The Channel Guide

This program did not start on a whiteboard.

It started in conversations. With families who had done everything right, completed their training, passed their home study, said yes to a placement, and then found themselves completely alone inside one of the hardest experiences of their lives.

After working alongside foster and adoptive families and seeing firsthand what the system consistently leaves out, it became clear that what these families needed was not more information. It was someone in their corner for the long haul. Someone who had been on every side of this world and could walk with them through all of it, not just the beginning.

The Channel Guide was built for that family.

WHO THIS IS FOR

This program is not for everyone. And that is intentional.

The Channel Guide was designed specifically for families who are navigating foster care or adoption without a strong support system wrapped around them. Families going through the state system with limited agency support. Families whose caseworker has a full caseload and cannot always answer the phone. Families who are figuring it out largely on their own because nobody handed them a roadmap.

If you have a dedicated agency walking alongside you every step of the way, that is a gift. This program was built for the families who do not.

If you have ever thought I wish I had someone who actually understood this to talk to, this was built for you.

WHAT THE CHANNEL GUIDE COVERS

This is a full year of private support structured around where you actually are in the journey. Not where the system thinks you should be. Where you are.

PHASE 1 — THE FIRST 90 DAYS

The first night. The first week. The moment the adrenaline wears off and real life begins.

We cover what nobody tells you about those first days, managing behaviors without panic, surviving the two week crash when the initial energy fades, communicating effectively with caseworkers who may or may not communicate back, and protecting your capacity before early burnout takes hold.

Because most families do not leave foster care after years. They leave in the first 90 days. This phase exists to make sure you are not one of them.

PHASE 2 — SETTLING IN (MONTHS 4 THROUGH 8)

The chaos has quieted a little. Now the real work begins.

This phase covers stabilization, building routines that actually hold, understanding this specific child more deeply now that you know them, protecting your marriage and your relationships, managing the emotional toll on your other children, and learning to regulate your own nervous system so you can help regulate theirs.

This is also where we talk about what this placement is doing to you. Not just to the child.

PHASE 3 — THE LONG GAME (MONTHS 9 THROUGH 12)

This is the phase most programs never touch. And it is the one that changes everything.

We cover reunification, what it actually feels like to prepare a child to go home, and how to hold your own grief while celebrating what is right for them. We talk about gains and losses because even in the best outcomes there is loss. You may gain a child but that child lost a family. You may celebrate an adoption but that child is also grieving something real. Both things are true at the same time and nobody prepares you for that.

We cover placement disruptions. What happens when a placement does not work. What it does to the child. What it does to you. And how to move through it without carrying it as failure.

We talk about what comes next. Whether that is another placement, adoption, stepping back, or something else entirely. You will not leave this year without a clear sense of where you are going and why.

WHAT IS INCLUDED

16 private sessions with Mare, used across all three phases at a pace that fits your journey

Structured support between sessions with a 24 hour response window

Phase based guidance tailored to exactly where you are, not a one size fits all curriculum

Real conversation rooted in lived experience, professional knowledge, and genuine understanding of what this world actually looks like from the inside

Access to all program materials, handouts, and resources built specifically for Channel Guide families

THIS IS NOT THERAPY

The Channel Guide is not therapy, legal advice, or licensed clinical services of any kind. It is experienced guidance, honest conversation, and consistent support from someone who has lived this from every angle. For mental health support, please work with a licensed professional in your state. We can help you find one.

COMING SOON — GET ON THE LIST

The Channel Guide is coming soon.

If you are already in a placement and feel like you are navigating it alone, or if you know this is where you are headed and you want someone in your corner from day one, we want to hear from you.

Reach out directly at heather@lowtidelighthouse.com and tell us a little about where you are in your journey. Families who express interest will be the first to know when enrollment opens and will have the first opportunity to work with Mare directly.

You should not have to figure this out alone. That is exactly why this exists.