Foster Care Resources

Our team at Roanoke County Department of Social Services (RCDSS) would love to help you navigate your journey into learning more about foster care.

Thank you for your willingness to advocate for local children and families! Please see a list of resources below.

Books

Within Roanoke County Public Libraries online data base, our team has selected and hyperlinked books, children's books, and movies related to trauma resources & foster care. Note: Not all of these resources have been reviewed by our team, so please feel free to look up online reviews when selecting. 

• Another Place at the Table (Kathy Harrison)
• Answers to Distraction (Edward Hallowell, John Ratey)
• Beyond Time-Out: From Chaos to Calm (Beth Grosshands, Janet H. Burton)
• Driven to Distraction (Edward Hallowell, John Ratey)
• Far from the Tree (Robin Benway)
• Grandparents as parents: a survival guide for raising a second family ... (Sylvie de Toledo, Deborah Edler Brown)
• Motherhood So White (Nefertiti Austin)
• No Drama Discipline: The Whole Brain Way to Calm the Chaos & Nurture ... (Daniel J. Siegel M.D., Tina Payne Bryson Ph. D.)
• Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding ... (Daniel J. Siegel M.D. & Tina Payne Bryson Ph. D.)
• Parenting the Hurt Child (Gregory Keck, Regina Kupecky, L.G. Mansfield)
• Parenting with Love & Logic (Foster Cline & Jim Fay)
• The Children Money Can Buy (Anne Moody)
• The Language of Flowers (Vanessa Diffenbaugh)
• The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir (Victoria Rowell)
• Three Little Words: A Memoir (Ashley Rhodes-Courter)
• Twenty Things Adopted Kids wish their Adoptive Parents Knew (Sherrie Elridge)
• What I Carry (Jennifer Longo)

Children's Books
Parents, please review these resources before sharing with your children. Some content might be appropriate depending for older children rather than younger children.

• All Kinds of Families (Norma Simon, Sarah S. Brannen)
• Feet are not for Kicking (board book) (Elizabeth Verdick, Marieka Heinlen)
• Hands are not for Hitting (board book) (Martine Agassi, Marieka Heinlen)
• I'm Gonna Like Me ... (Jamie Lee Curtis, Laura Cornell)
• Locomotion (Jacqueline Woodson)
• Maybe Days: A Book for Children in Foster Care (Jennifer Wilgoki, Marcia Wright, Alissa Geis)
• Teeth are not for Biting (Elizabeth Verdick)

Movies

• Inside Out (Pixar Animation Studios)
• Instant Family (Sean Anders)
• Paper Tigers (KPJR Films)

Also, RCDSS has a library in-office. Please contact Amber Tiller (540) 283-8923 or email her for more information about checking out one of these books listed below. Because of the varied amount of resources, not all are listed here. Please ask Amber if you would like to see a full list of our resources.

• Beyond Consequences, Logic, & Control (Heather Forbes)
• Brain-Based Parenting (Daniel A. Hughes)
• Brainstorm (Daniel Siegel)
• Healing Trauma (Marion Solomon)
• Helping Children Cope with Separation and Loss (Claudia Jewett)
• I Love You Rituals (Becky A. Bailey)
• Kisses from Katie (Katie Davis)
• Managing the Cycle of Meltdowns for Student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Geoff Colvin)
• Meeting the Challenge (Jim Fay)
• No Such Thing as a Bad Kid (Charles D. Applestein)
• Nurturing Attachments (Kim Golding)
• Parenting the Hurt Child: Helping Adoptive Families Heal & Grow (Gregory Keck, Regina Kupecky)
• The Connected Child: Bring Hope & Healing to your Adoptive Family (David Cross, Karyn Purvis, Wendy Sunshine)
• The Developing Mind (Daniel Siegel)
• The Gus Chronicles (Reflections from an Abused Kid) (Larry Brendtro)
• The Out-of-Sync Child: Sensory Disorders (Carol Kranowitz)
• The New Social Story (Carol Gray)
• The Neurobiology of Attached-Focused Therapy (Jonathan Baylin)
• The Sexualized Child in Foster Care (Sally Hoyle)
• The Whole Brain-Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nuture your Child's Developing Mind (Daniel Siegel, Tina Bryson)
• Walk a Mile in my Shoes - A Book about Biological Parents for Foster Parents & Social Workers (Judith A. B. Lee)