Fostering refugees teaches appreciation of little things

Friday, Jun. 24, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — “An amazing journey” is how Nicole Crotter describes the past five years as she and her husband have fostered seven kids through the Catholic Community Services of Utah’s Refugee Foster Care Program.

Minors can remain in the CCS program until they are reunited with their families or until they are 21 years of age. The goal for the program is family reunification.

The Crotters decided to apply to CCS to become foster parents because “my husband and I are older and we never had kids of our own,” said Nicole Crotter. 

CCS is the Utah affiliate of Catholic Charities USA, which is supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

The USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services works with a national network of 12 state-licensed Unaccompanied Refugee Minor foster care programs for the ongoing care of unaccompanied children. Most of these programs are administered through Catholic Charities agencies.

To qualify as a foster parent, the person is required by CCS to clear federal and state background checks for everyone in the home over 18. The applicant must complete 36 hours of pre-service training, have a CPR/first aid certification, either be single or able to show proof of marriage, have a tuberculosis test for all household members, and pass a home evaluation.

“It has been a journey,” said Crotter, “but a very amazing one.”

Most of the Crotters’ foster kids have come from African countries. At the moment they have two kids who are high school seniors and another who decided to stay and live with them as he attends college, even though, at 21, he has aged out of the foster care program.

Each foster child has adapted differently to life in the United States, she said.

“Some have an adjustment period, others get adjusted immediately,” she said, adding that the communication process has been very exciting and a very good learning experience for her and her husband.

“Usually they came here with a little bit of English and in around three weeks we are able to communicate better. … At the beginning we use a lot of Goggle translator as well as images,” said Crotter. “It’s amazing. … It’s a milestone for an American child (to learn to speak English) but it is almost like an explosion of celebration because they accomplish something in a short amount of time.”  

Another thing that she and her husband have appreciated about the foster kids is their humbleness and gratefulness.

“We take things for granted; they came with nothing. They now have an appreciation for everything. That has helped my husband and I to stop and enjoy the little things again,” said Crotter.

Although the Crotters are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they have welcomed their foster children’s religious beliefs and points of view, she said.

“When I first started I thought that this was going to be really hard and I was not going to be able to handle it, but then the more I asked questions and I knew, the bond got tighter,” said Crotter.

She evens enjoys accompanying her foster kids to the Islamic temple. 

“God is God and He is there for everyone. ... The story is the same in every religion, it’s just the way that it is told that is different,” she said.