What Is The Foster Care Review Board?
Interactive coloring book for children in the foster care system.
The Foster Care Review Board (FCRB) is a court-appointed volunteer committee which ensures that foster children are getting the care and help they need. They work in tandem with the courts, the Department of Childrens' Services, the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and many other social workers/services to provide the best support and advocacy for children in the foster care system. However, this system can be scary for children, especially those who are unfamiliar with it or who are especially vulnerable.
"What is the Foster Care Review Board?" was created by a committee of FCRB members, juvenile court members, the local public library, and myself to inform and engage foster children, and to hopefully make the experience less intimidating.
ISBN: 978-0-9970690-0-6
Published in 2018 by Academy Park Press, an imprint of the Williamson County Public Library (wcpltn.org)
The activity book follows a little bear's interactions with the foster care system and the FCRB. They meet a cast of other animals in various parts of the foster care system, and the child has the opportunity to draw themselves and their foster family, answer questions such as "What do you like about school," and write down their own questions for the FCRB.
The book was written by the Williamson County FCRB, and I was asked to create characters and illustrations for it.
The board made the decision very early on that the characters should be animals. They thought that having human characters could be potentially confusing, if not distressing, to the vulnerable children the book is for. Cute and cuddly animals are more approachable, as well as more broadly relatable.
