I've gotten a few e-mails as of late about confidentiality and limits on the blog. This is a great question.
Until fairly recently, the only people who read our blog were family and very close friends - people who knew our kids anyway. So I wasn't super concerned regarding confidentiality, their names, their pics...etc. With X-man I used a nickname for his safety and for ours - it was just one of those cases.
Because there are a lot of people reading now who would not otherwise know our kids, beginning with our next placement I will be much more careful about keeping their identities more anonymous. I'll continue to use nicknames, and I will also do some sort of pixelization (word? probably not.) of their photos. That way I can still post them, but they are not so recognizable.
Confidentiality is really important, for the respect of the children and families, and sometimes for the safety of the children or foster families (like in X-man's case).
Thanks so much for the questions - via e-mail or comments - and keep 'em coming. I'm so happy to answer any questions that I can, or to offer other resources that I know of.
Also, I wanted to say thank you so much for all of your kind words, comments, and prayers. They really do mean so much. I love reading your comments, and I've been so blessed by your care and concern for our family. I pray that God is glorified.
Thank you.
We are looking at fostering to adopt so it is good to know this sort of information. I am getting caught up on your blog and love it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great question. I was wondering the same thing myself... with my blog. Have an awesome day!
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you at all, Its better to be safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my big questions. There are so many different things that "confidentiality" can mean. The first foster parent training we went to said, "If you take foster kids to a family picnic, you might just say, "Joe & Sara are staying with me." Um, what? Not that I would be broadcasting the specifics reasons they are in foster care but I would kind of expect all of my family to know that I am a foster parent.
ReplyDeleteSuch a struggle to know what that means, and exactly what info should stay within our four-walled family, what can be shared with close friends, family etc. The balance of protecting their rights and not isolating them/us. I hope you talk about this more on your blog and the foster parent forum.