A person’s identity evolves throughout their life, with much of their identity developing during childhood and adolescence as a result of their culture and the people they connect with. The identity of the child you will be fostering or adopting will have been impacted by their race, ethnicity and culture, as well as the people they have connected with in their past. Part of your job as a parent will be to reinforce their identity and self-worth by supporting the child and their cultural identity. This theme focuses on the importance of identity, culture, and the importance of cultural humility.

• Know strategies that can be used to demonstrate respect, inclusion, and support of children and parents’ intersecting identities
• Understand the meaning and importance of cultural humility and cultural responsiveness when fostering/adopting children when interacting with or talking about families.
• Identify ways in which the family who is fostering or adopting may be culturally responsive when parenting children whose culture and identity is similar or different than their own.

• Believe showing respect for similarities and differences in race, ethnicity, economic status, sexual orientation and gender is critical to healthy child development.
• Open to making changes in order to honor and respect children and birth families from varying backgrounds.
• Believe children should be allowed to maintain areas of difference from mine, now and as they develop.

• Can demonstrate the ability to ally with children in conversations about their developing identities.