Sarah Desjarlais: How Fosterful Supports Foster Children in the Spaces Between

Sarah Desjarlais, Executive Director of Fosterful, stops by the chat to discuss how Fosterful provides a variety of ways volunteers can show up for foster children in the greater community without needing to make the full-time committment as a foster parent. Along the way we talk about ACE scores, the four trauma responses and how to work through them (Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn), and Fosterful’s next big initiative, Sidekicks. As a former foster parent of nine years and momma to five wild kids, Sarah has a high tolerance for pain. Her tireless ability to dig in when problems need solving comes through as she describes how she and Fosterful navigate the ever changing goals and regulations in the foster system, pandemic changes, and how Fosterful evolves to support kids in Washington and Idaho. Sarah loves cooking, eating, public speaking, and believes that Bigfoot really does exist. Welcome, Sarah!

Some terms and topics heard in our chat include:

DCYF - Department of Children, Youth, and Families (child welfare)

ACE test - Adverse Childhood Experiences - 10 questions to test yourself.

Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn - The 4 Trauma Responses

The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk

Polyvagal Theory - Sarah stated that swallowing has a calming vagus nerve response. Polyvagal Theory was introduced by behavioral neuroscientist Dr. Steven Porges in the mid 1990’s. His podcast on Polyvagal Theory talks about swallowing and eating disorders in reference to using the social engagement system to calm down.

Sarah’s Appearance at Van Talks 2022

Sidekicks - The new program at Fosterful, along the lines of CASA to partner with a Foster Family for a longer duration, instead of temporarily in the office as an on-call volunteer. Perhaps a good fit for the Foster Parent curious.

Confetti Committee - Fosterful’s party planning service for Foster Families and Social Worker appreciation.

Earthing as a mental health tool - I think Sarah meant to say “trading electrons with the ground” in the interview.

Cloth and Foster - Accepts donations of physical goods for Foster Families to “shop” to support their foster children. Review their wish lists, sign up for a donation appointment, donate funds, or become an ambassador at www.clothandfoster.org or on Facebook.

Get in touch with Fosterful: Fosterful.org