Four Teenage Girls; One Loving Home

Recently, I’ve started recruiting foster families for a local program at Community Youth Services. After three years of direct service with the youth and families in this program, I thought recruitment would be a natural progression in my own career. Turns out foster parents are very hard to come by.  So I’ve done a little research. I think what I found is worth sharing.

Public perception of foster care and foster parenting needs a major boost. It seems that foster care gets a bad rap in the media for a relative handful of unfortunate–and sometimes tragic–incidents that happen in extreme cases. In those rare situations, kids suffer from neglect and abuse in foster homes that should’ve been monitored and identified as abusive–or not ever licensed to begin with.

People see these stories and think, “Another foster care nightmare! This is something I won’t get involved in!” It is true that these unthinkable things have happened, but nowhere in the media do we ever read about the hundreds–THOUSANDS!–of success stories.  It is now my mission to counter the negative media by sharing positive stories from Community Youth Services. We need to start thinking about identifying foster care with positive outcomes that we achieve all the time.

I asked a couple of foster parents I work with to share their personal stories. Here’s one that stands out:

Cody Kinzer wrote, “Russ and I decided to become foster parents in 2007 when I was pregnant with my first child and wanted to be able to stay at home while my own children were young.  We called CYS and spoke with Amanda Phinney (Foster Care Licensor) who was very candid and realistic about the emotional and behavioral struggles of the youth served by CYS foster care. After the thorough licensing process, we received our first placements. I have been amazed at how hard the staff works to put youth first.  We have had some challenging youth in our home over the past three years and I am certain we have continued in foster care because of the support and encouragement we get from CYS.  The staff and leadership in the foster care department are very skilled at matching foster children to homes in an effort to reduce placement disruption. When youth experience emotional or behavioral difficulties our case managers are always very proactive in working with us to find solutions which support both us as parents and the youth in our care.  My husband and I feel welcome to communicate with CYS foster care staff regarding any issue that has come up around caring for the youth in our home.  I believe that in order to facilitate healthy growth and development of children, the agency providing care needs first to be healthy itself. CYS is just such an agency.”

Cody has had a primary role in rehabilitating four teenage girls during her three year career with us. She exemplifies a positive reflection of foster parenting. These girls are all doing better than they have ever done before, and they are looking forward to futures brighter than they have been before, thanks to the Kinzer’s loving and committed home.

There are an estimated 10,500 children in foster care in Washington State today. At CYS we help kids coming out of all kinds of situations including children who have been traumatized by their life experiences. We have four case managers who are knowledgeable, compassionate, and proactive and professional who work closely with each family to ensure success of the placement and to promote permanency.

In the months to come, I will continue to share positive and uplifting stories about foster care, foster kids and foster parenting to do my part to change the public’s perception of foster care. Hopefully people will start thinking, “That is something I could see myself doing.” 

Foster Change with Foster Care!   Kendra Mullins, Foster Care Recruitment, 360-943-0780 ext. 171