Foster Care and Parenting Specialist
Dr. John DeGarmo is considered a leading expert in Foster Care and Parenting. Dr. John and his wife have been parents to over 50 children, including adopting three children from the foster care system. He is the host of the weekly radio program Parent Factors with Dr. John. Find out more HERE.
It’s what keeps us together.
It’s what the world needs more of.
It’s what makes the world go round.
And it is what children in foster care need the most.
Love.
More specifically, your love.
Will you provide these children in need this? Will you love them?
Over the years, my family has grown by three children through adoption, bringing our total to six children, both biological and adoptive. Three of our children came to us through adoption from the foster care system. One of the joys I have found is that with all six of my children, I see no difference in skin color and no difference between biological and adoptive. My love for them is equally the same, and equally as strong.
My daughter and I started a herb garden. At seven years of age, my daughter is fascinated by wildlife and plants, enjoys being outdoors, and is constantly picking flowers from my gardens. She has a deep love for nature, and I want to help her nurture that love.
For a number of years, now, we have had outdoor cats living on our property of six acres, out in the country. With chickens, ducks, goats, pigs, turkeys, rabbits, and even a pony over the years, I have tried to make it a farm like atmosphere for the children living at our house. As a foster parent to over fifty children, I have found that animal therapy is a strong healing factor for children in need. Indeed, pet therapy also teaches children how to have compassion for other living things. For children who have know
Sadly, the news is too familiar of late. Another suicide of a child in foster care.
This time, Giulianna Ramos Bermudez, 16, was found dead in her bedroom closet at an Orlando group home on June 29 of this year. She was found in her bedroom in the Florida group home she lived in. Authorities said Bermudez killed herself on by tying a belt around her neck.
Adoption and foster care leaders from several nations gathered together in May in Greece at an international foster care conference, and began examining alternative forms of care for children in foster care on a global level. Led by the Roots Research Center, these global experts focused upon how adoption and foster care laws have not met the needs of children around the world, and how c
For most teenagers in America, turning 18 years old is an exciting time. High school graduation is right around the corner, and the possibilities of college or an exciting career are on the horizon. A sense of independence often fills the young adult with confidence and enthusiasm. To be sure, it is often seen as a rite of passage into adulthood.
When my wife and I first built our home, we built it for a family of 6. Now, as we have had three more children join our family, we were in need of more bedroom space. After all, we can only have so many kids share a bedroom, and as you can imagine, we were a little tight on space. We loved our house, and didn’t want to move, yet we needed extra space. Adding on another bedroom was really outside our budget, and was far too big a project that neither of us wanted to tackle, anyways.
As a parent of three teenagers who are in college or are ready to begin that journey, our home is often filled with the discussion of possible career paths and what college degree might be best for each path. While all of these discussions are certainly healthy, and full of curiosity and excitement for each child, the parent in me wants to consider these discussions on another level. College is not getting any cheaper, and in fact, some colleges and their degrees are staggeringly expensive and quite simply, out of reach for my children and my family.
As the divorce rate in America continues to be high each year in the United States, marriages crumble and families are torn apart. Yet, it may be the children who suffer the most when their parents decide to end their marriage.
