Caregiver Trauma & Resilience: Tips to Keep Caring
Compassionate and empathic people often lean toward caregiving roles. But these same traits that make for great caregivers of children who come from hard places also leave you vulnerable to […]
Support for Families and Caregivers Across Wisconsin
We provide resources, training, and support for families, youth, and professionals with past or present involvement in foster care, adoption, reunification, kinship, and guardianship. Whether you’re a relative caregiver, adoptive parent, foster parent, birth parent, or member of a reunified family, you don’t have to navigate it alone. The Wisconsin Family Connections Center is here to connect you to trusted resources, training, and support.
Find Support for Your Journey
Relative/Kinship Caregivers
Caring for a child who is a relative or family friend? Find resources, support groups, and guidance tailored to kinship caregivers.
Adoptive Families
Access post-adoption support, training, and resources to help your family thrive at every stage.
Foster Families & Those Considering Foster Care
Learn about foster care, find licensing contacts, and access training and support services.
Birth Parents & Birth Families
If you are considering adoption or navigating your role as a birth parent, we offer information, support, and guidance.
Reunified Families
Find resources to strengthen and stabilize your family for children returning from foster care or out-of-home placements.
How We Support Families
Information and Referrals
Speak with a specialist who can help you find the right resources, services, and support for your situation.
Training & Support Groups
Join workshops, webinars, and support groups to build skills, connect with others, and feel supported.
Resource Library
Browse guides, tools, and articles on parenting, mental health, adoption, and more.
Case Management Services (GIFTS)
Short-term personalized support for adoptive, guardianship, and reunified families in Wisconsin.
Resources for Caregivers & Families
Once I Was Very Very Scared
A little squirrel announces that he was once very, very, scared and finds out that he is not alone. Lots of little animals went through scary experiences, but they react […]
We’re All Not the Same, But We’re Still Family: An Adoption and Birth Family Story
This story was written for adoptive families to explore the benefits of adoption openness. The main character, Deshaun, loves his family but always wondered about his biological family. Does he […]
Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir
Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed […]
Fostering Resilient Learners – Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom
In this galvanizing book for all educators, Kristin Souers and Pete Hall explore an urgent and growing issue–childhood trauma–and its profound effect on learning and teaching. Grounded in research and […]
Grief & Loss: Making Space for Healing
Download PDF While it may take 6-8 weeks for a broken bone to heal or 5-10 days for the common cold to resolve, emotional healing often takes much longer. The […]
