There are six parent guidebooks in the Deciding Together series. You will give each adult member of the prospective foster or adoptive family a full set of the series at the first family consultation. The Deciding Together guidebooks are easy to read and use. They encourage learning through a variety of activities involving the whole family. Books 1, 5 and 6 include family activities that parents will complete with their children. These activities are divided into three categories: tricycle (ages 3-7), bicycle (ages 8-14) and motorcycle (ages 15-18).
These guidebooks serve both as workbooks for the family between consultations and as references for the family during and after your meetings with them. The guidebooks are designed to be partially self-instructional. The books include questions followed by model responses. The parents can compare their responses to the book's model responses.
Although these books are written in simple language and are designed to be easily read and understood, keep in mind that some parents have reading skills that will be at a grade level lower than the level of these guidebooks. Parents who do not read at all have successfully completed other foster and adoptive parent preparation programs that include reading and writing. These parents do these assignments just as they would do any other written or reading tasks, such as completing insurance or tax forms: they have friends and relatives who help them.
You should be open about your concern if a parent seems unable to read well. Simply ask, "How are you at reading?" Most often, a parent who does not read well is relieved to acknowledge, "Well, not too good." You can then ask who helps them with most of their reading and writing and discuss other options or assistance.
The parents will complete the guidebooks based on your directions. In each guidebook, you will instruct the parents to skip certain activities. You will conduct these activities during the family consultation meeting, where you can gauge the family's reactions, responses and questions in a more spontaneous, unrehearsed manner. In this way, these activities will serve as an assessment tool for you.
This Leader's Guide offers suggestions on which activities to choose, although you will select those activities that are most significant to the needs of the prospective foster and adoptive parents. Following are titles of each guidebook
Book 1: Understanding Foster Care and Adoption Today
Book 2: Understanding Separation and Loss
Book 3: Helping Children Express and Meet Their Needs
Book 4: Helping Children Maintain and Build Connections
Book 5: Understanding the Impact of Fostering and Adoption on Families
Book 6: Building Support Systems for Foster and Adoptive Families
Close Window