May is National Foster Care Month and is a time to raise awareness for the children in foster care and for the people who make up the child welfare system in the state.
According to the Alabama Department of Human Resources (ADHR), there are approximately 6,000 children in foster care in Alabama. Kids who are placed in foster care come from all economic groups, backgrounds and experiences. They are assigned a social worker who will work to match the child with a foster family that will provide temporary housing and care for them until they can be reunited with their biological families.
Being a foster parent is not an easy task. Most of the time foster families are caring for the child during an extremely stressful time in their life. Mancuso said that the role of a foster parent is to do what is best for the child. Sometimes that means working alongside the birth families and have them be involved in the child’s life.
“Foster parenting is dual role. They are tasked with something very difficult. They're tasked with being parents to children who are not their children. We like them to partner with the agency and to partner with the birth family,” said Amanda Mancuso, director of family and child services at the ADHR.
To ensure that the needs of the child and the needs of the child’s biological family are met, the ADHR holds Individual Services Plan (ISP) meetings with the child, the family, the foster family, the social worker and anyone who is stakeholder in the child’s life to implement a plan that is best for the kid. The ISP meetings are also a way to plan out how the family can see the child during the separation.
To help combat the challenges that may arise with caring for a foster child, the ADHR provides foster families with Trauma Informed Parenting Classes, or “TIPS.” This is to ensure that the family is well equipped to care for them during a stressful time in the child’s life.
“A lot of times, kids, emotions come out [in] their behaviors. We want to help people understand that as well, and give them some tools to manage those behaviors in their home so that things don't get to where they might couldn't handle them. We want them to be able to handle them on the front end and be really educated about that,” said Mancuso.
Additionally, kids who are in the foster care system go through the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment Program (EPSTD) where they receive yearly medical screenings to ensure that their medical and emotional needs are met.
Individuals or families who are interested in becoming foster parents are subject to the foster care approval process. This includes a 30 hour preparation course, background checks, home visits and more.
“I think one of the biggest things that people can do is really think about opening their heart and opening their home to these kids and seeing if they could provide that stability and nurturing and also partner with their birth families towards reunification,” said Mancuso.
For more information on National Foster Care Awareness Month, click here. To read more on foster care in Alabama, or for more information on becoming a foster parent, visit the ADHR website or click here.
