Dr. Kimberly Offutt draws on decades in child welfare to help families approach foster care with faith, compassion, preparation, and purpose.
New York City, NY
Dr. Kimberly Offutt brings more than two decades of child welfare experience to Say Yes: Embracing the Unexpected Journey of Foster Care, an encouraging guide for people considering foster parenting, families already navigating the experience, and communities supporting vulnerable children.
Drawing on her work as a social worker, foster parent, adoptive parent, trainer, and advocate, Offutt addresses foster care with both practical insight and a faith-centered perspective.
Rather than presenting an idealized picture, she acknowledges its uncertainties while showing how preparation, compassion, and a willingness to serve can make a meaningful difference.
Throughout Say Yes: Embracing the Unexpected Journey of Foster Care, Offutt explores realities that prospective foster parents may find intimidating, including licensing and assessment, trauma, relationships with biological families, and the effect fostering can have on an entire household.
She also examines healing-centered parenting, cultural humility, diversity, and belonging.
Her approach recognizes that caring for children affected by difficult circumstances requires more than good intentions.
It calls for patience, adaptability, informed support, and an understanding that every child arrives with experiences and relationships deserving of thoughtful consideration.
Offutt’s message grows from years spent encountering foster care from multiple perspectives.
Her professional experience in child welfare is complemented by the personal knowledge she gained as a foster and adoptive parent, allowing her to address both systems and family life.
Faith is central to the book’s purpose, particularly the idea that people do not need to possess every answer before taking a meaningful step forward.
Instead of emphasizing perfection, Offutt encourages readers to consider what can happen when ordinary families respond to an unexpected opportunity with grace, commitment, and openness.
The book also recognizes that fostering affects relationships beyond the connection between a caregiver and child.
Offutt discusses protecting marriages, supporting children already in the household, maintaining a healthy family culture, and navigating challenging emotions and uncertainty.
Say Yes: Embracing the Unexpected Journey of Foster Care is relevant not only to prospective and current foster parents but also to churches, ministries, community members, and others seeking to better support children and families.
Its central message is that informed compassion can help transform uncertainty into purposeful action while keeping children’s needs at the forefront.
With experience spanning social work, parenting, training, and advocacy, Dr. Kimberly Offutt offers readers a perspective shaped by sustained involvement in child welfare.
Her professional and personal roles allow her to speak to the complexity of foster care without overlooking its deeply human dimensions.
Through Say Yes: Embracing the Unexpected Journey of Foster Care, she encourages readers to replace the expectation of perfect preparedness with a commitment to learning, showing up, extending grace, and moving forward with compassion.
The book is available at:
https://a.co/d/02UHbRgS
For review copies, interview requests, or additional information, please contact:
Media Contact Details
Dr. Kimberly Offutt
BrightKey PR
Email: Send Email
Phone: 6466400262
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