May is National Foster Care Month! To celebrate, Choices is highlighting its foster care programs in Indiana and Louisiana.
Today, we kick off a 3-part weekly blog series that will cover:
- Support for Choices foster youth and families during COVID-19
- Foster parent recruitment efforts in Shreveport, Louisiana
- What to look for when choosing a foster care agency
Keep scrolling to read the first post!
Foster youth and families are experiencing the same disruptions we all are right now – unexpected homeschooling, work challenges or layoffs, health concerns – on top of already challenging circumstances.
Choices Foster Care Solutions is making every effort to support youth and foster families going through this difficult time.
Virtual training
Foster parents are required to take certain training classes each year. Since they are spending more time at home than usual, many Choices foster parents are using these circumstances to complete training credits online.
“We’ve had the most people sign up for trainings than we ever had,” says Reba James, Program Director, Choices Foster Care Solutions. “It’s a good opportunity for people when they’re not running back and forth or doing a lot of activities, to focus on getting things like that done.”
Reba adds that a few families are more interested in going through the licensing process because they now have more time to complete paperwork.
Court system support
One of our foster families finished the adoption process after stay-at-home orders started. There were concerns that the youth would age out of foster care before being adopted because of the pandemic.
The foster youth, foster family, Choices staff, and the court system diligently worked together through the process. Fortunately, we were able to finalize the adoption in a virtual court hearing just one week before the youth turned 18.
Birth family visits
Maintaining relationships between foster youth and their birth families is an important aspect to helping them reunify and remain bonded. While some families have arranged to stay connected with each other virtually, face-to-face time is still common between foster youth and their birth parents. Choices promotes continuing face-to-face contact between children and their birth parents when it can be done safely.
While following direction from our child welfare partners and the courts, Choices foster care staff checks in with each person, including foster parents, to help them prepare for the visits. We help everyone understand protective measures so that they are as safe as possible.
Boosting morale
The Choices Foster Care Solutions team in Louisiana went the extra mile to support prospective and newly certified foster families. Staff put together care packages with hand sanitizer, toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies and delivered them to foster families’ homes.
Resources
Each foster family is unique and has a special set of challenges. Homeschooling can be particularly challenging for foster youth who have high needs.
For example, youth with severe autism might have gone to an Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) clinic during the day for therapeutic services. Now that most families are sheltering in place, many high-needs youth are now being homeschooled. This makes it even tougher for foster parents who are also working from home.
Choices’ foster care coordinators are working closely with our families to get them access to additional support. We are also prepared to assist foster parents experiencing financial setbacks because of COVID-19 and connect them with resources to help.
If you would like to help Choices support foster families – and other individuals or families that we serve – donate to the Choices Fund for Families.
About Choices Foster Care Solutions
For more information about Choices Foster Care Solutions, visit www.choicesccs.org/indiana-foster-care
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