YOLO COUNTY NEEDS A FEW GOOD
MEN AND WOMEN
By Dave Rosenberg
Yolo County Supervisor, District Four
Yolo County needs a few good men and women. To be foster parents, that is. If you have ever considered the possibility of becoming a foster parent and providing the wholesome family atmosphere to kids who really need it, now is the time to explore whether you qualify. Yolo County is in critical need of more foster parents.
Becoming a foster parent can be a rewarding, humbling, exhilarating, frustrating, enriching experience. Read on for a primer on what it means to be a foster parent, what it takes to be a foster parent, and how you may become a foster parent:
QUESTION: What is a foster parent?
ANSWER: "Foster parents" run a Foster Family Home (FFH). A FFH is any licensed home in which 24-hour care and supervision are provided in a family setting, right in the licensee’s family residence for no more than six children. Care is provided to children who have been removed from their homes because of neglect or abuse, children who are mentally disordered, developmentally disabled or physically handicapped, and children who require special health care needs and supervision as a result of such disabilities.
QUESTION: How do I get licensed?
ANSWER: If interested, contact Bev Ireland, Supervisor of Licensing Programs for the County of Yolo, Department of Social Services, 120 W. Main St., Woodland, CA 95695. Telephone number: (916) 666-8497. You will be provided with information and an Application Booklet containing the forms and instructions needed to file an application for a FFH license. In addition to the application forms, applicants will be contacted by Yolo County staff who will conduct an in-home interview to evaluate an applicant’s ability to care for the varying needs of foster children. Before a license can be issued, the applicant must also attend an orientation. Once licensed, you will receive a handbook, information and support from the County.
QUESTION: What does a foster parent do?
ANSWER: Like any child, a foster child needs love, security and stability. Providing that love, security and stability is the most important role of a foster parent. A foster child may be harder to get close to and to understand than any other children you have known. This is a child who has been deeply hurt by separation from his family. He may feel scared, confused and angry. No matter what they have done to him, it takes a lot to shake a child’s love for his parents. Ultimately, a foster parent must deal with the challenge of helping a child through a period when he must live away from his own home.
QUESTION: Will I receive financial assistance for providing foster care?
ANSWER: Yes. The rates vary depending upon the age of the child and the needs of the child. For example, the monthly AFDC-FC rate for a 9-year-old child is $400. There may also be a clothing allowance provided for the child.
QUESTION: What about medical care?
ANSWER: Most foster children will be eligible for and will receive medical-care coverage through the Medi-Cal Program. The foster child’s case worker will provide you with the child’s Medi-Cal card.
QUESTION: What about schooling?
ANSWER: All foster children of age are expected to attend school or pre-school. Foster parents must make the appropriate arrangements.
QUESTION: Can I be a foster parent?
ANSWER: Perhaps.
Foster parents are special people who are asked to assume responsibility for the direct care of a foster child. This is a difficult and complicated task which involves the foster child, his natural parents, the foster family, and the placement agency.
The primary responsibility you have as a foster parent is to be a parent to the foster child. Your responsibilities will include providing him what he needs to remain well: healthful meals, enough rest, suitable clothing, and medical/dental care through appropriate resources. Foster parents are expected to enroll their foster children in the appropriate school and to take an interest in school work, including conferring with teachers when necessary.
These responsibilities are quite similar to those which you have for your own children.