This is the second in a series of articles written by Fran Chastain in recognition of National Foster Care Awareness Month. Fran and her husband Ricky have been fostering children in Habersham County, GA for 13 years. They are the proud parents of thirteen children.
Foster homes are needed for Habersham children. This is true for many Georgia counties. There is no definable reason why the number of available beds has continued to drop over the last ten years. There certainly is no good reason for the drop. Communities must pull together to recruit and retain foster homes on an on-going basis. Why is it important to place Habersham children in Habersham homes? The list is long but number one for the children is that statistics show that children placed outside their home county are less likely to be reunited with their biological parents than those placed in foster care in their home county.
A typical day in the foster care process
A five year old child is placed in foster care because of parental neglect and endangerment. There are no beds in Habersham County available to take in this child so she is placed in Macon, Georiga, the closest bed available and a 3 1/2 hour drive from the Habersham County DFCS Office. A child this age will typically have a visit with their parent(s) once per week preferably at the convenience of all involved.
Well now, who all is involved? The child’s mother who, let’s say, lives in Hollywood and she works nights. The child’s father who we will say lives in Alto and he works days. The DFCS worker that typically works dayshift. The foster parents of the child that, we must remember, live in Forsyth County and both work outside the home. The child who has now been placed in a kindergarten class in a Forsyth County school.
So now, let’s figure out when the visit with mom can take place where she can still get her sleep and make it to her job at night; and we must schedule it so dad can get off work in time to visit but not run in to mom because they cannot get along and it is too stressful for the child to add their fighting to the visit experience. So we come up with that time which turns out to be 4 p.m. on a Thursday and now we have to work on making sure the caseworker is available because they will have to travel to Forsyth County in time to pick the child up from school causing the child to miss important learning material and get the child back to Habersham County for the visit and then take the child back to the foster parents’ home while getting supper on the way and still leaving time for a bath and homework. Now it is long past dark and the caseworker is just now heading back to Habersham County where his or her own children are patiently waiting.
I don’t know about you but I am already tired just writing about this one possible but very common scenario.
Let’s look at the many problems this scenario creates.
Problems of out of home county foster care
The first problem is that a caseworker may have 10 to 25 cases just like this one and visits are only a small part of what they will be in charge of for each child, not to mention the paperwork completion required on a daily basis.
Next is the huge cost of travel and overtime associated with the caseworker’s daily tasks to make such visits happen. This cost is all taxpayer money….your money, my money!
More importantly, let’s look at what this all does to the child. They have been removed from the only family they know – good or bad. They have been removed from their school and friends. They are missing school to make visits. Visits are not very long and probably will not be every week due to the distance of travel. If the visit is earlier, the dad will have to miss work and, if later, the mother may miss work or the visit. Are the visits important to the parent(s)? Yes, but if the child is to go home there has to be proof of income to sustain the home and care of the child.
This scenario also increases the overtime worked by the caseworker.
Now, add to this scenario that this five year old child has two siblings who are also placed in foster care but due to the lack of available bed space in Habersham County and other counties close by, each of them was placed in a different county an hour or more away. Now visualize that maze to work out a visit for the children and parents.
How can the rebuilding of the family unit occur? How do the parents and child(ren) not get discouraged? What does all this do to the child’s educational learning progress? What does all of this do to the child’s disposition?
How do we best serve these children as a community and avoid these problems?
The answer is to keep foster children in the county where they live
WOW! Complicated is not even a strong enough word to explain how having Habersham Homes for Habersham Children is so very important. It matters to everyone…..the child, the siblings, the parents, the caseworker, the taxpayer! YOU!
How do we solve the problem? We, as a community, must find and develop stable, loving foster homes for children and families in need. We, as a community, must find ways to be part of the solution to helping children and families through the tough times our society is facing. We, as a community, must find the time to get involved, NOW!
Before concluding, I must stress the important role of DFCS. Unfortunately, the Department of Family and Children Services many times catches the blunt of harsh criticism and blame when a child is placed in foster care or something goes wrong while the child is in foster care. They are a state agency and just like any other business or institution they will always have room for improvement. BUT the team I have worked with over the last few years does strive to continuously improve and they work harder for less pay than any group of people I know in our community. They are not in it for personal gain and certainly not for easy work or minimal working hours. They are in it to improve the lives of children and families in our community.
We should all be in it for the same reason. These children need us. Their well-being and futures depend on growing up in a community with families that care. Won’t you please help? Become a foster parent today. The need is great. The need is NOW!
To learn more about foster parenting, please call 1-877-210-KIDS or 770-331-1024 or email [email protected].
