May is Foster Care Month. We talked to Erika Ford a Foster/Adoptive Parent Recruitment & Retention Specialist from Anne Arundel County to discuss the challenges in the foster care system during the pandemic.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the current need for more foster families is great. Anne Arundel’s Foster Care and Adoption services have been spotlighting the current families who are doing incredible things, as well as finding new families interested in fostering a child.
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Janet Jefferson (00:02):
Welcome to Third Floor Views where we at Chesapeake Family Life talk about health, education and living with kids. I’m your host, Janet Jefferson. Today we are talking about the status of the foster care system in Anne Arundel County. What are the current needs in the foster care system? How has COVID 19 impacted foster care in Anne Arundel County? What can we do to help and what resources are available for people looking to be foster parents or those who are already in foster families? Here with us today is Erica Ford. She’s foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention specialist from Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services and we also have Dominic Youngblood who’s the Public Information Officer for the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services as well. She’s with us offline and listening to jump in if we need her. So thank you so much for being here with us today. Let’s jump right in. What are the current local needs in Anne Arundel County for foster families?
Erica Ford (01:12):
First of all, Janet, thank you so much for having us. We are so excited to be here and especially during National Foster Care Month. So we’re excited to chat with everyone and share a little bit about the program. Our biggest need currently in Anne Arundel County is similar to what the needs are across the country. We’re always looking for families who are willing to take care of teenagers, sibling groups and substance exposed newborns which is a new emerging trend that has been coming through for us recently. We also are especially looking for families who are bilingual, especially Spanish speakers. And I want to talk a little bit about teens specifically because teenagers I think in general kind of get this reputation of being difficult. And so for teens in foster care that that stigma can often be really magnetized. And so I want to just talk about a little bit about the fact that our teens in foster care are normal teens and though that many of them have experienced really significant trauma, at the end of the day, they are there similar to any other teen that you may know. And so if we reflect back on our own teen years and how challenging those times can be with hormones and stress and all of the kind of pressures that are there, it’s easy to empathize with what they’re going through and if you can imagine those typical stressors that are on a regular teen compounded with not having a stable and consistent support system, positive adults who are in their life and able to pour into them and help them through that challenging time for teens in foster care. So I want to just encourage folks, especially today what one of my goals is to just help you to consider those teens who are in foster care and consider opening your heart and your family to provide some temporary care for them.
Janet Jefferson (03:03):
Definitely that, that makes a lot of sense. What are some things that maybe if someone was considering fostering a teenager, what might they need as opposed to someone that that wasn’t looking to foster a teenager?
Erica Ford (03:17):
Sure. I think that the biggest thing is really just patience and flexibility, which really goes for all of our foster families. But especially for those willing to take teenagers. Just really being able to be patient, often for our teens the biggest thing that they struggle with as they are first coming into foster care is just trust. So many of the adults in their life have broken promises and broken trust for them over and over again, that when they first get to a foster home, they are typically not going to open up right away and it’s going to take them some time to get comfortable and to rebuild that trust with a supportive adult in their life. So just having a foster parent who is able to be consistent, be present, show up, really just embrace them and welcome them into their family from little things like letting them choose what’s for dinner that night or even help cook and to showing up for sporting events or school activities. Many of our teens have not had someone in their life who has been able to do that consistently for them. So really just that dedication and patience as they’re building that trust.
Janet Jefferson (04:19):
So a lot of stability and consistency and as you said, patience. I think I agree that goes for everyone, but I can see how teens in particular really need someone that that’s there the second that they meet and can really count on. Think with babies you can sort of learn as you go a little bit more.
Erica Ford (04:40):
You’ve got a little extra time to figure things out as they’re growing and developing, but you’re jumping right into it with our teens, which I tell families is not necessarily a bad thing because you pretty much know what you’re getting with a teenager there. They’re very honest and straightforward with you. Whereas with those younger ones, it’s a mixed bag. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.
Janet Jefferson (05:00):
That’s true. That’s really true. What impact has COVID 19 had on the foster care system?
Erica Ford (05:06):
So the biggest impact that we’ve seen so far is that the number of reports regarding abuse and neglect is really down and that also is really happening across the country. Not just in Anne Arundel County, we’re seeing that trend as well.
Janet Jefferson (05:21):
So reports of abuse are down. Yes. Interesting. Okay. Why do you think you’re seeing that? What’s going on?
Erica Ford (05:30):
So we’re assuming that that may be happening because children are not being seen as frequently by mandated reporters. Mandated reporters are teachers, coaches, medical professionals, those community members that children are normally interacting with on a regular basis outside of their home. And right now with everyone being home full time, kids just aren’t being seen out in the community as as frequently.
Janet Jefferson (05:55):
So it’s not that abuse gone down. It’s simply that the reporting isn’t there. So there’s potentially a lot of abuse happening, but we just don’t know about it. Exactly.
Erica Ford (06:05):
And we hope that that’s not the case then. Maybe it’s just not happening. But realistically, you know, knowing the trends that we’re typically seeing around this time of year doesn’t line up with what we’re seeing right now.
Janet Jefferson (06:17):
Is there an ebb and flow to the, as you said, this time of year, you’re sort of surprised with the numbers. Do you see an ebb and flow to reported cases?
Erica Ford (06:25):
So we do a little bit and that’s not specifically my expertise so I won’t give specific numbers, but summertime does in general tend to kind of slow down. But usually before school gets out we have kind of an uptick in reports and we’re not seeing that right now.
Janet Jefferson (06:41):
Okay, well that makes sense too. If it’s summertime, if kids aren’t in school, then again they’re not seeing social workers, they’re not seeing teachers. You’re not seeing those mandatory reporters then then you’re probably not as you’re getting less reporting.
Erica Ford (06:53):
Absolutely. And we are anticipating that as things start to reopen, even if it’s not schools, but as our community start to reopen that we may see an increase in reports coming in. And so we are trying to prepare our foster and adoptive homes to be able to meet those needs. So we are especially, you know, doing some extra recruitment right now to make sure that we have enough homes. If those reports increase in, children do come in, end up coming into foster care. We want to make sure we have enough space for them.
Janet Jefferson (07:23):
Is that something that you normally do is have family sort of in waiting that are sort of on the sidelines just waiting for a phone call from you to say, okay, it’s time, I’ve got someone for you. So do you have sort of a stockpile or is it really just as you get kids that’s when you’re looking for families as well.
Erica Ford (07:40):
So best case scenario, we would love to have this very, very long waiting list so that we always know that we have resources for children should they be needed. I will again to talk about teens again, that is the one population that we typically do not really have a lot of resources for. So while we do have a number of families who don’t have placements right now, don’t have children in their home and are technically open, families are able to specify what their particular age range is and who they would consider fostering. And so when we have a child who comes into foster care, what we do is we really look through that list and see which family is going to be the best able to meet the needs of that child, that particular child at that time. And so the larger that list can be and the more diverse that list can be, then we have the better a better shot of actually matching a child within a home that is going to be prepared and equipped to address whatever their specific needs are.
Janet Jefferson (08:34):
Yeah, I can see that you would want a lot of diversity on that list in terms of where families are living to disrupt a kid’s situation as little as possible. So what can adults do to help?
Erica Ford (08:47):
That is a great question. So I would love for everyone to go out and become foster parents. That would be wonderful. But there are definitely a lot of other that you can help as well. So I think the first thing, especially as we’ve talked a little bit about reporting and as we’re kind of all trying to navigate this new normal of COVID 19 life and post COVID 19 life. Really just trying to be watchful for signs of abuse and neglect in the children around you, the children in your community, I mean your families or within your circles of people that that are around you. So if you do have a concern regarding a child who you think might be in danger, definitely give us a call and make that report, that information can be found pretty easily online. If you just type in child abuse and neglect reporting and whatever area you’re in at that time, our number one priority is always to ensure that children and vulnerable adults actually are safe from abuse and neglect. So not every call that comes into us is going to result in a child actually coming into foster care. The department does a lot of work before that would ever even happened to try to make sure that if it’s safe and if it’s possible a child would actually stay with their family while we address whatever safety issue is going on in the home. So I want to encourage people to not be afraid to call and make a report if they are seeing something that they are a little bit concerned about but just aren’t really sure what’s going on because foster care is definitely not our first choice. We do a lot of other work first to try to make sure kids are safe. So foster care is really our last resort and is used only when a child’s safety can’t be assured in any other way with them remaining in that home. So it’s meant to be temporary and our goal is always to try reunification first. That’s always our number one goal is an agency when children come into foster care. So another thing that adults can do if you are interested in considering foster care or adoption is really start to think about and become a little more open minded to that idea of reunification because a lot of people call in and are interested in adoption, which is wonderful and we absolutely need adoptive families as well. But we really, really right now need foster families who are willing to put in that really hard work of loving a child and supporting a child and their biological families and really working in partnership with their biological families and with the social workers to try to help that child reunify with them and get back to a home that’s safe and stable. So really starting to kind of explore that idea. And then another way that people can get involved is definitely by talking to, or looking at some of our community partners. So we work very closely with an organization called the Blue Ribbon project based out of Crownsville as well as our local foster parent association, the Anne Arundel County Foster Parent Association. And both of those groups have lots of opportunities for volunteer work as well as for financial donations if people are interested in that. So those are two ways to kind of engage with foster youth and with foster families without necessarily becoming a foster parent.
Janet Jefferson (11:59):
And then are those groups active right now? Are they still doing their work during COVID19?
Erica Ford (12:05):
They are. So they’re definitely have shifted. So one of the things that our fostering association is doing is they typically run support groups. And right now those are all happening virtually. So they’ve been meeting on zoom. So typically one of their needs is actually looking for people who would volunteer for childcare. So fortunately or unfortunately, however you look at it, you don’t need that right now. But they have been being creative and kind of shifting their work. But Blue Ribbon Project is very much still up and running. They’re still collecting donations. They actually have something called Nearest Closet, which is a closet for foster youth and families to be able to access any kind of emergency supplies that they need. Anything from toiletries to clothes, diapers and baby supplies. So they are, they’re very much still up and running and providing those essential items to our families and to our youth, which is crucial.
Janet Jefferson (12:55):
Yeah. I imagine actually right now that that could be a big need since yes, grocery stores are open but clothing stores might not be and it could be really hard to get things that that you might need, say you know, a new pair of shoes or whatever and certainly like consignment stores or a lot of these places, these resources that we might have looked to before are not as available as they were. So I can see that something like Nearest Closet is critical right now.
Erica Ford (13:21):
Absolutely. We had a newborn who came into care recently and the foster parent was able to get everything she needed in terms of baby supplies. She’s not someone who normally takes a newborn. So she had pretty much nothing, not a whole lot of notice to get things together and get prepared for that. And so they were able to help her out and provide everything she needed to bring this little one home and make sure that they had what they needed to get through that first weekend.
Janet Jefferson (13:45):
That’s amazing. Because I imagine that first weekend was a rocky one for sure. Let’s shift just a little bit. So we’ve been talking about what can adults do to help sort of outside of the foster care system. What does it actually take to be a foster parent in Anne Arundel County? And we’ve talked a little bit about the ideal adult demeanor in terms of being patient and stable and consistent, but what are you really looking for in a foster parent?
Erica Ford (14:10):
That’s a great question. So I think foster parents have this kind of image in the community of you’re either this very conservative, very religious kind of bleeding hearts, family or single person who just is great at everything and wants to take in more children and love on them. And we absolutely have some of those families and we love them. They’re wonderful. But then there’s also this image of older people who are in this just for a paycheck. And that one I can tell you is completely false. If you’d sign up and become a foster parents just for a paycheck, you’re going to be quickly very disappointed because there really is just no financial support or there is financial support, but it’s not enough to really get what you’re looking for if that’s your goal. So the really ideal family is anyone, we need families of all different shapes and sizes of all different backgrounds, all different socioeconomic statuses regardless of race, sexual orientation. We want, as I mentioned before, we want our families to be very diverse because we want our families to be as diverse as the children that we’re working with. We have children from all different backgrounds and walks of life. And so it’s really helpful for us if we’re able to match them with a family who looks similar to them, speak similar to them and may have similar cultural backgrounds. And so we really want that pool of families to be as diverse as possible. I mentioned before, definitely need a lot of patience to do this work and a lot of flexibility and of course lots and lots of love because this is a very challenging process but it’s also incredibly rewarding and you are going to fall in love with our kids. We joke that they are really cute and really great and they really just need adults who are able to offer them some consistency and some love while they’re going through a really difficult situation.
Janet Jefferson (16:08):
Yeah. So if I hear you right then it doesn’t matter if you’re a single adult or it doesn’t matter if you’re a working parent, anyone could sort of start down this process. So working parents are encouraged to apply.
Erica Ford (16:31):
Absolutely. The one caveat to that is we do want you to make sure that you have enough flexibility with your work schedule and or enough support whether that’s family support or other community support. There are a lot of time requirements that are going to come with just parenting in general. But especially with foster care, you’re going to need to be able to have some leave so that you can get a child to and from visitation with their biological families, at least once a week you’re going to need to make sure that they get to medical and dental appointments just like it was your own biological child. And then there are some additional things like visits with social workers, court dates that families are expected to at least assist in getting children to and from. So you do want to make sure that you have the capacity to do that. But we have many single parents who are doing above and beyond and doing incredible work for our kiddos. So we would definitely encourage anyone in any stage of life who feels like they have that flexibility, has that patience, that has that love available to reach out.
Janet Jefferson (17:32):
If you are in the foster care system and you are interested in adoption, because you said you do get a lot of calls about adoption, how is it different adopting through you guys through social services opposed to maybe through a private agency?
Erica Ford (17:50):
Sure. So a private agency is going to connect families with children whose parents have already had their legal rights terminated or in the process of having their legal rights terminated. So sometimes that can be a voluntary process and sometimes the courts can actually remove those rights from a parent. But any child working with a private agency is already to that point in their case. For us with being the state public child welfare agency, our goal does start at that reunification process. And so all of our families are licensed as both foster and adoptive homes. So at the beginning of the case, we’re never sure which way things are going to go. We hope that a child would be able to be reunified, but we do know that sometimes that’s unfortunately just not possible. And so we want to make sure that if a child’s plan was to change to adoption at some point, which is typically for us many years down the road, typically at least two, two and a half years before we would even start talking about changing a plan to adoption. But if that happens, we want to make sure that children don’t have to move to another family just because their plan has changed. And so many of our families who are starting off as foster families will have the opportunity, or I should say some of our families will have the opportunity to adopt the child. And typically at that point, once you’ve had a child in your home for two, two and a half years, you’ve built that bond. You’ve connected with this child in many, for many of our families, they’ve worked so hard on this reunification process. And so they know the bio family as well and they have connections and relationship built with them at this point. And so for many of our families, they will enter into what’s called an open adoption, which means that they will have an agreement with the biological family even after their parental rights are terminated so that there is still a some kind of contact and families are able to set the parameters as to what that looks like based on what they’re comfortable with and what the child they feel like needs and you know what would be best for that child. But typically it’s further down the road and it’s never a guarantee. With our program, we have some families who have had six sets of siblings through their home and all of them have been reunified. And then we have other families who their very first placement was not able to be reunified and they ended up adopting and then closing out because their home was full after that. So it really, we ask what we’re asking is a huge ask of all of our families, but really to be open to both and to just be flexible and to be willing to do whatever that particular child needs.
Janet Jefferson (20:21):
Off the top of your head, do you know in Anne Arundel County specifically how often are your kids reunified versus how often kids are adopted through the foster care system?
Erica Ford (20:34):
Sure. So just over 40% of our children are reunified with their biological families. And then there’s about 30% of our youth who do end up getting adopted at some point. But then there’s kind of these other categories, maybe a family would choose to do guardianship to a relative or to a foster parent or some of these other categories that also fall in there.
Janet Jefferson (20:58):
Yeah. That is challenging. But think about, really need to be entering into this eyes wide open as a potential foster parent in terms of you need to be making the choices that are the best for the child. And that means a lot of flexibility on your part. And maybe making saying hard goodbyes or keeping those doors wide open and making sure that that child can stay with you and grow up forever.
Erica Ford (21:24):
I have awesome examples of that too. I mean, our families really in Anne Arundel County, I always like to brag that we have the best foster and adoptive families ever because they really are just doing phenomenal work. And we have one family who was actually able to build such a close relationship with the biological family of the child. They were fostering that that child was able to be reunified. And then this particular parent was struggling with substance abuse and when the parent relapsed, they actually called that foster parent directly to let them know that they had relapsed and that they needed some help and that they wanted to know if their child could come back and stay with them while they worked on that. And ultimately, I mean, what a beautiful picture of when this works well because that family was able to be a support to that bio parent and to that youth. And that makes the world of difference for youth who are going through this. But then we also have families. We had one family in particular who has been fostering teens for over 25 years in Anne Arundel County, which is amazing. So if you think about the number of teens that they have impacted and now adults that they have impacted, it’s pretty incredible. But they once had a young man actually drive up while they were doing out front doing some lawn work and he jumped out of the car, gave them a huge bear hug and said, I don’t know if you remember me, I only stayed here for about a week but I’m getting married tomorrow and I want to know if you guys would come to my wedding and be there because my wife is going to have this whole side of guests on her side of the aisle and I don’t have anybody. And I credit the fact that I was able to have this healthy relationship and now enter a marriage to the relationship that he saw while he was in their home. Even just for that short amount of time. So we definitely encourage our families regardless of how long a child is with you, you are making an impact.
Janet Jefferson (23:17):
Wow, that’s a really, really powerful story. Yeah, a really big impact. Even if it’s a very short period of time. That’s impressive. So speaking of support systems and resources, what kind of support systems are available for foster parents? So once you’re in the system and you are a foster parent, I think we’ve identified that it’s definitely a challenging job, but hugely rewarding. But what does the County do to support those families?
Erica Ford (23:43):
So we try offer a lot. So our agency motto is actually be the village because we realize that you cannot do this work, you can’t do this work with parenting alone, but especially foster parenting really is going to take a village of support around you. And so we work, we really worked towards that goal from the very beginning. We have social work staff who are prepared to offer training for our families right from the very beginning. So there’s a lot of different steps of training that families go through before they’re actually even licensed or approved. After that, we have another set of social work staff who’s available both by phone and in person. They do regular visits to a family’s home to offer resources and support. And then we have a really, really wonderful network of foster adoptive parents as I’ve mentioned, that really are able to kind of just be that voice for especially our new families as they’re coming through and just share realistically, you know, this is what this looks like and this is what, how things flow and what we can do to support you as you get through this. So we have support groups that meet typically in person throughout the County, but as I mentioned, those are virtual right now. And then we have also ongoing trainings and events for our foster and adoptive families. So typically by the end of this month we would be having a huge celebration with all of our licensed families where they come out with all of their kiddos and it’s a really, really wonderful event. It’s usually one of our biggest of the year. And we really just get to celebrate the amazing work that they’re doing and then just celebrate the love and the joy of family. So unfortunately we won’t be having that this year, but we’re looking forward to next year and still doing those trainings and that support group, those support groups virtually in the meantime.
Janet Jefferson (25:31):
Yeah, that’s really sad. But it’s fantastic that there are all those resources still available. So even though the celebration piece is not maybe as public, the important part of the community is still there and that’s what really matters.
Erica Ford (25:45):
And I will say that if there are any current licensed families listening, there will be a surprise coming by the end of the month. We’ve not forgotten about you and we’re still gonna find ways to honor and celebrate you this month for sure.
Janet Jefferson (25:57):
Cool. That’s really nice. My last question for you, Erica, is just about resources again, but maybe less for current parents but maybe even current foster parents. If you have questions, if you’re looking for resources or if you are interested in contacting someone, if you’re interested in maybe becoming a foster parent yourself, where do you go for more information? Where’s the best place?
Erica Ford (26:23):
So our websites can actually be a little confusing because there are a lot of them, but the best place to go if you are, if you live in Anne Arundel County specifically would be AnneArundelFosterCare.com and that that is really our hub of that will give you information on how to contact me directly and how to get in touch with Blue Project, our foster parent association, any of those resources that I’ve mentioned. There’s also a list of upcoming information sessions. So if you are a family or an individual who’s interested in becoming a foster parent, you can read up a little bit more information on the program and what some of our requirements might be and then actually sign up for one of those sessions right now which are happening virtually because we absolutely still need families and we are still looking actively for new foster and adoptive homes right now. So Anne Arundel Foster Care would definitely be the best place to start, but you are also welcome to contact me directly and my name is Erica Ford and my information will be on that website as well.
Janet Jefferson (27:21):
Perfect. Well thank you so much. So thank you, big big Thank you Erica for speaking with us today and also thank you to Dominique Youngblood, both from Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services. Thank you for talking to us. Thank you for all the important work that you do and thank you for being flexible during this crazy, crazy, chaotic time.
Erica Ford (27:40):
Thank you again for having us.
Janet Jefferson (27:42):
Yeah, absolutely. I think you answered a lot of questions that people have and you know, gave us some really important resources, so thank you for that. Thank you also to all of our viewers and listeners today, I really appreciate you being here. Make sure you visit Chesapeakefamily.com for Up To Date local information on home, health and living for today’s Maryland parent. We’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, and questions. If you enjoyed what you heard today, check out more at thirdfloorviews.com. I’m Janet Jefferson. This is Third Floor Views. Thank you for listening.
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