The Stuff I Learned From My Time As A Case Manager.

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Have you ever found yourself frustrated with your child’s case-manager?  Sometimes it can seem like we are on totally different planets from case-managers when it comes to the many decisions being made about children in our care.  What are they thinking?  Where are they coming from?
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This week, we welcome our good friend, Megan Stroup, Founder and Director of Helen’s House in Marian, Indiana, which specializes in supervised visitations and case management.  Before founding Helen’s House, Megan worked in the Department of Child Services for 11 years.  Megan is also an adoptee and mom of three. Megan shares with us today about her own experiences as a case manager.*  In listening to and understanding another’s perspective, we can all learn to build more positive, healthy relationships with those involved in our children’s lives.

Listen To The Episode.

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Notes and Quotes from The Show.

“We, foster parents, {can tend to} see things one-sided…we tend to see case-managers as the bad guy…but case managers see both sides of this.”

“I am just a person, I don’t have a supernatural talent.”

Some of the hardest things about being a case manager:

  • Feeling unsupported by my team
    • “My role was often questioned – from BOTH sides.”
  • The relationship building aspect can’t be “codified” on paper
    • “The work you do can’t be measured, because there isn’t a measure for it.”
  • Having your integrity questioned.
    • “All of us are trying to do the best we can.”
  • We have hard things going on in our personal lives too that families don’t know about
    • “Remember that your case manager is a flesh and blood human being.”

Some of the best things about being a case manager:

  • The relational aspect with foster parents
    • “Because they cared about me (and I cared about them), they wanted me to succeed and knew a relationship with me was a positive thing and they could teach me things I didn’t know yet.”
  • Adoption hearings

Some Stuff I Learned:

  • We need to find space for grace and to believe the best about each other
  • Balance and boundaries are important
  • We need connections with each other

Resources and Links.

If you want to hear more from Megan Stroup, check out becoming a member of Oasis, (our support and resource site for foster and adoptive parents) where you can find daily support, monthly encouragements, and online training including a two full-length interviews with Megan about how you can build healthy relationships with birth families.  Also you can find Megan on Facebook at Helen’s House.

*Disclaimer:  This is just Megan’s experience.  There are issues with any large governmental agency and she is not speaking negatively of her agency, in particular.  Her raw honesty is an attempt to help foster and adoptive parents understand and learn to work with case-managers in a positive way.

[reminder]Do you have any questions, key take-aways, or additional thoughts? Share them with us in the comment section below.[/reminder]

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The Stuff I Learned From My Time As A Case Manager.

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Mike and Kristin Berry are the Co-Founders of The Honestly Adoption Company and have been parents for nearly two decades. They are the authors of six books, and the host of The Honestly Adoption Podcast.

Sarah Gray

Sarah Gray is the executive assistant to Mike and Kristin Berry. And she is the best in the land. In addition to providing a warm and friendly response to the many emails our company receives on a weekly basis, she also manages Mike and Kristin’s speaking and meeting schedules, and makes sure that team events go off without a hitch.

Nicole Goerges

Nicole Goerges is a Content Contributor & Special Consultant for The Honestly Adoption Company. She works with Mike and Kristin as a recurring co-host for the Honestly Adoption Podcast, and co-host of Kitchen Table Talks, exclusive video content for Oasis Community, along with Kristin. She is a fellow adoptive mom, and former foster parent.

Matt McCarrick

Matt McCarrick is the Content Production Specialist for The Honestly Adoption Company. If you’ve loved listening to our podcast, or enjoyed any of the videos trainings we’ve published, you have Matt to thank. He oversees all of our content production, from video edits, to making sure the tags are correct on YouTube, to uploading new videos to Oasis, to hitting publish on a podcast episode, he’s a content wonder!

Karen Anderson

Karen Anderson is the Community Engagement Specialist for The Honestly Adoption Company. She spends the bulk of her time interacting with, and helping, people through our various social media channels, as well as providing support for Oasis Community members through chat support or Zoom calls. In the same spirit as Beaver, Karen is also passionate about connecting with parents and making them feel loved and supported. Karen is also an FASD trainer and travels often, equipping and encouraging parents.

Beaver Trumble

Beaver Trumble is the Customer Care Specialist for The Honestly Adoption Company. Chances are, if you have been in need of technical support, or forgotten your password to one of our courses, you have interacted with Beaver. He is an absolute pro at customer care. In fact, he single-handedly revolutionized our customer care department last year. Beaver is passionate about connecting with parents and making them feel loved and encouraged.

Kristin Berry

Kristin Berry is the co-founder of, and Chief Content Specialist for, The Honestly Adoption Company. She spends most of her time researching and connecting with guests for our podcast, as well as direction, designing and publishing a lot of the content for our social media channels, blog and podcast. She loves to connect with fellow parents around the world, and share the message of hope with them.

Mike Berry

Mike Berry is the co-founder of, and Chief Marketing Specialist for, The Honestly Adoption Company. He spends the bulk of his time and energy designing and building many of the resources you see within our company, as well as social media and email campaigns. His goal is to use media as a means to encourage and equip parents around the world. He is also the co-host of The Honestly Adoption Podcast.