Dave Delaney

Five months doesn’t sound like a long time. But it’s long enough to learn how they laugh.Long enough to know what scares them. Long enough for routines to form and for your home to quietly rearrange itself around their presence. Long enough for your heart to adjust. Recently, we said goodbye to a little girl who had been in our home for the last five months. Now, to be clear, this was a good move. She went to a wonderful family. A family that will love her, care for her, and provide exactly...

When most people hear the words foster care , they tend to picture a certain kind of family. They imagine married couples in their thirties or forties, maybe with kids of their own, opening their home to a child who needs a safe place to stay. And because of that picture, most college students and young adults don’t see themselves anywhere in that story. You might think: “That’s something I’ll think about someday.” “That’s for when I’m older.” “That’s for families who already have a house and...

If you’re a teenager, you might think foster care is something adults deal with. You might think, “That’s for parents.” “That’s something social workers handle.” “That’s a decision adults make.” And in some ways, that’s true. Adults fill out the paperwork, go through the training, and make the official decisions. But that doesn’t mean foster care has nothing to do with you. Because when a child comes into a foster home, they don’t just meet the parents. They meet the whole family. They meet...