Foster care provides an alternative living situation for children and teens whose homes are deemed unsafe and unstable in times of hardship. Humboldt County has only three total foster homes, all of which are currently full. This means that kids have to be sent far away from what they know during an already stressful and traumatic time.
The overall goal of foster care is to provide both a safe and healthy home for children until families can ultimately reunite after repairing and healing what is found harmful within the environment. An initial family home can be deemed unsuitable for numerous reasons and if the child or children are unable to stay with their family or fictive kin throughout the healing process, foster care is necessary.
The need for more foster care homes is growing continually. According to Social Work Supervisor II for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), Kim Schmeling, there are more than 50 kids currently in the custody of the state that need placement. All have a bed to sleep in every night, but social workers are struggling to provide optimal living situations that do not force them away from their established and more comfortable environments. Children are being sent as far as Pahrump, which is about 425 miles from Winnemucca (6 hours by car), due to the lack of open foster homes in the county.
Becoming a foster parent is an act of kindness that can have a tremendous impact on a child or family. Housing a child in need for even just a night in an emergency situation can help give a child a safe place during a trying time.
Perfection Isn’t a Requirement
To foster in rural Nevada, one must be at least 21 years old, be able to provide a safe, stable and nurturing environment, be respectful of beliefs, personal practices and culture of a child and their family, pass a background check, complete necessary training, provide references, be able to provide for their own existing family, and pass in-home interviews.
Foster parents do not have to be perfect. They do not have to be married, own their home, have a spotless house around the clock, or give up guns or the five-second rule. Foster parents can work full-time jobs and have certain preferences in regards to the children that they house. The requirements to foster are designed to be realistic and accommodate real life circumstances.
“We’re not looking for perfect families because they don’t exist… The big picture is that this child was removed for safety risk factors and we’re just trying to provide them a safe and nurturing environment that doesn’t have to be picture-perfect. We want to mirror real, healthy family interactions,” said Sixth Judicial District Court Family Treatment Coordinator for Humboldt County, Jaime Clemens.
“A lot of these kids only have one vision of what a family looks like and it’s dysfunction. It’s really neat for them to be able to be in a home and learn what a family not in dysfunction looks like,” said Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney, Wendy Maddox.
The training for foster care is online and is broken up to accommodate different types of schedules. Schmeling explained that the training is often what helps families to ultimately decide if foster care is right for them and the home-studies help DCFS make sure that families have healthy dynamics that can support an appropriate environment for kids, according ot Schmeling.
Local Support for Foster Care Providers
There is an incredible support system for foster care parents and families within Humboldt County as well. Access to childcare, clothing, furniture—like beds, meals, and care packages are just a few of them, but Humboldt County is lacking any respite care homes. Respite homes allow foster care providers to make trips for doctor appointments, to visit family in other states, or other circumstances which may require a foster child to need temporary care.
Respite homes are required to attain the same licensure as other foster care providers, but they are likely to only house kids for a short period of time. These types of options are crucial for both foster families and the foster care system to help reduce strain or preserve normalcy.
Maintaining
Connection
Maintaining connection with loved ones is critical to both kids and struggling parents because successful reunification of families diminishes with distance, according to Clemens.
If one or more parents are struggling with addiction, which is the most common circumstance in Humboldt County for foster care cases, according to Maddox, adults often see reunification with their family as a major motivator to complete programs, beat their addiction and heal their family. Visitation obstacles, such as distance or lack of transportation means, are very hard on families and social workers. Not only can distance discourage families in recovery, but it drains the resources available to social workers as well.
According to Maddox, foster parents are ideally people that can remain non-judgmental, maintain a safe space for a child while they have them, will set an example for parents during care and be a healthy mentor for parents once families are reunited. Maddox explained that many foster parents create lasting relationships with these children and their families that put them in a similar role as an aunt or uncle. Providing healthy perceptions of relationships can be a real turning point for many families that change their lives.
Humboldt County has a unique system that truly advocates for and sees to the reunification of families. According to Maddox, orders of termination for parental rights from Humboldt County’s jurisdiction are taken very seriously at the Attorney General’s Office because those involved in child welfare in Humboldt County work so hard for those struggling in the system. In cases in which parental rights are terminated, foster families and parents could have the opportunity to adopt kids that they foster.
If Foster Care is Not Your Calling
Engaging in connections to help recruit others to be foster caregivers, spreading the word, or hosting community events are all ways to be involved in the process that do not require housing children. Organizing services, like general home maintenance, providing furniture and clothing, or organizing meals or care packages for families, are all important things that can help both foster children and foster families.
“Everyone can play a part,” said Clemens.