Would foster parents allow mentors access to their homes?

Question

Or does anyone know of a mentoring program within the foster care program?

Answer 1

Back before 1997 and passage of the ASFA (Adoption and Safe Families Act) the Foster Care program was handled very differently then it is today. While **SOME** of the changes proved to be great--some have created a different kind of issue.

Before I say anything else let me make it clear that I do believe Foster Families should have the right to adopt children that have been in their care--I believe it is much better to spare a child the loss of yet another broken bond... I also support Foster Parents in the willingness to love and care for a child--they may long to adopt--and live the agony of Not knowing for several years if they are loving a child they will eventually adopt... That has to be very emotionally difficult.

The Repercussions of ASFA however have had what ***I Personally Believe*** a negative impact in one important way.

Prior to 1997 many states had laws that Exculded a foster parent from even being considered as an adoptive resource. This was the law because in these states the GOAL was for foster families to WORK toward Reunification... It was believed that adding the Right to Adopt a foster child would create a conflict of interest....

As wrong as it was to OUTLAW foster parents the right to adopt a foster child--so, to has mandating that the foster parents have the right to adopt... Today, rather than enter the foster care program FOR the purpose of providing temporairy care for children--People are becoming foster parents for the SOLE purpose of having a New Born Foster child placed---with the hope that they may be able to adopt a child placed as a tiny infant...

On one hand this sound so much better for the baby--getting placed right into a stable home with the goal that this child will not suffer too many broken attachments....  We all agree that is MUCH better then a 2 year old being removed from one foster home--into an Adoptive family....

The problem is that before it was determined that the Foster Family would become the first adoptive choice families didn't provide foster care with Adoption as the Main goal...

Today many Foster Families recieve training, background checks and all of the red-tape to be a resource for foster children....All of this tax dollar funded.... Many refuse placements of children WHO NEED Foster care and Wait for a newborn who had 5 siblings adopted--and looks like a good case for adoption.... They Parent the newborn and cross-fingers WANTING for the biological family to FAIL and go away....

Once these families have an adoptive placement they Exit the foster care program, having used the resources tax payers hope help children...only having provided foster care to one or a small few new borns and doing whatever possible to hang on and adopt the baby they love....

My aunt and uncle fostered between 57 and 60 children during the 1960-80's...  They were in a state where adopting a foster child was NOT possible...under any circunstance....

Their GOAL was only to keep another families children safe while that family got their lives together--and were able to parent....

My Aunts goal was to GIVE back the foster children and it showed in HER actions with the biological family... Aunt Terrie had no problem teaching a mother how to shop, cook and make ends meet.... sew and find a skill... Aunt Terrie the Foster Mother acted as a Mentor for the biological family and passed her skills on....

A great number of the Families my aunt and uncle fostered and mentored are PART of our extended family today... Of all the children they fostered ONLY 2 went on to be adopted... The rest were able to be reunified--with parents who knew how to make dinner from raw ingrediants--how to shop--how to take care of the baby and THAT is HOW it should be--IMHO.....

We have created a NEW Tug of War in the system... and we are training foster families who only have the goal of adoption... This to me is the single most terrible practice going on today... The only way I see to change this problem is to have Foster Parents care for a certain number of children who are reunified before they are permitted to adopt...but, that idea would go over like snow in July....

***This statement is not intended to be directed to Any Foster Family--these are simply my observations based on what I have seen change about the Foster Care system since 1997...

Added:  The CASA program was designed to follow children through care and make sure the state is following the rules and the childs best interest is being watched... Our children had a CASA and not only did they Mentor the Foster Family but, they continued to work with US post placement... These people attended all court hearings, and monitored the records, made sure medical--educational and legal matters were conducted properly... They also had the "history" intact.

Answer 2

When I was in foster care in the 90's they had a program like that. We used to call it the "rent a friend program" they were mostly university students that were required to do it as part of their social work course, and once the semester was done so were they

ETA: Happy....I'm sorry I missed travelling through your aunt's foster home, she sounds like one of the rare examples out there that are into foster care for all the right reasons. Trust me they are very few & far between

Answer 3

Happy mommy is 110% right.....many on here suggest to "adopt" from the foster care system and they forget that these are other people's children too.

In Pennsylvania the state no longer foots the cost of a homestudy for foster care parents. And I belive it is exactly because of the reasons Happy has suggested. If you truly want to be a foster parent and help these kids  you will simply pay for your own homestudy....aprox. $1500-2500.

That really weeds them out doesn't it???

Aunt Terrie sounds like a wonderful woman.....imagine all the famlies she has helped!!!

I certainly would allow any mentor to help me/children if we were foster parents. After all it IS about helping the children...isn't it?

Answer 4

http://www.nationalcasa.org

Here is from their "about" page:

Overview

In 1977, a Seattle judge conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children in court. So successful was this program that soon judges across the country began utilizing citizen advocates. In 1990, the US Congress encouraged the expansion of CASA programs with passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act.

Today, we have grown to a network of more than 50,000 volunteers that serve 225,000 abused and neglected children through 900+ local program offices nationwide. Our advocates, also known as volunteer guardians ad litem in some jurisdictions, are appointed members of the court. Judges rely on the information these trusted advocates present.

They support and promote court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children so that they can thrive in safe, permanent homes.

**************************************...

sometimes a casa volunteer is all the foster child has. Its not exactly a "mentoring" program, but its what I've found closest so far. There may be others I'm unaware of.

ETA: heres a good "family / community involvement" study I just found from Child Welfare.gov

http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/acloser...

It came out THIS YEAR.

a series of short reports that spotlight issues addressed by public child welfare agencies and their partners in implementing systems of care approaches to improve services and outcomes for children and families. These reports draw on the experiences of nine communities participating in the Children's Bureau's Improving Child Welfare Outcomes Through Systems of Care demonstration initiative, and summarize their challenges, promising practices, and lessons learned. Each issue of A Closer Look provides information communities nationwide can use in planning, implementing, and evaluating effective child welfare driven systems of care, and is intended as a tool for administrators and policymakers leading system change initiatives.

Answer 5

yes foster kids are often times part of boys and girls club and big brother and big sisters.  Kids who are in care long term often times get moved from home to home.  so a metor who follows them long term gives them stability

Answer 6

If you live in Austin, Tx I know where you can get into a similar program.  Usually, mentors don't do many activities at the home because most of the time the client's focus is on behavior in the community.  Depending on the situation you could spend a lot of time at their house, but this is seldom the case.

As for that other person that was talking about university students participating in a program for credit.  Here the program works differently.  The mentor actually gets paid an hourly rate.  It only makes sense that people working to better the community should still be able to pay their bills.  Its sad that the students disappeared, but that is the nature of a student.  I wouldn't blame them because in a society where everything is driven by money its people can only afford to spend their time in a way that generates money.  If I could afford to go to school, rent a reasonable place, drive a sensible car, and not have to work to make ends meet I would gladdly spend my time helping kids again.

What we should be doing is looking at those that do have that kind of money, and get them involved.