Find it in your heart to help

Page 14

What do we really need? When it comes right down to it, life is pretty simple-food in our bellies, a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and the security that springs from the knowledge that people care about us, that who we are as individuals is important. We matter.

It doesn't seem too much to ask for, does it? But look around. There are some of us that can't boast of having each of these elements in place in our lives. It's a tragedy, especially when those elements are missing from the life of a child.

In Alberta, there are children in need. For a whole variety of reasons, they are temporarily living a life of insecurity. Sometimes it's just not safe for them to live with their own families. Sometimes their own families can't cope with their particular needs. That's where a foster family comes in. They act as a temporary, secure extension of the family for a child whose own family is in distress or incapable of providing for him or her.

Foster care is a temporary situation for a child, because the goal is to return him or her to his own family as soon as possible. A foster family's job is to provide a supportive, healthy atmosphere that helps a child function in a positive way.

Alberta's Child and Family Services Authorities are responsible for placing children in foster homes that would best suit the individual child's needs.

Many of the children in need of temporary care are Aboriginal children. Alberta recognizes that an Aboriginal child has a unique cultural, social and spiritual heritage. That's why it is important for Aboriginal foster families to be available to welcome these children into their homes and cater to their unique interests.

Foster parents must be 18 years of age or older. There is an information check done on each parent to check for past abuse or child neglect. References are checked; a home assessment is done, as is a criminal check.

The home study is done to assess the attitudes, values and potential of an individual to foster, and is the deciding factor in determining an applicant's suitability.

It's not an easy decision to make to become a foster parent. And the needs of the children are varied. The children who need to be placed run the gamut of those whose situation can be improved just with quality care to those whose problems are intense and enduring, requiring specialized care for mental, emotional or physical problems.

Foster children can be anywhere from newborn to 16 years of age.

Alberta's Child and Family Services Authorities are not only responsible for placing the children in care, they are also responsible for providing financial and emotional support to the foster parents.

Foster parenting requires particular skills, and training is provided. All families applying to foster must complete an 18-hour pre-service training. This will help the applicant decide if fostering is appropriate for them to pursue. The training becomes more specialized as a foster parent moves along the foster care continuum to take on more complex foster care issues.

Basic maintenance rates are provided to foster parents to cover the cost of food, personal care, spending money for the foster child and household items, including clothing and gifts.