Foster Parenting

Her Magazine
By Maureen O’Halloran Clark
July/August 2005

Felicia was taking finals when she and her husband were asked to be foster parents for a 2-day-old baby with drug exposure. Their other foster baby arrived a month later. They already had three grown biological sons and almost-teen adopted twins. People asked her if she had lost her mind. She answered them, “No, I found my heart.” Those babies are now 2½ years old and Felicia and her husband hope to adopt them.

Linda Hruska is placement and permanency services supervisor for the foster care unit of the Nebraska Health and Human Services System. She stated that as of May 1, 2005 there were 1,555 children in some type of out-of-home care in Douglas and Sarpy Counties. They were in emergency shelter care, care with relatives, care in agency foster homes or care in traditional foster homes. On May 27, there were 84 children in emergency care waiting either to be reunited with their families or to be placed in another type of foster care. Hruska stressed that foster parents are part of a team working for family reunification when that is in the child’s best interest.

Adults with a variety of home situations serve as foster parents. They can be single or married, have their own children or no children, can work outside of the home or be stay-at-home parents. If both parents or a single parent work outside the home, day-care costs can be subsidized by the state.

There are different types of foster care: respite, emergency, long-term, and foster-adopt. There are also three levels of care: traditional, agency based, and treatment. The level of care needed is determined by a check list which accounts for age, medical needs, and any undesirable behaviors.

Traditional foster care involves younger children with no medical problems and no major behavior problems. These foster parents work directly under the Nebraska Health and Human Services System.
Agency-based foster care usually involves older children and children with medical problems or behavior problems.
Treatment foster care usually involves older children with more severe medical or behavior problems or mental health problems.

All foster parents are licensed through the Nebraska Health and Human Services System. There are 12 agencies that contract with Nebraska HHS to provide agency based and or treatment foster care. These agencies give additional training and support to their foster parents.

One of those agencies is the Child Saving Institute. Shana Romero, supervisor for placement services of CSI, said that there is a great need for families who can provide homes for teenagers, especially teenage boys.

Celest is a foster parent who has compassion for teenagers in difficult situations. She herself became pregnant as a teenager and had two children out of wedlock, then gave a third child up for adoption. She said that she became a Christian, got married and now tries to help teens. She and her husband had two children and then took four children of a relative into their home. Later, they cared for other foster children. Currently, they have a total of six teenagers in their home.

Celest had advice for foster parents. “Always make a scrapbook for that child … it is memories that they are building because they come with nothing but the clothes on their backs.”

Others give foster care for younger children. Lillian Johnson, a divorced mother of five grown children, has been a foster parent for two years. She takes only girls up to 10 years old for long term care. Currently, three foster daughters are living with her and she has had six other foster daughters.

Johnson explained, “All my time is spent right here with them. I care for them. I take them to school. I iron their clothes. I wash their clothes. We’ll be out there cooking, pancakes and cupcakes, morning and afternoon. We play games. It is just fun here. When they go back, oh, I just cry.” Leila Rehbein and her husband of 30 years have been foster parents to about 60 foster children over the past 22 years. They have five biological children, two adopted children, and two foster children. Lately, Leila, an LPN, has been doing emergency care for special-needs babies, especially those with drug exposure.

She offers this advice, “What we have found in foster care is that it’s best to keep the ages of children under the age of your children. The reason for that is your children are able to feel like they are helping. It’s not like they are being displaced.”

Christine, a foster parent for almost three years, has had about 25 children placed in her home. Christine has done both traditional care with the state and agency-based care with the Child Saving Institute. She says the children placed in traditional care have fewer problems, but the benefit of working with CSI is that it has given her “awesome support and awesome training.” The CSI case worker comes to her home weekly, helps get the resources the children need, and is always available.

Several foster parents said that the pay they receive for foster care merely reimburses their additional costs. Like Felicia, they do it because their heart is in it.

To inquire about foster care for the State of Nebraska, call 1-800-7Parent. For information about qualifications and licensing check www.hhs.state.ne.us/chs/foc/focindex.htm. To inquire with the Child Saving Institute, call 402-553-6000 or view www.childsaving.org.

Article text © copyright 2005 Maureen O'Halloran Clark. All rights reserved.