resilience

Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families

Six Important Lessons We Can Learn from Fairy Tales
ByDebbie Ausburn February 25, 2025

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a sucker for made-up holidays, and this week is no different. Tomorrow is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day, and it prompted me to start thinking about what fairy tales can tell us about foster and blended families. I’ve written before about what fairy tales can tell us about being the mentor rather than the villain in our kids’ stories. Today I want to look at some of the other lessons that fairy tales can teach us about raising other people’s children…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families

Why It’s Best for Our Kids to Make Them Our Last Priority
ByDebbie Ausburn February 4, 2025

Being a foster parent or stepparent comes with unique challenges, but it also offers profound opportunities. One of the most critical lessons in this journey is understanding how to set priorities to create a solid foundation for your family. Over the next few weeks, I’ll post about why I think certain priorities come before others. Today, I want to give an overview and explain why I believe children should be last, instead of first in the order of family priorities…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Resilience

Participation in Team Sports May Boost Executive Function in Our Kids
ByDebbie Ausburn January 28, 2025

A study of Dutch school children indicates that participation in team sports correlates with increased executive function in children. The study followed 880 Dutch children from 2006 through 2017. The researchers used meters to measure physical activity in children at ages 5 to 6 and questionnaires to assess sports participation in children ages 10 to 11. The study then had parents complete a questionnaire that measures executive function. “Executive function” is a phrase that encompasses thinking skills that children need to organize facts, remember details, make decisions, and stay focused.

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families

Five Reasons Foster and Stepparents Need Self Care
ByDebbie Ausburn January 4, 2024

Heading past the holiday season into the new year is a good time for parents to strengthen an essential skill for caring for our blended and foster families, specifically taking care of ourselves. Self-care sounds like the opposite of self-sacrifice, but it’s actually an important foundation for that trait. Here are five important reasons to use self-care as an important tool in our parenting skill set this year…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Research

How to Help When Your Child Acts Like a Bully
ByDebbie Ausburn October 17, 2023

I’ve been traveling out of the country, so I’m republishing one of my more popular blogs in honor of National Bullying Month. I’ll be back later this week with fresh content. Another problem that we can face with traumatized children is that they can become the bully in a given situation. Children who have…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Research

How to Help Your Child Who Is Being Bullied
ByDebbie Ausburn October 12, 2023

I have been traveling out of the country, so I am republishing one of my more popular blog posts in honor of National Bullying Month. October is National Bullying Prevention month, so we will hear a lot about the topic over the next few weeks. If we parent children who have suffered trauma, our children are at high risk of being bullied. Their trauma…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Research

Is There a Difference Between Conflict and Bullying and Does it Matter?
ByDebbie Ausburn October 10, 2023

I have been traveling out of the country, so this week I’m re-publishing one of my more popular blog posts in honor of National Bullying Month: Bullying is an ongoing problem for many of our kids, and with the focus of October as National Bullying Prevention Month, we’ll see a lot of suggestions about how to prevent bullying. Contrary to what many parents (and children) think, not every insult or disagreement is a bullying situation. Sometimes…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Resilience

Seven Reasons to Help Children Master Small Tasks
ByDebbie Ausburn September 12, 2023

I am a sucker for off-beat holidays, and yesterday was National Make Your Bed Day. It reminded me of Admiral McRaven’s 2014 commencement speech advising UT Austin graduates how to change the world. His first piece of advice was…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Resilience

Why and How We Should Quit Taking Responsibility for Our Kids’ Happiness
ByDebbie Ausburn August 31, 2023

I’ve been thinking through the study I mentioned earlier this week, as well as previous research showing that children generally need less adult involvement in their decisions. Yet we are heading into a season where our instincts and current culture will take us in the opposite direction…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Resilience

Six Important Ways to Help Our Children Learn Resilience from Failure
ByDebbie Ausburn August 24, 2023

Last week, I discussed how to help our kids develop problem-solving skills. This week, I want to dig a little deeper into one of the principles I mentioned, specifically letting our kids learn from failure. Letting our children risk failure is one of the most difficult and most necessary ways to help our kids develop resilience. The principle is just as important, or perhaps even more important, for kids who have suffered childhood trauma.

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Resilience

12 Great Principles for Encouraging Problem Solving Skills in Children with Trauma
ByDebbie Ausburn August 15, 2023

As the school year starts, we know that our children will face numerous challenges. School can be particularly difficult for children who have suffered from traumatic events, and the structure and social interactions there can be just another source of chronic stress. It is tempting to try to help our kids by laying out a blueprint that we know will make life easier for them, such as…

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Foster, Adoptive, & Blended Families Resilience

15 Principles for Helping Children With Trauma Succeed in School
ByDebbie Ausburn August 1, 2023

The new school year is looming for our kids, and we need to help them get ready for it. School usually is a place of failure and stress for children who have suffered a traumatic event. Whether the trauma is from a car accident, a natural disaster, or something as targeted as sexual abuse, young people with trauma usually struggle with school. Fortunately, there are some things we can do to help them find success that will build their self-esteem and resilience as they navigate this school year…

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About YSO Insights

Evidence-based ideas and resources for youth-serving organizations and Plan B families, written by Debbie Ausburn, J.D., Donna Caudell, Ed.D., Gena Hood, Ed.S., Amber Jewell, LSCSW, and Tom Rawlings, J.D.

→ YSO Academy - Online courses and CE credits
→ Child Protection & Well-Being Trends -- Tom Rawlings' Substack about policy and best practices in child protection
→ Caudell Educational Solutions - consultation and testing for public, private and homeschool students
→ Hood Educational Services, LLC - training for teachers and student teachers
→ Amber Jewell - blog and speaking/training services
→ Youth Services Law -legal insights from Debbie Ausburn for youth-serving organizations