Family foster care is designed to provide a supportive family environment for children who have been temporarily or permanently displaced from their biological family. Since the 1950s, foster care has been the preferred method of providing for needy children, replacing institutional types of alternatives such as orphanages. However, the current pool of foster families is shrinking (McKelvey & Stevens, 1994, p. 35), while the number of children in need of foster care is growing. According to records kept by the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), 715,743 children needed out-of-home support during 1995. Information gathered by CWLA (Barbell, 1997, pp. 2-4) suggests that there are a number of reasons for the dramatic increase in the number of children in foster care. Those factors include:

* increases in the number of child abuse and neglect reports,
* increases in the rates of re-entry into foster care,
* increased amount of time that children spend in care,
* decreased support from other systems such as mental health and juvenile justice systems, and

* increasingly complex and changing needs that may be manifested through emotional/ behavioral problems, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS infection, and medically fragile or physical handicaps.

With the growth in the population of foster children, as well as the increased level of expertise required for support, most states work throughout the year to find and train good foster families.

One family that is meeting this need, one child at a time, are the Calhouns. The Calhouns have been foster parents since 1989 and currently reside at HOPE Meadows, part of the HOPE for Children project. HOPE Meadows is located at a former Air Force base. The circle of houses, now filled with foster parents, children, foster grandparents, and counselors, is part of Hope Meadows, an exciting example of the "whole village" approach put into action to support needy children. We recently talked with Debbie Calhoun about her experiences as a foster parent. Debbie and her husband have ten children including two biological children, five adopted children, and three foster children. In 1989, they began foster parenting because they wanted to help kids. Debbie had a friend who was a foster parent, and with her friend's encouragement, the Calhouns investigated the possibilities.

A first step towards foster parenting, in most states, is to participate in a series of classes sponsored by the state Department of Children and Family Services. In the state where the Calhouns reside, the coursework takes about 9 weeks and covers rules and regulations that are pertinent to foster parenting as well as general parenting tips and health issues. The instructors are experienced parents, called "Master Foster Parents," and they try to provide a true-to-life picture of the rewards and difficulties associated with foster parenting. Debbie indicates that while the classes are helpful, the real training comes from being "on the job" when the foster family gets its first child. The classes are part of a total package of information that the state requires before the family can obtain a foster care license. Other requirements include an interview, a satisfactory physical examination, a criminal check, and a homevisit. This screening process may take 6 months or longer, providing everything goes smoothly. In the end, foster families that complete the application process will have a lot of information about appropriate parenting, resources that are available for the children, and a Foster Parent Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, which helps to clarify the role of the foster parent in the life of the foster child. Foster parents are provided with a monthly stipend for each child who is placed in the home. The amount varies, depending on the needs of the child.

It is important to note that foster parents do have choices about the children who may be placed in their home. The foster parents may also opt to work closely with the child's biological family. Some families feel that they work best with infants or young children, while others prefer the teen years. Prospective foster parents are given information about the child's history and may ask questions about the child's background if they have concerns. In the end, it is the prospective foster parent's choice whether or not a child will be placed in the home. By including the foster parents in decision-making, many state agencies are working to keep foster families as active participants in their child's placement team. Also, some states are increasing the number of children in "kinship-care" or are placing the child with a relative caregiver such as the grandparent, aunt, or older sibling (Feldman, 1997, p. 3). While there are advantages to this approach, the Children's Research Institute of California has raised concerns that children may be placed in a relative's home without a thorough assessment, and that the relative caregiver may not be provided with the same support services that are available to nonrelative foster families.

However, Debbie says that despite the lengthy application process and other procedures, placements don't always work. In fact, after her first year as a foster parent, she almost gave up. The two siblings who had been placed in her family simply needed more than Debbie and her husband could provide. The placement team decided to move the children to a residential treatment home that provided more intensive structure and support. The next child that the Calhoun's fostered was a teen who needed a father and a family. This child did well and has since entered college on a scholarship. Seeing the success in their teenage foster son encouraged the Calhouns to take more foster children. Currently, the ages of their children range from 5 weeks to 22 years.

Other areas that concern those interested in foster parenting are the support and services that are available to the family. Debbie and other foster parents around the country concede that getting support through the state agencies can be difficult even though they may be entitled to this type of support. Agencies and social workers may be stretched in many different directions, and they depend on the foster parent to be the child's advocate in actively seeking the services the child may need. It is important that all families are connected to their community, but it is especially important for successful foster parenting. The Calhoun's have lived in the same area for years, and now that they are residing at HOPE Meadows, Debbie feels they are getting all the services they need and getting them quickly. Those services include tutoring for the children, counseling, and the support of involved neighbors. The HOPE Meadows community is much like any other community since it includes parents, children, seniors, and volunteers who plan regular activities and potlucks. Since the members of HOPE Meadows have chosen to live there and understand the goals of the community, they are dedicated to supporting each other and the children.

Family styles vary in foster families, but one quality that is apparent in "Master" foster families is their dedication. Because of the problems that the children may bring to the family, foster parenting is not a 9 to 5 job. Debbie feels that the most important quality is that the family will love and care for the child and be willing to sacrifice to provide the child with what is needed. This type of commitment may not be right for everyone, but people like the Calhouns feel that those daily rewards, seen in the little changes in the child, make the foster parent experience worthwhile.

For more information:

Contact your state Department of Children and Family Services, or your state Ombudsperson

Kinship Care Network
Edgewood Family Center
Telephone: 415-865-3000

HOPE for the Children and HOPE Meadows
Carolyn Costeel
Telephone: 217-893-4673

Robertson, Anne S. (1997, May). Displaced and unaccompanied children: Understanding this international problem. Parent News [Online], 3(5). Available: http://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/npin/pnews/pnew597/pnew597b.html [1997, September 2]. [Editor's note (5-13-01): this url has changed: http://npin.org/pnews/1997/pnew597/pnew597b.html]

Internet Resources for Parents
Foster Parent Home Page
URL: http://npin.org/parlink.html

Sources
Barbell, Kathy. (1997). Foster care today: A briefing paper. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.

Feldman, Cassi. (1997, July/August). Staying with grandma: The old custom of caring for relatives' kids poses new challenges in the '90s. Children's ADVOCATE, pp. 3-4.

McKelvey, Carole A., & Stevens, JoEllen. (1994). Adoption crisis: The truth behind foster care. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.