Religious Beliefs/Practices and Fostering

I had a teen of a different religion in our house as a foster child. He respected our beliefs and we respected his. I took him to his church, he chose not to come to ours. He would sit quietly during prayers.As for someone without religious beliefs. I would respect that too. They could stay home alone or I could stay with them if needed. They could exclude themselves from prayers respectfully or sit quietly.I do have to say one thing about my personal experience. I have stayed in our FFS and we have talked in depth about his time with us. I thought I was doing a good thing by supporting his beliefs and taking him to church. But talking with him now, he was struggling so much just to survive that he saw it as an added pressure. Be very careful not to expect too much of a child. Sometimes they need to do nothing.

I agree with MamaTay.I also believe that you need to have a very open and serious conversation with your caseworker at the beginning of your journey. If attending church is a non-negotiable in your family, your caseworker needs to know that you will be attending church every week and that will need to be a factor in placing a child in your home. If the child is old enough, I think an open conversation can be had with them about what they would or would not like to follow. While a prayer before a meal might not align with a certain belief, it can also be seen as time to feel included in the family. Again I will reiterate that I agree with MamaTay. I think that many kiddos are just stuck on survival mode. I would say that not attending your religious institution for a month when first getting a placement would be a great idea not because of religious reasons but because you are in a time where the family is trying to connect the new child. Meeting new strangers and being bombarded by sensory experiences that a medium to large religious institution may have can be overwhelming for some "healthy" adults.