Structured support for every stage of the foster and adoptive journey
Whether you are preparing to foster or already navigating the realities of placement, there is a season-specific program designed to guide you with clarity, steadiness, and lived experience.
You don’t have to figure this out alone.
The Lighthouse Programs
All Lighthouse Programs are delivered online via Zoom and are available to families in the United States.
The Lighthouse Programs are designed to support foster and adoptive families at every critical stage of the journey.
From The Shore Walk, an honest introduction for families considering foster care or adoption, to Before the Tide, six weeks of deep preparation for those ready to say yes, to The Channel Guide walking alongside families from licensing through their first 90 days of placement, to Low Tide for current parents who need to reset and recalibrate, to The Lighthouse Session guiding families through adoption finalization and benefits. Each offering provides structured, season-specific support rooted in lived experience and practical system navigation.
These programs ensure families receive balanced insight, combining lived experience, trauma-informed understanding, and practical agency awareness.
The Lighthouse Programs also include select guest sessions from experienced foster and adoptive parents, licensed professionals, and system-informed voices.
This is not one opinion. It is layered guidance designed to prepare and steady families from multiple angles, wherever they are on the journey.
The Shore Walk — Group Session The next group session begins Sunday May 3, 2026 at 2:00pm MT and meets for three consecutive Sundays — May 3, May 10, and May 17. Click on The Shore Walk to register.
The Shore Walk — Private Sessions Prefer a one-on-one setting or need a different schedule? The Shore Walk is also available as a private three-session experience at your own pace. Private clients who go on to enroll in The Channel Guide receive $200 off their program investment.
Please click on below for my information.
-
Before you go into the water, you walk the shore.
Most people considering foster care or adoption jump straight into licensing paperwork and state training classes, without ever getting an honest picture of what daily life with a child from a hard place actually looks like. The Shore Walk exists to give you that picture first.
This is not a recruitment class. It is not licensing training. It is a three-session honest conversation about the foster care system, what it really requires, and whether this path is right for your family, from someone who has lived it from every angle.
What we cover:
Session 1 — Understanding the System: How foster care actually works, the roles of caseworkers, agencies, and courts, why children enter care, and the most common misconceptions families carry in.
Session 2 — The Reality of Parenting in Foster Care: What trauma looks like in daily life, the emotional weight most training programs skip over, navigating visits and case plans, and the real impact on your family and marriage.
Session 3 — Is This Path Right for You: Honest reflection about readiness and capacity, the questions most families never think to ask, and what your next steps could look like, whatever you decide.
Best for: Individuals and couples who are considering foster care or adoption, want honest preparation before starting licensing, and are ready to ask the real questions before saying yes.
Format: 3 group sessions online via Zoom · Open discussion and Q&A
Investment: $147 per person or family
For many families, The Shore Walk provides the clarity they need to move forward with confidence or to understand that now is not the right time. Either decision is valid. What matters is making it with open eyes.
Please schedule here
Disclaimer: Low Tide Lighthouse provides educational guidance rooted in lived experience not therapy, legal advice, or licensed professional services of any kind. Services are delivered remotely and available nationwide. Please consult qualified licensed professionals in your state for legal, mental health, and casework needs specific to your situation.
-
The same honest content in a one-on-one setting at your own pace. Three sessions scheduled at your convenience · Online via Zoom.
For those who want to walk through this with guidance tailored to their family. Limited spots available. Please schedule a discovery and we will schedule your sessions.
Before you go into the water, you walk the shore.
Most people considering foster care or adoption jump straight into licensing paperwork and state training classes, without ever getting an honest picture of what daily life with a child from a hard place actually looks like. The Shore Walk exists to give you that picture first.
This is not a recruitment class. It is not licensing training. It is a three-session honest conversation about the foster care system, what it really requires, and whether this path is right for your family, from someone who has lived it from every angle.
What we cover:
Session 1 — Understanding the System: How foster care actually works, the roles of caseworkers, agencies, and courts, why children enter care, and the most common misconceptions families carry in.
Session 2 — The Reality of Parenting in Foster Care: What trauma looks like in daily life, the emotional weight most training programs skip over, navigating visits and case plans, and the real impact on your family and marriage.
Session 3 — Is This Path Right for You: Honest reflection about readiness and capacity, the questions most families never think to ask, and what your next steps could look like, whatever you decide.
Best for: Individuals and couples who are considering foster care or adoption, want honest preparation before starting licensing, and are ready to ask the real questions before saying yes.
Format: One on One sessions, online via Zoom · Open discussion and Q&A
Investment: $347 per person or family
Limited Spots
For many families, The Shore Walk provides the clarity they need to move forward with confidence or to understand that now is not the right time. Either decision is valid. What matters is making it with open eyes.
Please schedule here
If you choose to continue your journey, the next program is the Channel Guide. Private Clients who go on to enroll in the Channel Guide will receive $200.00 off their program investment.
Disclaimer: Low Tide Lighthouse provides educational guidance rooted in lived experience not therapy, legal advice, or licensed professional services of any kind. Services are delivered remotely and available nationwide. Please consult qualified licensed professionals in your state for legal, mental health, and casework needs specific to your situation.
-
Before the tide comes in, there is a window. A moment of stillness where you can see the ground clearly, prepare honestly, and build something that will hold when the water rises.
Most prospective foster parents feel called to this work. Very few feel truly prepared for what it actually requires. State licensing classes teach policies and procedures, they rarely prepare you for the emotional toll, the trauma behaviors, the impact on your marriage and nervous system, or that moment you are two weeks in when the adrenaline wears off and reality sets in.
Before the Tide fills that gap. Six weeks of structured, honest preparation for the journey ahead, so when the tide comes in, you are ready.
What is included:
6 weekly live sessions via Zoom covering readiness, trauma, system navigation, first placement preparation, and burnout prevention
Structured curriculum with phase-based guidance and guest insight from professionals familiar with the foster care system
Comprehensive handout binder and lifetime access to program materials
Real-life examples and lived-system experience
Optional group or private format
Best for: Individuals or couples actively considering foster care, families currently in training, and those unsure whether they are truly ready.
Format: 6 weekly live sessions via Zoom
Investment: $1,200 small group cohort (limited to 8 families) · $2,300 private intensive · Payment plans available
Disclaimer: Low Tide Lighthouse provides educational guidance rooted in lived experience not therapy, legal advice, or licensed professional services of any kind. Services are delivered remotely and available nationwide. Please consult qualified licensed professionals in your state for legal, mental health, and casework needs specific to your situation.
-
A channel guide navigates vessels safely through waters that are too complex, too narrow, or too unfamiliar to travel alone. That is exactly what this program does. Walks alongside you through the most vulnerable stretch of the foster care journey, from training all the way through your first 90 days with a child in your home.
Becoming a licensed foster parent is more than completing classes and passing a home study. It is emotional preparation. Realistic expectation-setting. Learning how to navigate a system that does not always explain itself clearly. And when that first placement call comes, everything moves fast.
The Channel Guide is there for all of it.
Three phases of support:
Phase 1 — Training & Licensing: Clarifying what ages and needs you can realistically handle, understanding common diagnoses and behaviors, translating agency language, preparing for the home study, and identifying blind spots before approval.
Phase 2 — Pre-Placement: Preparing your home practically and emotionally, establishing routines and support systems before chaos arrives, and steadying your nervous system before the first placement call.
Phase 3 — First 90 Days: Navigating the first night and first week, managing behaviors without panic, preventing the two-week adrenaline crash, communicating effectively with caseworkers, and protecting your capacity from early burnout.
What is included:
16 private sessions used across licensing, waiting period, and first 90 days of placement
Structured email support between sessions with 48-hour response window
Phase-based guidance tailored to where you are in the journey
Investment: $4,200 · Payment plans available · Note: depending on how long approval takes and when your first placement arrives, this program may span 9–12 months. Because of the close nature of this work, I intentionally keep availability limited to ensure every family receives the full attention they deserve.
Disclaimer: Low Tide Lighthouse provides educational guidance rooted in lived experience, not therapy, legal advice, or licensed professional services of any kind. Services are delivered remotely and available nationwide. Please consult qualified licensed professionals in your state for legal, mental health, and casework needs specific to your situation.
-
Low tide is when the water pulls back and you can finally see the ground beneath.
It’s a moment of clarity but also of realization. The kind that feels like standing in the surf as the waves move in and out, quietly shifting the sand beneath your feet.
What once felt steady may not feel the same… but what is revealed is real. And that truth matters.
This program is for the foster or adoptive parent who is exhausted in a way that sleep does not fix. Who wake up one day and do not recognize themselves. Who has been giving everything to everyone else and quietly running out of something they cannot name.
You did not burn out because you were weak. You burned out because you kept saying yes long after your capacity was gone. Low Tide exists to help you find the ground again.
What we work on together:
Burnout recognition and prevention. Understanding what is actually happening in your body and your relationships
Emotional containment tools for the days when everything feels like too much
Capacity and boundary rebuilding, learning to protect what sustains you
Marriage and support system stabilization
Regaining perspective on the journey without losing sight of why you began
What is included:
8 weekly private sessions via Zoom - plus 2 follow ups. One 4 weeks after completion then another 3 months after completion. A total of 10 sessions.
Structured handouts and practical tools
One guest session with a licensed therapist offering trauma-informed insight on nervous system regulation and caregiver burnout.
Offered as private only to maintain full confidentiality
Investment: $2,800 · Payment plans available: 3 payments of $975 or 4 payments of $750
If you are not sure whether you need this program, take the free Caregiver Burnout Assessment on this site. Your results will tell you where you are and whether now is the time.
Disclaimer: The Low Tide Program provides consultative support and educational guidance for caregiver burnout and emotional depletion. It is not therapy, mental health treatment, or clinical counseling of any kind. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, suicidal ideation, or acute psychological distress, please contact a licensed mental health professional or crisis service in your state immediately. This program does not provide crisis intervention services.
-
The lighthouse exists for the final and most critical stretch of the journey. It’s when the water is unfamiliar, the stakes are highest, and one wrong turn costs more than you can afford.
When a foster care case shifts toward adoption, everything changes at once. Emotions rise. Deadlines appear. Paperwork increases. And suddenly you are making permanent decisions that will affect your child's benefits, services, and long-term stability, often without being told what questions to ask before you sign.
When we adopted our last child, we learned that therapy could have been covered for a full year. We had already adopted three children before that and were never told. We also learned how subsidies can be deferred if a child does not qualify at the time of adoption. These details matter. The Lighthouse Session is designed so that families know what to ask before it is too late.
What we cover:
Understanding adoption subsidies and how they are determined
What benefits continue after finalization and which may not
Medicaid and private insurance considerations
Therapy and post-adoption service options
Questions to ask before signing final paperwork
Court preparation and what to expect on finalization day
First 30 days post-finalization support
Deferred subsidy, what to do if your child does not qualify now but may qualify later
What is included:
2 private sessions via Zoom. Plus one follow up session
Targeted handouts and question templates to bring into caseworker and attorney meetings
Clear next-step planning before and after finalization
All adopted families also receive a special gift from me.
Investment: $888
Adoption through foster care comes with permanent decisions and not every family is clearly informed about the services and benefits their child may be entitled to. This session is designed to change that.
Disclaimer: The Lighthouse Session is designed to help families understand adoption subsidies, benefits, and the finalization process from an educational and advocacy perspective. It does not constitute legal advice under the laws of any state. Adoption subsidy eligibility, benefit availability, and legal finalization processes vary significantly by state, county, and individual case. Families are strongly encouraged to consult with a qualified adoption attorney licensed in their state before signing any finalization documents.
Even if you decide not to work with me, I hope this space gives you something more important than a program. A reason to slow down.
Foster care and adoption are not simple decisions. They don’t just change your life, they change the life of a child who has already experienced more than most.
The goal isn’t just to say yes. The goal is to be ready for what that yes actually means. Because this decision doesn’t just affect your family. It becomes part of that child’s story too. Many children entering foster care have experienced multiple forms of trauma, and it’s common for that to show up in more than one way, emotionally, behaviorally, and developmentally. Preparation isn’t about knowing everything. It’s about understanding enough to make an informed, grounded decision.
If you are thinking about foster care or adoption and you want to make sure you understand the decisions ahead, you can schedule here.
Important Disclaimer
Low Tide Lighthouse provides education, advocacy guidance, and lived-experience support for foster and adoptive families. Services offered are consultative in nature and are not therapy, legal advice, medical care, or licensed social work services.
Participation in any program does not establish a therapeutic or attorney-client relationship. Families remain responsible for decisions made regarding their licensing, placements, legal agreements, and services.
Low Tide Lighthouse does not replace the role of your agency, attorney, therapist, or caseworker.
I is an adoptive parent and educator with extensive lived experience and training in the foster care system. She is not acting as a licensed therapist, attorney, social worker, or adoption agency in this role.