Debbie Ausburn

Debbie Ausburn is a social worker turned lawyer who has served as a criminal prosecutor, foster parent, stepparent and adoptive parent. She has written about her journey with all of its challenges and rewards in "Raising Other People's Children: What Foster Parenting Taught Me About Bringing Together a Blended Family."

In today’s episode Debbie shares her journey as a foster parent and stepparent. Starting when she was a preteen, Debbie helped her parents with their summer camp and church ministries. In the years since, she has served as a juvenile court probation officer/social worker, but she soon burned out. From there, Debbie went to law school and in her legal career she has found her work with children to be indispensable and now her practice centers around serving the institutions that provide therapy, social work services, childcare, camping and residential placements for children. After law school Debbie served as a volunteer foster parent for emergency placements, which meant she only had kids for a short time, and her job was simple: keep them safe and provide whatever warmth, support, and compassion she could. From there, she worked as a federal prosecutor of child abuse and violent crimes, and served as a foster-parent for respite care and long-term placements of abused children and teenagers. Debbie’s story and commitment to advocating for and helping children is a beautiful testament to her journey and heart.

To learn more about Debbie and her work visit her website www.debbieausburn.com www.YouthServicesLaw.com and on Instagram @debbieausburn Twitter @debbieausburn and on Facebook here

Stories of Inspiring Joy is a production of Seek The Joy Media and created by Sydney Weiss. To learn more and submit your story, click here.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Stories of Inspiring Joy.