Learning to trust can be one of the most important steps in a child’s transition to living with foster parents.
One West Jordan foster mom told us her story:
“We became foster parents to a 17-year-old girl. She had been physically abused by her biological parents. We have a dog and the two of them instantly bonded. The teen didn’t trust us at first, but she immediately trusted our dog. They became best of friends and he was always waiting for her to come home.”
“When visitations or court hearings didn’t go so well and she was very emotional, the dog was there to be her friend. Never judging, just a friend. She was learning to trust again.”
“We had always kept our dog in his crate at night. After our foster daughter had been with us for about two months, I noticed she was letting him sleep with her. I was initially not happy because it was against the house rules. Then, she explained that the dog helped her feel safe at night and that she didn’t have as many nightmares when he was next to her at night.”
“Needless to say, she was able to continue having the dog sleep on her bed at night.”
After the teenager’s family underwent counseling and parenting classes, she was able to reunite successfully with them.
