A month honoring foster parents is nice. But what they really need is paid leave.
By Kaley Eggers May 17 at 11:00 AM As Foster Care Awareness Month ticks along in May, I love scrolling through Instagram and finding images of families like mine, sharing their stories to bring foster care to light.
As a social worker and foster mom, I know the statistics well. More than 690,000 children spend time in foster care each year, with more entering the system than leaving it annually. Meanwhile, the number of foster families isn’t growing at the same rate. In many communities, including my own, there is a growing need for placements, meaning Child Protective Services often has trouble finding homes for children. As a result, kids’ entire lives are uprooted when they are taken into custody.
All I could think was, “I can do something about this.” I started the process to get licensed and, six months later, got a call for my first placement -— a newborn baby boy. With two days of notice, an eternity in the world of foster care, I prepared for my entire life to change. I set up a crib, purchased diapers, panicked in the Target aisles over which bottles I needed — a fairly typical, although certainly accelerated nesting process.
In the midst of such a painful and vulnerable time, children who enter foster care deserve time to process, grieve and develop a sense of safety. Likewise, parents deserve relief during this daunting transition. From setting up initial doctor’s appointments and school enrollment, to bonding and establishing a “new normal,” foster families need flexibility to find their footing.
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