and prudent parenting standards"
list three benefits of youth activities
list seven questions to ask yourself when making prudent parenting decisions
understand how to advocate for children's participation in an activity
understand that each state has its own reasonable and prudent parenting standards
know how the Foster Children's Bill of Rights and the Foster Parent's Bill of Rights promote normalcy
I thought that I would always treat my foster children like my own, but the normalcy help me to see areas that I could improve in.
—Wendy P.
When we adopted our daughters one of the first things our girl said was " Yay, now I can just be a normal kid and do normal things!" She wanted to eat her new grandma's farm fresh eggs, sleep in a daybed, and spend the night with friends. Kids in foster care benefit from this. My former foster teen wanted her license and to drive, and we were able to help her obtain those NORMAL experiences. Reasonable and prudent parenting may seem like a small thing, supporting normalcy may seem like a little issue, but it is their whole world and so important to have them identify as NORMAL and not abnormal, or less than.