More than half a million children today live in out-of-home care, and many have special problems. The need for well-trained, loving foster parents has never been greater. With this book, Girls and Boys Town offers these committed people the professional tools they need to not only care for foster children but to actually help them get better. Our approach to foster care focuses on building relationships with children, teaching them skills, and empowering them by teaching self-discipline and self-control. Foster parents will find effective, research-based solutions for these common concerns: Building a warm, trusting relationship with a foster child who still may have a strong attachment to his or her original family. Working with the foster child's parents who may be uncooperative or even hostile. Creating a safe environment for the foster child, you, and your family. Respecting the foster child's ethnic and cultural background while teaching the child skills to help him or her succeed in the larger world.

Learning how to handle "blow ups" and prevent and correct misbehavior while staying calm. Teaching a foster child how to stay under control, solve problems, and make good decisions even when he or she is angry or frustrated. Handling transitions when a foster child moves to another placement or returns home. New or experienced foster parents as well as grand-parents and other relatives caring for a child forced from home by a crisis will find help and hope in Practical Tools for Foster Parents.