Episode 241: Cultivating Independence and Belonging for Teens (w/ Chandler James)
The Forgotten Podcast
The Forgotten Initiative
4.9 • 532 Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2024
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For teens (and for any child in foster care), how can we create spaces where they are safe, feel belonging, and develop their sense of independence? How can we give them involvement in the development of what that space looks like?
My guest today is a dear friend, Chandler James. Chandler used to be an Advocate Coach here at The Forgotten Initiative and today is the Director of Church Mobilization for The Riverside Project, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the foster care system in Houston. Chandler and his wife, Caitlin, are foster parents and are currently supporting four teens, three of whom have aged out of foster care and one that they have permanency of.
In our conversation, you’ll hear helpful principles for creating a sense of belonging for children who have experienced trauma, the challenges they’ve experienced of supporting teens as young parents, how to communicate boundaries while providing independence, the importance of caring for teens in foster care, and so much more.
Find links to resources mentioned and more in the show notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/chandler-james-241/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Sharing the stories of the foster care community. This is The Forgotten podcast. |
| 0:08.4 | Our kids don't get a choice to quit. Like these things happen to them is what we tell them often. |
| 0:13.6 | That these things happen to them and they don't get the choice show up or not. They don't get the choice to be a foster parent or not or to be in the home or not. |
| 0:21.6 | Like, they don't get those choices. And we do, we get a choice to show up or we get a choice to quit. And so it's, it's looking at our kids every day and just saying, hey, like you, you don't get the choice that I do. And so let's just do this together. And I'm going to keep showing up as long as you keep showing up. Hey, it's Jamie Cabe. |
| 0:38.8 | Welcome back to the Forgotten podcast, where we are highlighting the stories |
| 0:42.5 | of the people of foster care. With every episode, our goal is to help you better understand |
| 0:48.6 | the foster care community. We want to bring you hope and encouragement in your journey and help you support the agency workers, foster parents, vulnerable adults, and children in foster care right where you live. |
| 1:02.1 | If you want to learn more about TFI, catch up on past episodes, read engaging articles, or partner with us on mission with a gift of any amount, head over to |
| 1:13.0 | the forgotten initiative.org. We are in this together. Thank you for listening and engaging |
| 1:19.8 | with us. We love having you as part of our family. Okay, it is time. Let's do this. Chandler James is my guest today, and I just have to start |
| 1:36.8 | off right at the top to say how very excited I am to have him on. Chandler worked with TFI |
| 1:42.7 | back in 2022 for a time, a season, and it was so great. I mean, |
| 1:49.5 | we were talking before we even started recording that it's just neat how God has placed us |
| 1:55.7 | in each other's lives for a time. And then, you know, he uses all of these seasons to move us to what we're supposed to be |
| 2:01.7 | doing in that season so anyway Chandler is married to Caitlin and together they are currently |
| 2:09.0 | supporting four teens who have aged out of foster care they live in Houston Texas and Chandler |
| 2:14.9 | serves as the director of church mobilization for the |
| 2:18.1 | Riverside Project. |
| 2:20.1 | Chandler, we're going to have a great conversation. |
| 2:23.0 | Welcome to the show. |
| 2:24.4 | Yes, Jamie. |
| 2:25.1 | Thank you so much for having me. |
... |
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