Fostering is an amazing way to help change a child’s life. Fostering means caring for children in a safe and secure environment. It is about families who open up their homes and their hearts to a child in need.
It is the job of the Los Angeles County, Department of Children and Families Services (DCFS) to protect children. DCFS removes children from their own families, most typically, due to abuse and neglect. Currently, in Los Angeles County, there are 7,219 children placed in foster homes. The need for loving and caring foster parents is essential.
Foster placements can last for days, months or sometimes years. The ultimate goal of foster care is the reunification of children with their original families. Foster parents must have great inner strength and the skills to give their time, patience, and support to these children who are in “crisis”.
Many children are able to return home to their families, but others may need to find a permanent home through adoption. Adopting a child through the foster care system has unique aspects that require adoptive applicants with special characteristics. These people, often referred to as “fost-adopt parents”, are able to do whatever it takes to provide the nurturing, secure and stable environment all children desire to develop their full potential. Commitment to the relationship is essential, even when the child does not conform to the parents’ fantasy.
Parenting foster children, whether temporarily or long-term, is not always an easy ride. Some of the children and young people needing foster care have experienced extensive abuse and many will require extra support. In addition, they have had the difficult task of adjusting to new families, neighborhoods and schools while in foster care. Sometimes they have had to leave the place they called home at a moment’s notice. These experiences would be challenging enough for an adult; imagine how they feel to a child.
Research shows that having a stable, loving, and caring home environment can help repair the damage of child abuse and neglect. Foster parents can truly make a difference. Our future lies in the hands of today’s children. Consider foster care and foster care adoption.
For further information about becoming a foster or fost/adopt parent, please contact Robin Monroe, M.A., Certification Coordinator of Inner Circle Foster Care & Adoption Services at 818-988-6300, ext 212 or email robinm@fosterfamily.org .