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When Connie and Richard’s grandchildren were placed in foster care in October of 2024, it was painful for their family. Thankfully, the brothers (13 and 3) were placed in a Buckeye Ranch foster home with Aliza.

Aliza provided care for the boys from October 2024 until January 2025 when the family was able to become kinship caregivers with support of The Buckeye Ranch’s Foster Care team and welcome the boys back.  

With respite care support from Aliza and ongoing day-to day support from The Buckeye Ranch, Connie and Richard were able to open their home to one of their two grandchildren as well as help their youngest grandson’s paternal grandparents to provide long-term care for him. The support helped to provide stability for their grandchildren through the transition.

The Life-Changing Impact Becoming a Foster Parent Can Make on Kinship Caregivers

Aliza grew up in Cincinnati and spent most of her twenties going to school at Northwestern University and later living in New York City. In October of 2020, she decided to move home to be closer to her support system, and that’s when she felt ready to take the leap to become a foster parent.

“I have a big family that is full of caretakers … teachers, camp counselors, and more … and as I learned more about the world, I began to understand that there were so many youth in foster care in Ohio who needed a stable, loving place to land on their hardest days,” shares Aliza. “I knew I could help make those days easier by being closer to my support system, both for the youth in care and their families. I felt a responsibility to take action and be a light for them.”

Two of Aliza’s friends had positive experiences becoming licensed fostered parents through The Buckeye Ranch; with their encouragement Aliza took the leap and began the licensing process.

The Buckeye Ranch’s Foster Care team provides robust support services, including 24/7 on-call support, personalized case management, and trauma-informed care training to all of our foster families. A major focus in training is on how to foster the entire family, not just the child in your care, to support long-term placement via reunification or kinship care whenever possible.  

“The Buckeye Ranch’s foster care team made training accessible as I began my journey,” shares Aliza. “They helped make the licensing process easy, providing day-to-day support for me through licensure. Once I was licensed, they continued to offer 24/7 support, answering questions about placements and ensuring smooth transitions through biweekly visits, as well as offering ongoing resources to help fund activities for the youth in my care.”

Aliza officially became a licensed foster parent in October of 2023. A year later, when Connie’s grandchildren needed a loving foster home to land in while Connie and Richard became licensed kinship care providers, Aliza embraced the boys with open arms.

“The boys were both so loving,” shares Aliza. “I knew that they were wonderful humans because of the family they came from. Every family goes through challenges, but these kids were so loved. It was always my goal to get them to be with their family, so I did everything I could to support that outcome because I knew it was what was best for the boys.”

While the family got pieces in place to set up kinship care options for the boys, Aliza made sure the brothers felt loved and supported. She has fond memories celebrating the oldest grandson’s love for astronomy and photography of the night sky and the moon. Aliza’s dog, Maddie, also became a calming, therapeutic presence for the boys during their time with her, growing so close with her that Maddie would sleep in their room each night. Aliza also made special memories around the holidays with the boys and included their family in those moments through Facetimes and visits as often as she could.

“Keeping the boys connected to their family while they were with me was so important in their healing,” shares Aliza. “The change was hard and giving them a sense of normalcy through these interactions helped them navigate a really tough situation and kept them connected to family.” 

Finding Hope Through Hard Times with the Right Support 

In January of 2025, the boys were able to be placed back with family in kinship care – the oldest brother with maternal grandparents, Connie and Richard, and the youngest brother with paternal grandparents.

“Aliza was fantastic through this process, checking in with us and sharing updates about how the boys were doing while in her care,” shares Connie. “It really put us at ease to know they were so safe and loved. We were able to work together with support from The Buckeye Ranch to become licensed kinship caregivers, and the peace of mind we had through this process gave us hope through hard days.”

Aliza helped connect Connie and Richard to The Buckeye Ranch’s Foster Care team for support with becoming licensed kinship caregivers, finding them help with a home study, ongoing paperwork, and resources to manage the transition. “Richard and I are retired. We’re in our late 60s. This journey was unexpected for us, and the process of becoming a licensed kinship caregiver is long and daunting,” shares Connie.

“The Buckeye Ranch’s team was a sounding board for all of our questions and tried to make the process as easy as possible for us, offering guidance and helping us to understand the process and that it is in place to keep kids safe, which was comforting.”

The support allowed Connie and Richard to focus on building healthy conversation with the boys’ mom, navigating how she can heal and still be a part of the boys’ lives whenever safe, and connecting with other family members to support with caregiving options so they could do what is best for the boys. “It was never a question,” shares Connie. “Richard, myself, and our family were always going to find a way to make sure we helped the boys through a hard situation and kept them with family. But it was hard, and having The Buckeye Ranch and Aliza as supports through it all made such a difference for us.”

Having the boys’ foster parent there keeping an open dialogue about how the boys were doing each day brought additional comfort. “Taking care of kids can be stressful for anyone. Coparenting with biological families, whenever safe and in the best interest of the child, is really important in this journey. It helps everyone heal,” shared Aliza.   

Today, both sets of grandparents work together to try to keep the boys in touch and to get together to play whenever they can.

Foster Parents Supporting Kinship Build Stability and Strength

When foster parents and families can work together for the best outcome for the child, it not only strengthens families and helps the child heal, but it fortifies communities. Research tells us that children tend to do better when they are placed with their family members. Being placed with familiar people and communities ensures trauma reduction and better behavioral and mental health outcomes for youth in care, ultimately creating better long-term solutions to help everyone thrive. 

“It is a gift to know that I was a safe place to land for these boys, and that I could help them achieve placement with family members they love,” shares Aliza. “When the boys left my house, it was a ‘see you soon’, not a ‘goodbye’, and having the opportunity to continue to cheer them on as they grow through life is a tremendous privilege and joy for myself and my family. Gaining Connie and Richard as family has been such a special part of this journey.”

Connie and Richard are now providing kinship care for their oldest grandson. He has visits with his mom, when possible, and knows that he is loved by so many people. Aliza also continues to check in with the boys and provide respite care support for Connie, Richard, and the family when needed, creating more special memories for the brothers.

As for Connie and Richard, they’re getting ready to support their oldest grandson in his journey to begin high school. “He is a little nervous to start high school, but we’ve got added support in school for him and have taken him to tour the campus and get familiar before the start of school,” shares Connie. “We’re very open in checking in with him, being honest, and talking about how he is feeling, something Aliza also supported when he was in her care. That’s helped a lot.”

And both boys have a bright future ahead, surrounded by family and foster family who love them. “We all have shared love for these boys that guides us through to work together to support them. I want the community to know that that’s possible,” reflects Aliza. 

Together, we can make more healing possible. “Foster care and kinship care can be a really good thing when you have foster parents that are willing to open their hearts and homes to help your family through a hard time,” reflects Connie.

Today, both boys are growing, nurturing their curiosity about what excites them through new hobbies, and learning that you can never have too many people that love you.  

Interested in learning more about our Foster Care program? Visit our website to learn more. Want to learn more about how you can change the journey for youth and families – like Connie, Richard, and their grandson – navigating foster care? Learn more about how you can take the first step to becoming a foster parent today!