Finding Foster Families – Part 2

Lindsey Chike and Doreen Goddard, coordinators of the county’s Foster Care system, are busy. They have done 24 placements in the first two months of 2013, already over half of what they did last year.

Eleven of those placements were in traditional foster care homes, like Heather Moore’s, where children are placed with volunteer families because their original homes are unsafe.

“Door County foster care coordinators have done 24 placements in the first two months of 2013, already over half of what they did last year.”

“We’ve enjoyed the kids that we’ve had, being able to share things that they don’t have,” Moore said.

Moore and her husband have volunteered with the foster program for almost five years, after initially caring for family members in the program. They’ve had four long-term foster children, and help with shorter-term respite care too.

While being a foster family is a huge responsibility, Moore said the commitment is worth it. She gets a lot of support from the Door County Department of Human Services, and social workers regularly drop by to check on children and help Moore explain to them what it means to be in the foster system.

Teaching that families come in all varieties – single- or two-parent with biological or adopted children – is an integral part of raising a foster child. Moore has one biological son, Collin, who helps care for and raise his foster brothers and sisters.

“He’s been a trooper through all of this,” Moore said. “I think it’s good for [him] to see what we’re doing. He’s been a huge help.”

Former Door County resident Angelee Smith grew up in one of those mixed families. She entered the foster system at six weeks old, and was adopted by her first foster family when she was four. She grew up as the youngest of seven children, three adopted, one foster and three biological.

“It was completely normal,” Smith said. “I don’t think I ever thought of myself as adopted. When other people would tell me they were adopted I would always find it interesting before I remembered I was adopted, too.”

Smith’s mother was the oldest of three and had always loved children. She signed up as a foster family when she realized the need for volunteers.

That need still exists. There are 16 children in out-of-home care in Door County, meaning they live with a foster family or in a treatment center because they are unsafe in their parental homes and have no suitable relatives who can help.

There have been eight kinship care placements so far in 2013.

Out-of-home care, or traditional foster care, is one of the last resorts for children. If they can, Chike and Goddard keep children with their biological parents or with relatives. If those options aren’t available or unsafe the children enter the out-of-home foster system.

Thought goes into that foster home placement, too. Chike and Goddard try to place children with compatible families, preferably near their original home. Having more families to choose from means getting better placements for volunteers and children.

“We really need to build capacity on a variety of foster homes,” Goddard said.

Even in our community known for its charity, Goddard and Chike said they’re lacking foster homes. They want to have a variety of volunteer families spread throughout the county so they can best meet the needs of children in the system.

Smith and Moore said there isn’t much attention given to the needs of foster children and that people may not recognize that child safety issues occur in Door County.

“I don’t think there’s enough exposure to it in our community,” Smith said. “People don’t think it exists.”

There may also be fear of participating the system, Smith said, because people assume that foster children are mischievous or dangerous.

“There are so many people who think they’re going to walk in with someone who’s really troubled, when most of these kids just want to be embraced,” Smith said.

Moore stressed that being a foster family does take a lot of commitment and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Still, she’s loved her five years in the program and plans to continue volunteering her home.

“I think it’s a really good idea to get involved, as long as you’re willing to make a commitment to a child that needs a lot of love,” Moore said.

 Click here to read Finding Foster Families – Part 1

For more information on the foster care program, contact the Door County Department of Human Services at 920.746.2300.