Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County in dire need of foster caregivers

Do you have more than enough love for your own family? Then you may very well be just the person who could make an incredible difference in the life of a child in need.

Thats the message being offered up by the local Department of Human Services officials who are looking to recruit adults willing to serve as foster parents in Nevada County. According to Barbara Keaton, supervisor for Children and Family Services, there are currently only two foster families in the county. This means that children who are taken into custody by the state will typically be shipped out of the county - and away from everything familiar to them.

We love to leave them in the same school district, Keaton said.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and the local DHS officials were looking for ways to bring attention to the issues in Nevada County. Toward that end, they hosted a community coffee, handing out literature to those who attended.

Keaton said the biggest issues facing the county include the need for local mental health care and for local alcohol and drug support groups. Coming in a close second, according to Keaton, is the need for foster families for those children who find themselves in abusive homes.

Keaton said the problem probably isnt nearly as dominate as in some counties, but said drugs are a major contributing factor. Whenever drugs become important to an adult, children tend to be neglected or even abused. When this happens in Nevada County, DHS has little option for placement.

In years past, foster families were typically eager to take in babies but were reluctant to accept teens. Keaton said teens are still very difficult to place, but said babies are also becoming more of a challenge. She said she attributes it to the fact that people are busy and a baby takes lots of time.

Besides the very young children and the teens, Keaton said siblings also present a serious problem.

We like to keep them together, when we can, she said. But with the difficulty placing even one child in foster care, the odds of keeping two or three siblings together in the system becomes almost impossible.

Keaton said it does take some effort to become a foster parent, but said its also a relatively easy process. Families are allowed to have no more than five children in the home, counting foster children and any children who already live in that home. Single adults over the age of 21 can become foster parents, but married couples must have been married for at least two years in order to qualify.

As a rule, adults must be 21 to 65 years old to serve as foster parents, though there are exceptions. Foster parents must submit to a background check, go through a brief training period and complete a first aid course that includes CPR.

Keaton said county officials are willing to work with anyone who wants to become certified, and that those people have the right to dictate how many, what ages and even special conditions of children theyre willing to work with. Foster families neednt be afraid that theyll become responsible for more children than they want or special needs children, Keaton said.

For more information about foster parenting in Nevada County, call 862-6631 or contact Keaton at 887-6626. Interested adults may also stop by the DHS office for an application.