Relationship Strategies

Forming relationships is a huge key to supporting the child, relationships and trust are not strong characteristics to most of the children in the foster care system. When a child is moved in and out of homes within the foster care system and have parents unable to care for them, trust is not something easily given and sometimes the child can come off as oppositional when they just need a little love. 

Some suggestion to help in this area are:

• have a "Check-in time", allow the child to talk freely and help them understand the feelings that they are having.
• help the child to understand the concrete feelings that are going on during a meltdown or other stressful times.  
• help the child make a feeling dictionary
• help the child make a book of safe people
• always name emotions very clearly for them
• role-play different situations so they can clearly see how things should be done.
• provided lots of encouragement and attention

 Remember "The strategies listed are not exhaustive; there are many other possibilities"

The Alberta Government has also provided a document that goes through many different situations with many different strategies. We need to remember that when we are working with children that sometimes it is not easy and it may seem like we have used up every possibilities but there is always other options and sometimes we just need to look a little more, here is the link to the Strategies Not Solutions Handbook

(Alberta Learning 2004, Government of Alberta 2007, Rendall, C.)