A home on Milwaukee’s South Side is now complete as McKenna and Celia Olson expanded their family by adopting four children. The adoption closed a chapter in their journey as foster parents with the Wellpoint Care Network.
McKenna and her wife, Celia, closed their license as foster parents in May, after spending the past eight years fostering 10 children.
In June, the couple welcomed their 6, 5, 2 and 9-month-old children with an adoption party at Humboldt Park, 3000 S. Howell Ave.
“We have four kids now and they’ve been with us since birth,” McKenna said. “This is our family unit now and we’re grateful to be alongside the kids as they grow.”
Adjusting to a new parenting lifestyle
As the Olson family has grown, McKenna and Celia have adapted to new parenting routines like staying home if a child is sick, doing multiple drop-offs to daycare or extracurricular activities, and more.
“As the older kids are growing up, they’re getting more involved in things,” McKenna said. “We’re being aware of what works and understanding what’s best for each kid.”
McKenna said she’s also adjusting to no longer having to follow certain policies and procedures regarding the children anymore.
Last month, McKenna and Celia took the kids on vacation and were able to do it without going through an approval process.
“One part of being a foster parent is you have to get approval if you want to go out of state, and sometimes you might have to share your itinerary or birth parents have to get involved,” she said.
As they navigate a new parenting lifestyle, McKenna and Celia are excited to create new memories as a family like celebrating birthdays, capturing moments from the first and last day of school and other special occasions.
“In my dream ideal world, I would love to have so many people around the table during Thanksgiving and birthdays and that would include the birth families of my kids,” McKenna said. I really just look forward to being a family, spending quality time and having our extended family come together.”
Feeling mixed emotions
No longer foster parents, McKenna and Celia still find themselves reflecting on the bittersweet moments they’ve shared with the other foster children.
“The kids that have left us, we still think about them and miss them,” McKenna said. “You’re in people’s lives for a reason during certain stages of their life.”
McKenna and her wife were just happy that they could care for all 10 children as long as they could over the years.
“Every kid that came into our home, we open our hearts,” McKenna said.
Using resources to help with trauma
McKenna and Celia chose to become foster parents through Wellpoint Care Network because of its Trauma Informed Care Program, consisting of training aligned with principles that help an individual respond to someone’s trauma.
“Children who experience trauma, their brains formulate differently than children who may have not gone through trauma,” said Emily Davis, Wellpoint foster care recruitment and retention supervisor.
In addition to supporting foster parents, the training over the years has helped social workers, librarians, educators, police officers and more.
According to Julie Scott, Wellpoint director of trauma informed strategy and practice, the organization developed the training after discovering its former residential boys group wasn’t receiving enough mental health support.
“We found that traditional mental health services and therapies weren’t enough,” Scott said. “Because of adversity and trauma there are particular needs that aren’t always met.”
Davis said there are five levels of foster parents and the parents are all required to take the free Trauma Informed Care training to become licensed through Wellpoint Care Network.
“We don’t want children to be moved from home to home, and our biggest goal is to only have a child in one placement the entire time they’re in foster care,” Davis said. “Providing foster parents with the training allows them to have the knowledge and ability to be that one foster parent the child needs rather than multiple.”
Scott said individuals receiving the Trauma Informed Care training sooner created more stability and reedification outcomes.
For McKenna and Celia, the training helped them understand that no parent is perfect and not to take a child’s response to trauma personally.
“It’s about being aware that everyone comes with their own story and situations,” McKenna said. “It’s all a work in progress because the kids are changing and you’re changing right with them.”
Scott and the Olson family encourage foster parents to meet children where they are instead of having the expectation of where a child should be in their development.
“Be compassionate, understanding and stick around a little longer,” Scott said. “A child may behave a certain way because they don’t understand their trauma.”
McKenna also wants aspiring foster parents to know that the process is going to have to come with stages of change.
“If you’re entering a new world, you shouldn’t be going in the same person you were,” she said.
Information for new or aspiring foster parents
To become an eligible foster parent in Wisconsin, you must meet the following requirements:
- Be at least 21
- Pass a background check
- Show proof of income
- Meet all home safety requirements
- Have car insurance with valid license
- No past history with child welfare agency involving child neglect or abuse
- Have a willingness to work alongside the child’s biological family
- Demonstrate positive qualities like patience and humor
McKenna said she and Celia could always reopen their license if they wanted to and they are grateful for the support Wellpoint Care Network had provided them when they were foster parents.
“Wellpoint Care Network has been a part of our life, and because of this nonprofit, our family is the way that it is,” she said.
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