Vol. 7, No. 1• November 2002

NC Adopts New Standard for Lifebooks

Lifebooks are now mandated for all children within 30 days of entry into foster care in North Carolina. This is a wonderful change! As you probably know, lifebooks document children’s histories and trace their paths to help them make sense of their time with birth, foster, and/or adoptive families. As the North American Council on Adoptable Children (2000) points out, lifebooks capture memories that might otherwise be lost. They also provide us with a:

• Tool for meaningful discussions;
  
  
• Method of conveying positive messages during childhood that will be remembered during adolescence;
  
  
• Chance to build self-esteem and positive ethnic identity; and
  
  
• Method of reducing children’s divided loyalties between birth and foster or adoptive families.

In complying with North Carolina’s new children’s services rule, social workers and foster parents will want to work together to build the lifebook for each child in care. Often foster parents do not have access to the information about the past for children in their care. Social workers can search the record and make the contacts necessary to create a book that summarizes the entirety of a life.

Foster parents can play an active role in helping children build lifebooks; adult guidance and participation in this process are important. Let the kids’ pages be theirs, but include adult pages that contain more detailed information. Children of any age can create illustrations to make the book theirs. Teens may be able to develop their books with only moderate supervision, or they may need a great deal of assistance.

There are resources available to help with the process of creating lifebooks. Beth O’Malley, author of My Foster Care Journey and Lifebooks, gives readers lots of ideas about the importance of a lifebook and the how-to’s of creating a lifebook.

Build Your Own Roots and Records Book, developed by Independent Living Resources, Inc., is another excellent lifebook resource, especially for teens seeking independence. One of the more interesting aspects of Build Your Own Roots is that it was designed based on input from teens and young adults involved with foster care, who were asked what wanted they to see in a lifebook. The resulting format is well organized, with fill-in-the blank pages and page protectors to hold original documents. North Carolina foster parent Becky Burmester, who has purchased this book, says, “When I use this book with my teen, I plan to make photocopies of the fill-in-the blank pages, since this book may be used for a decade or longer. Over the years, I expect to need a larger binder.”

Lifebooks may be mandated, but they are truly gifts of self to the children in our care. Foster parents and social workers together can create a tangible record for the children in care.

Reference
NACAC. (2000). 1999/2000 National Adoption Awareness Month Guide. Online <http://www.nacac.org/resources.html>.

Copyright � 2002 Jordan Institute for Families