Utah Foster Care: Is there room in your heart?

Intermountain Catholic

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Juan Diego Catholic High School's Blackbox Theatre is made use of by the community for a forum on foster care and adoption Jan. 16. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Foster Care Foundation, in a forum Jan. 15 at Juan Diego Catholic High School, reported that at any given time, there are about 2,600 children in foster care in the state. Nearly half of these children are from the Salt Lake Valley area, and growing numbers of these children are of Hispanic/Latino descent.

"About 20,000 children ‘age out’ of foster care every year," said Mike Hamblin, area representative for the Utah Foster Care Foundation. "That is, they turn 19 years old, are no longer eligible for foster care, and are considered adults."

Four members of foster/adoptive families participated in the forum, sharing their experiences of caring for foster children, adopting children they have fostered, and dealing with the foster care system, the courts, and birth parents. Bethany Hosking, Heather Wilbur, and Michelle Ostmark are foster and adoptive mothers, and a girl identified only as Heidi spoke from the perspective of having foster and adoptive siblings, including two Ethiopian sibling-sisters. "No matter how chaotic it gets," Heidi said, "the good always overcomes the bad."

The Utah Foster Care Foundation is a private, non-profit organization that contracts with the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to find, educate, and support foster and adoptive families to care for the children in Utah’s foster care system.

Some statewide facts about children in foster care include:

• Children entering the foster care system may have special needs due to neglect, abuse, or separation.

• In Utah, children are in foster care for an average of one year. The length of time may vary depending on their family’s individual circumstances.

• About 65 percent of children in foster care return to live with their birth parents or relatives. Foster families have the opportunity to mentor and support parents who are working to have their children returned to them.

• Many children are adopted from foster care in Utah. Last year, 300 children were adopted from the foster care system. Eighty-five percent of children adopted from foster care are adopted by their foster parents.

• There are children in foster care between the ages of birth-19. There is a particular need for families who are able and willing to care for children over the age of 8.

• Many children enter foster care with brothers and sisters and need foster families who can help them stay together. Foster families who can accommodate sibling groups are needed in all areas of the state.

• Twenty-four percent of the children in foster care in Utah are Latino/Hispanic, so there is a particular need for Latino/Hispanic and Spanish-speaking families. All foster families must be legal residents.

"As foster parents, we offer these children a safe haven," said Ostmark. "That is the first lesson I want all of my foster children to learn. They are safe with us. We have eight children, six of whom were adopted, and right now, we have two in shelter care, meaning we are offering them a short-term safe environment until their cases can be more completely worked out."

Hosking, who has adopted three children she once fostered, including two medically fragile boys, said the children she loves have changed her life forever.

Hamblin said every time they place a child in a foster home, they hope the placement will be the only placement the child will need. "Every time a child changes home, it’s a traumatic experience for the child. And many of our children remain in foster care for 11-12 months, then return home to their birth parents."

Wilbur said providing shelter care is important, although often difficult, because the children don’t often stay long enough to develop sound relationships.

"That can be hard on foster parents’ biological children," said Ostmark. "But biological children also can help comfort shelter and new foster children when a new placement is made."

Heidi said when her parents first began talking about fostering children and adoption, her older biological sister "was livid. It was as if we weren’t enough or we weren’t good enough. But when our first Ethiopian sister arrived, and we got to know her, it was wonderful. And it’s still wonderful."

Heidi said it’s natural for biological children to worry that foster or adoptive children will intrude on their relationships, play with their toys, and disrupt the family, "but if biological children are asked to help evaluate the good and the bad of the situation, and if they get constant reinforcement that they are important and valuable to the family, they will value the experience as well."

For further information about the Utah Foster Care Foundation, call 801-994-5205 or go on the internet to: wwwutahfostercare.org.

Juan Diego Catholic High School’s Blackbox Theatre is made use of by the community for a forum on foster care and adoption Jan. 16. IC photo by Barbara S. Lee