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February 9, 2001/Shevet 16, 5761, Vol. 53, No.19
Agency seeks foster homes
ALISA BERMAN
Special Sections Editor
David Dietz and Catherine Price are foster care specialists with Devereux Arizona. Dietz is the founder of Devereux Arizona's Treatment Foster Care Program.
Photo courtesy of Devereux Arizona |
According to the Children's Defense Fund 2000, nearly 1,200 children in Phoenix currently live in foster homes. Another 1,555 have been living in shelters for more than 21 days.
The fund notes that last year, 32,631 calls to the Arizona Department of Economic Security child-abuse hotline reported severe abuse.
"Arizona has far too many children in need of a home; children who were faced with no alternative but to run (away) or be driven from abusive, neglectful or irrespon-sible parents," says David Dietz, founder of the Treatment Foster Care Program at Devereux Arizona, a state-funded child welfare and behavioral health agency that finds foster parents for children without families.
Devereux partners with DES Child Protective Services to place children in appropriate foster homes.
According to Dietz, children are not immediately placed in foster homes after leaving abusive situations. The most pressing need is to find immediate shelter, and from there they are sent to state-funded group homes, he says.
"Initially," says Dietz, "this may provide some needed stability. However, it is the hope of every caregiver that each child will eventually be placed with a loving, supportive, legally responsible parent."
Often, says Dietz, the parents in a foster home can provide that environment. And, he adds, foster homes also provide an excellent transition from group homes to a permanent adoptive home or independent living.
"With group homes becoming over-crowded, which translates to less and less supervision per child, the best alternative - next to adoption - is foster care," says Dietz. "The problem is that we need more foster parents."
Foster parenting does not require a two-parent household. A number of foster homes are headed by a single parent. Likewise, there are no age restrictions.
However, even in a one-parent household, that person must be a stay-at-home parent who can take the child to various appointments and provide round-the-clock supervision. A flexible schedule is key. The children are most likely in treatment programs that require a great deal of patience and responsibility on the part of the parent, says Catherine Price, foster care specialist at Devereux.
Since Devereux's children have special needs, the agency trains its foster parents. After receiving training, those parents become foster care professionals.
The foster homes are monitored 24 hours a day, and Devereux's intensive treatment plans assist the child and mark his or her progress.
Due to the restrictions of such a structured lifestyle, many people may be interested in professional foster care for years before they pursue it, says Price. She reports that most Devereux parents have come to them through word of mouth, though occasionally they advertise or undertake recruiting efforts.
"Some parents have had biological kids with behavioral problems so their experience is helpful," notes Price. "I have them come to us saying they know that kids get better, so we can do this."
Transitioning the kids
The primary goal of a foster home is to help children transition from abusive situations into adoption. Foster care also makes children better candidates for adoption by providing a stable, loving home in the interim.
"Foster care is an excellent bridge to prepare children for adoption, reunification with their family, guardianship or emancipation, without the emotional or social backlash that an extended stay in a group home may have," says Price.
According to Price, the average foster child is 12 years old, has at least one sibling and stays with a foster parent between one and two years.
Devereux serves children ages 4-18; Price notes there's an even split between girls and boys and an ethnic mix. The families who participate are also diverse, she says.
"Sometimes we have parents (who) were foster children themselves or their families were foster," says Price. "People want to make the difference in the life of a child."
Devereux considers many aspects of family life before children can be placed. Those include dynamics such as the ages of the biological children and the ages of potential foster children. "For instance," says Price, "I would not put a 14-year-old (foster child) into a home with a 13-year-old (biological child); we never 'replace' the eldest child."
What can you do to help?
Families interested in professional care may contact Devereux Arizona at 602-944-6222. According to Price, there are many children in Arizona who need foster homes. For those who may not be up to the challenge at the professional level but still want to get involved, they can call the Maricopa County DES Kids' Line at 602-255-KIDS. The county offers an orientation program that helps teach about foster parenting. It also matches families with foster children who have fewer needs.
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