Overview
Stories are powerful. When shared with care, they can honor a family’s journey, inspire others to act, and highlight God’s faithfulness. While some families find strength and healing in telling their story, others may prefer to keep their experiences private. Both choices are equally valid and should be respected.
This article explains some standard guidelines and best practices that will help churches protect the dignity and safety of the families and kids they serve while also stewarding these powerful stories well. The official procedure is included for when stories are shared publicly.
Included in this Article
- The Ask: Prioritizing Trust, Dignity, and Safety
- Telling Stories Without Showing the Family
- Telling Stories on Behalf of Another
- Collecting Family Photos and Video
The Ask: Prioritizing Trust, Dignity, and Safety
At CarePortal, our goal is to create safe, dignified opportunities for families who choose to share, while safeguarding their privacy, agency, and ownership. Every invitation to share a story should reflect a posture of humility rather than expectation.
1. Make First Visits Count
Bringing cameras and inviting someone to share their story before a relationship has been established can appear premature or inauthentic, reinforcing perceived power dynamics even when families seem to be friendly and open. It can be very difficult to recognize when displayed openness is actually a fear-based trauma response, feeling the need to win others over to remain safe and in control.
2. Empower, Don’t Extract
Frame storytelling as an opportunity for the family to speak for themselves rather than as a favor. Their story is a gift, not a transaction. A family choosing not to share will always be respected. Don’t push.
3. Include Requesting Agencies
For safety considerations on whether or not it is appropriate to invite the family to share their story, be sure to include the requesting agency that entered the request on behalf of the family.
An example of a gentle, open-ended invitation:
“Sometimes families choose to share their experience in their own words to encourage others or reflect on the journey they’ve been on. If you ever want to do that, we’d love to make space for your voice, but only if and when you feel comfortable.”
Telling Stories Without Showing the Family
When families are not pictured or named, powerful storytelling is still possible through symbolic and intentional visuals. This can be impactful when executed with creativity and excellence. Remember, success should not be measured by metrics of how often families are willing to share their story.
1. Make it Your Preference
When someone is in a vulnerable circumstance, sharing their story in a way that identifies who they are and/or where they live carries enormous risk, even if they do not recognize it themselves. Learning to tell stories powerfully without showing the family can give you the confidence to make this your default approach.
2. Use Representative Imagery
Show moments of preparation, prayer, or transportation, such as loading beds into a truck or purchasing essential supplies at the store by the team. Post a photo of the items given and share about the impact those items made.
3. Tell from Your Perspective
Record interviews of team members, sharing how they were impacted and what they learned. Guide them to reflect on what God did through the connections with their team, the agency worker, and the family.
Telling Stories on Behalf of Another
We tell stories to connect, not to impress. Every story shared on behalf of another should hold to a standard of keeping their trust sacred, honoring their dignity, and reflecting their strength.
1. Keep the Details Authentic
Stories should not be embellished. With a sacred trust, they should represent the truth as would be told by the family themselves.
2. Imagine Their Presence
Being the storyteller of a family’s story is a high honor. When speaking about a family, communicate as if they are in the room. Tell their story in a way that reflects humility, hope, and dignity, never taking credit for the transformation.
3. Focus on the Future
Wherever a family is in the process of overcoming hardship, stories told about them should highlight the hope there is for their future and the work they are doing to achieve it.
Collecting Family Photos and Video
1. Consent Is Always Needed
A signed copy of the CarePortal Media Release Form is required for every individual appearing in photos and video content, and for real names to be used. In the case of minors, a parent or guardian must sign on their behalf.
Note: Foster care and kinship providers do not have legal parental rights to provide consent for kids in their care. They may only give consent for themselves to be included.
2. Affirm Their Autonomy
Emphasize that sharing is entirely optional, with no expectations, and that consent can be withdrawn at any time. Clearly communicate how and where the story may be shared. Be ready to honor their requests without hesitation in recognition that trauma can affect an individual’s decision-making capacity.
3. Let Them Guide the Moment
Give the family freedom to choose how they appear in what they wear, where they’re filmed, and what they say. Avoid staging emotional moments or asking for retakes that feel performative.
4. Avoid Exploitation
Highlight moments and illustrations of strength, joy, connection, hope, and transformation over those emphasizing pain, vulnerability, or poverty. Honor the complexity of their story by not oversimplifying or pointing to quick solutions.
Every story is a sacred trust. When we create space for families to share in their own way, or choose not to share at all, we honor their dignity and protect their hope for the future. The way we tell stories should always reflect humility, safety, and God’s heart for restoration.
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