Foster Care Month 2025 Interview

 We recently spoke with Jacquie and Jackson Bennett, who are foster care parents with New Directions Youth and Family Services, to see what they had to share about their experience.

Would you please introduce yourselves and tell us a little about your family?

“Hi, we are Jacquie and Jackson Bennett. We have two foster kids currently, a newborn and a nine year-old, and two bio kids, a three year-old and a nine month-old. Fostering for us has been a wonderful, crazy, and eye-opening experience.”

Why did you decide to become foster parents?

“We started on the path to fostering for a few of reasons. Firstly, Jacquie’s mom had wanted to foster and after her passing, we started to look into fostering as well. Jacquie’s mom inspired us to start thinking, ‘is this an option for us?’ Plus, Jacquie is a teacher. She has always loved working with kids and wanted to be able to provide a place where kids could crash when they needed it. God has also played a huge role in our fostering journey. After receiving so many wonderful blessings, it felt like a calling.”

Why did you choose New Directions Youth and Family Services?

“When we started looking for an agency, we reached out to a lot of places. We weren’t sure if our age would be an issue and there were a lot of things we didn’t know. We chose New Directions Youth and Family Services because they let us move at our own pace. They are incredible. They didn’t make us feel bad about things we didn’t know, they were patient and informative, and they helped us feel confident as foster parents.”

How long was the process?

“The process to become foster parents happened very fast. We started taking classes a few years back and it only took about 6 months to become certified. After that, we did a year and a half of respite – which are short-term placements – before these two were placed in our care for an extended time.”

Can you share a little more about your fostering experience?

“Fostering has been a beautiful experience. When we first started, we were mainly focused on building relationships and supporting the kids, but now we love that we are able to walk hand-in-hand with the families and help to support them too! The kids are incredible, but we have a strong relationship with their parents as well. We weren’t expecting that and it’s a cool experience.”

What are the most challenging aspects of fostering?

“The most challenging aspects of fostering are probably uncertainty, building relationships, and scheduling. It can be challenging to build a relationship with a child when you’ve just met. You haven’t known them since birth so it’s important to try to learn as much as possible about them and their family as you can to make the transition smoother. As far as scheduling, we make plans, but we know that it’ll probably have to change.”

What is the most rewarding aspect of fostering?

“One of the most rewarding aspects of fostering is getting to meet the children and families and watching them grow. It’s inspirational and it makes the challenging times feel worth it. The relationships that all of the children – foster and biological – have is also amazing. You can see how they help each other learn about empathy and building relationships, even at such young ages.”

Do you have any advice for people looking to foster?

“Our advice to anyone who is thinking about fostering is that it’s not unattainable. The most important thing is to have love in your heart. It was also beneficial for us to connect with other foster families. We wish we had had that earlier.”

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

“We’d like to extend a special thank you to all of the other foster families and the people who have decided to help others.”