Stay: A Caregiver’s Memoir Of Kinship Foster Care and Childhood Trauma

Stay: A Caregiver’s Memoir Of Kinship Foster Care and Childhood Trauma

Stay is a caregiver’s memoir about what it means to remain when walking away would be easier. When Mary opens her home to a young relative through Kinship Foster Care , she steps into a world of courts and case plans, school meetings and IEP paperwork, sleepless nights, and small, hard-won victories. This is a true story about faith, family, and the everyday work of helping a traumatized child heal. Across twenty short, readable chapters, Mary shares the turning points that shaped her family’s path: the court day that changed everything, the early weeks of “new normal,” grief that surprised her, and the long, steady work of building a trustworthy support team. Along the way, she shows how trauma-informed approaches such as the P.A.C.E. model and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) helped her shift from reacting to connecting. Each chapter ends with gentle, practical reflections readers can use right away. Inside you will find: An honest look at Kinship Foster Care from the inside, including school advocacy, IEP meetings, and working with therapists, case managers, and courts. Real stories that show how childhood trauma affects behavior, and how connection, structure, and patience can support healing. Clear, compassionate tips for caregivers, grandparents raising grandchildren, foster parents, and anyone supporting a child who has experienced loss. Faith-anchored reflections that acknowledge doubt and grief while inviting resilience, forgiveness, and hope. Who this book is for Caregivers and relatives in kinship placements. Foster and adoptive parents. Teachers, school counselors, social workers, and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and guardian ad litem (GAL) volunteers who want to understand behavior through a trauma lens. Church and community groups seeking practical ways to help families support healing, one small step at a time.