Abby Crooks is a foster parent, public school teacher, and the founder and Executive Director of Fostering Faithfully, a nonprofit serving foster children, foster parents, kinship caregivers, and the South Carolina Department of Social Services in Oconee, Pickens, and Anderson counties. She and her husband, Jonas, have been raising children (2-biological, 2-adopted from foster care, and 45 just for a season) the past eighteen years on a cattle farm in Oconee County. When she is not following kids around, or advocating fiercely for foster parents, Abby can be found on hiking adventures in the great outdoors. To learn more about Abby and her work, visit fosteringfaithfully.org or check out her new book here today-Simply Available: Unfiltered Truths on the Generous Hospitality of a Foster Care Lifestyle.
You CAN Foster Long-term and Stay Sane!
Research indicates that about half of foster families quit within a year of their first placement. How can we defy those odds? Our communities can’t afford to lose foster parents. Together, we will evaluate the impact of foster care on our emotional and physical health; consider the expectations we have for working with foster children and child welfare staff; and strategize about how we can show up fully and with staying power for children who’ve been wounded.
