Experts fear economy hurts area foster care

Sitting on a couch across from her foster parents, whom she calls “Grandma” and “Granddaddy,” 19-year-old Christina Thomas reflected on where she’d be had it not been for them.

The likely answer: a group home, the Charlottesville woman said.
But local officials fear displaced children will find themselves living in group homes or residential care facilities more often now that the recession has deepened some families’ financial and substance-abuse problems.

“We’ve been trying to transition some kids out of residential [care facilities] and it’s been difficult finding homes, particularly locally,” said Phyllis Coleman Savides, a supervisor for the Albemarle County Social Services Department who handles foster care and adoption cases.
Savides said she suspects there could be significantly more foster children needing homes this year.

The department has fielded more child abuse and neglect complaints in recent months and seen more families facing economic crisis, she said, which will “more than likely” cause an increase in “incidents of foster kids coming into care.”
In January, the social services department sought homes for 91 foster children and teenagers, but only 53 were linked with families or housed at a therapeutic foster care center.
Other children are often placed in group homes, dorm-like community detention centers or psychiatric facilities, Savides said. Amy Nash, a recruitment specialist for Tri-Area Foster Families, said those settings could be less than ideal for children.
“Paid staff aren’t there to love you,” Nash said. “They’re there to raise you and care for you, but it’s [different] than what a loving, nurturing parent can do.”
Tri-Area Foster Families works with the Albemarle, Charlot-tesville and Greene County social services departments to recruit, train and assist people interested in becoming foster or adoptive parents.
Thomas, who moved in with Evelena and the Rev. Robert Michie II about six years ago, said she feels like she’s part of the family.
“They’re just like parents,” said Thomas, a student at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Her foster parents, who are 72 and 73 years old and are also her godparents, said they’re lucky to have her as part of the family because she’s easy-going, respectful and a stand-up person.

Local foster care experts say that, in most cases, teenagers are far more difficult to place with families than young children, because sometimes there are behavioral or psychological problems, often stemming from family problems.
“There could be a long history of … sort of a chaotic lifestyle. Homelessness. Unemployment. The kids just don’t have a stable place to live,” Savides said.
However, some people say they’d rather foster teenagers, Nash said, because teens are more independent and can have adult discussions.
Tasha and Steven Hines, of Charlottesville, who are fostering three brothers, ages 3, 4 and 5, said that being foster parents is their way of helping out people in need. Both said that the children are well-behaved, though they needed to be taught discipline and had to be broken of their cursing habits.
“I was shocked, because I didn’t know that 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds could say those words the way they’re supposed to,” Tasha Hines said.
Hines said that the key to being good foster parents is treating the children as family. The Hineses’ 7-year-old daughter, Escince, said that the three boys have quickly become her friends.

“I like when we get to go outside and play together,” Escince said, twirling side-to-side. She’s happier now that the boys live at the house, even though sometimes she could be nicer to them, she said: “Sometimes, I don’t like to share.”
Steven Hines, a 33-year-old cab driver, said that regularly taking the children to church and teaching them Tae Kwon Do are among the ways he and his wife are trying to instill values and discipline. Taking care of the children is also a benefit to their biological parents, he said.
“You’re in the middle of everything just trying to hold things down,” Steven Hines said.

In most cases, biological parents who are unable to care for their children get one year to set their lives back on track before custody is given to adoptive parents, Nash said.
Many are willing to adopt their foster children if their biological parents are deemed unfit to raise them, Nash said. Others agree to foster children only temporarily.
Before applicants, who must be at least 21 years old, are approved to be foster parents, they have to undergo criminal background checks. Several visits are also made to applicants’ homes to ensure that children will have positive living environments.

Under Virginia law, being a foster parent carries a stipend of at least $628 per month for teenagers, $495 per month for children ages 5 to 12 and $423 per month for children 4 years old and younger. Clothing vouchers are also included.
For more information, call Nash at 970-3329.