We get a LOT of questions as houseparents. It’s a job that many people know very little about. Heck, when I jumped on board with the idea of becoming a houseparent, I didn’t know all that much. So here are some of the questions we get the most. If you still have something you’re wondering about, feel free to ask! (This page will continue to grow!)

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So, like, what even is your job?

Starting with a big one, but it’s legitimate. What does a houseparent DO, exactly?

We take care of the day-to-day basic needs of kids in our care (usually 6-8 in care, plus our three biological kids). We differ from foster parents in a few ways, but not many. As houseparents, we live on the Children’s Home campus full time and our rent/utilities are part of our pay, so it’s nice not to worry about that. We cook, clean, take kids to church, help them with school, drive to appointments, make calls on hanging out with friends and screen time. We dole out chores and bedtimes and consequences when needed. We also hang out with the kids, join them in activities, and generally love on them. We work with their counselors to make sure they are receiving the therapeutic care they need to help deal with their past trauma.

We are also education and medical consenters, which means we can make certain decisions for the kids, when an adult is needed. But we aren’t their legal guardians, the State of Texas is.

You mentioned trauma. What kind of trauma have your kids dealt with?

A big question. Some of our kids are pretty lucky and don’t really know why they’re with us because they were shielded from whatever issue prompted their removal. Some kids have seen it all. Anywhere from utter poverty (parents couldn’t keep electricity/water on, where neglect was an issue of parent’s capabilities), to drugs (witnessing it, to using it), extreme neglect, physical abuse, homelessness, all the way to trafficking victims.

Yes, child trafficking victims. It happens here. It happens everywhere.

What can I do to help you?

I appreciate the spirit behind this question, but it’s a difficult one to answer. Especially when put on the spot. And so, I’ve put together this nice little page to help answer it.

Do you think you’ll adopt any of your kids?

This is something that we are open to. However, as long as we continue to be houseparents at our current children’s home, we cannot adopt. If we ever decide to go to a new place or change roles in our current place, we would definitely consider adopting. Unlike most people seem to think, though, most of our kids are not available for adoption. Most of them we couldn’t take with us even if we really wanted to.

How do you go grocery shopping for so many people?

We don’t get our primary groceries from the store, though we do like to run out and grab a few fun things or last-minute things from the store occasionally. We fill out an order form and the superheroes at our on-campus commissary do all the shopping for us. They pick up all the food and supplies we need for all of the cottages on campus and sort it into bins. We pick up the bins and put it all away in our fridges and pantry. We do this every week. We return the bins and start it all over again.