Kids in Care: West Virginia Needs More Foster Parents

Written by FrameWorks Program Director, Rachel Kinder

Originally posted in Charleston Gazette. To view that article, click here.

Why don’t we have more foster parents in West Virginia when we have so many kids in foster care?  It’s a valid question; It’s a recognized need so why is no one making an effort to address it?  Unfortunately the answer is more complex that simply finding and certifying the families who are ready to foster. 

My agency, Mission West Virginia, has over 20 years of experience in recruiting families to foster or to adopt from the foster care system.  The simplified version of our role is that we recruit families, act as a neutral source of information and referral, and work with all 11 private foster care agencies to ensure that the families are certified in a timely and streamlined manner.  Essentially, we are the first step in the process for a family considering fostering and we speak to 1200 to 1500 families every year.  Our experience in this field has taught us which recruitment techniques work, which ones don’t and the many ways we help families move from considering fostering to ready to begin the process. 

Twenty years ago, recruitment often meant a table at a county fair and a paper sign-up sheet. Recruitment today can be anything from digitally targeting individuals who recently attended a high school graduation (because empty nesters are great candidates!) to social media ads to QR codes that directly link you to an inquiry form.  What we have determined in the course of our work is that recruitment must be multi-faceted, varied across a variety of mediums and must allow prospective foster parents to reach us in a variety of ways. 

The reality is that fostering parenting is one of the biggest asks with which to approach the public.   In an easy world, there would be thousands of families who desire to foster, just waiting to be informed of the need or how to get started.  However, in our work, motivating potential families is often our first step. 

Families come to fostering for a variety of reasons: desire to add to their family, feeling compelled to meet a community need, infertility, personal experience with the foster care system and religious beliefs all drive motivation to foster.  For families who already know they want to foster, the next step is simply to point them toward the necessary information.

For individuals or families who have never considered (about two-thirds of the country, according to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption) it is our job to generate this motivation, or at least to plant the seed.  We reach these families through a variety of mediums, from social media advertising to in-person presentations.  One family might be motivated by a heartfelt story shared at their church while another responds to hard data about the number of foster children in their community. 

The next step is providing the information in a way that is easy to access and understand.  Meeting people where they are today means digital guides, email, QR codes, Facebook and other mediums that allow people to access information instantly and communicate easily with us.  In addition to sharing the basic process and qualifications to foster, we answer all more personal and subjective questions:  how will fostering affect my biological children?  What does my home need to look like?  Will I have contact with the child’s biological family? 

Once all information is shared, we have to help the family determine if certification and subsequent fostering is practical and achievable for their family.  The foster parent certification process can be intimidating and may feel insurmountable.  In our processes we confirm that families can meet qualifications and reassure them that there are opportunities and means for the family to complete the certification process and care for foster children.   A (simplified) example might be working with an individual to determine that: yes, you can foster as a single parent, there are flexibilities in the certification process that can work around your schedule and child care is provided during work hours for the children that you foster.  Every family has different circumstances that require answers beyond what can be provided in a general guide. 

Finally, and this may be the most important part, we help balance expectations and outcomes.  It would be rare for someone to sign themselves up for something that they feel will be a negative experience or will have a poor outcome.  A family that goes into fostering thinking they’ll immediately adopt an infant or see storybook happy endings is ill-prepared and possibly a poor fit for fostering, without adjusting their expectations.  Someone who has unrealistic expectations for the children in their home or who cannot be flexible in working with the system, may be a poor fit as well. 

A family that is a good fit involves someone who can find meaningful purpose in being part of a reunification, being a positive influence in a child’s life for a day or a year, may be willing to adopt if that becomes the child’s permanency goal and understands that fostering is about the child’s needs versus their own. 

Walking families through this process can take days, months or in a few cases, years.  Some families are ready from the day they make the call, some families may take their time.  We may speak to a family once or twenty times before they begin the certification process with an agency.  Along the way, some families will choose not to pursue fostering.  They will learn they don’t qualify, decide it’s just not for them or will have a change of life circumstances.  For those that arrive at the decision to foster, the next step is to connect them with a foster care agency as quickly and expeditiously as possible. 

Next month I will address all steps in the certification process.  In the meantime, for information on foster care or adoption, visit www.missionwv.org/request-information, email fosteradopt@missionwv.org or call 866-225-5698 (CALL-MWV).