In the past, the prevailing advice for parents who adopted children of a race or culture different from theirs was to love and raise them from a “colorblind” perspective, as if the races and cultures of the children were not an important part of their identities. But adults who were raised with this approach and other experts say that when parents ignore their child’s racial and cultural origins, the journey to a healthy identity can be lonely, confusing, and even traumatic. Understanding and acknowledging differences in race and culture and playing an active role in creating a home and family life that reflect a child’s heritage are critical steps in parenting in diverse adoptive families.
This factsheet provides information to help children and their families support the child in developing a healthy racial and cultural identity and live a vibrant multicultural life. It discusses the importance of examining your thoughts and biases and preparing children to live in a society where race has a major impact on individual lives. You can use this factsheet as a resource for information on some of the potential rewards and challenges that come with choosing to live a multicultural and multiracial family life.
What's in the factsheet?
- Supporting a child's racial and cultural identity.
- Embracing life as a racially and culturally diverse family.
- Developing strategies to prepare a child for racism.
- Conclusion
- Additional Resources
- References
While this factsheet is primarily centered around the parenting role in adoptive families, we feel that it could also be very beneficial to those in an advocacy role.
View the factsheet from Child Welfare Information Gateway here.
Remember to complete your continuing education credit report for each training you complete. This will help to ensure that you are receiving credit for any training hours completed and that those hours are applied to your required 12 hours per year of in-service training.
CASA for Children is committed to our goal of ensuring the highest quality advocacy possible for all children in the child protection system, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, or disability status – that’s why we are now highlighting resources to support the CASA network’s journey to becoming more inclusive, welcoming, affirming and culturally considerate. Explore more Cultural Considerations articles.
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