‘A safe place to go.’ Foster families face challenges during coronavirus crisis
Child protection agencies nationwide are struggling to find foster families for the children under their watch during the COVID-19 crisis, according to a report from The Marshall Project.
Stanislaus County seems to be faring better than other jurisdictions.
“Since March 16, when ‘stay home’ orders started, 22 children have been removed and all have placement,” said Christine Huber, assistant director of Stanislaus County Community Services Agency.
CSA-Stanislaus oversees many of the county’s social services programs, including foster care, adoptions and the child abuse hotline.
Huber said, “We’ve had resource parents who have said ‘yes’ to new kids.” Resource parents is the term used by some child protection services for foster parents.
Receiving homes are one of the assets that have helped CSA-Stanislaus place children during the pandemic. These specialized homes provide temporary care, usually four to six weeks, for children newly placed under child protection services, CPS, while county social workers identify a safe placement for the children, with priority for relatives or kinship.
However, Huber said, “Across the board some families are not accepting new placements.” She said many of those foster parents referred to concerns about the coronavirus.
On average every year, the county supervises 730 children in out-of-home placement, as well as about 75 non-minor dependents, including college students and transitional age youth, 18 to 21.
Huber said calls to the county’s child abuse hotline have decreased nearly 50% from about 500 to 600 calls per month since schools closed, which is consistent with the national trend.
The county social workers are continuing to investigate any allegations reported. Huber said the agency’s goal is to support families so they can stay together, and removal of a child “is the last resort for the child’s safety,” which happens in about 10% of the investigations.
The CSA-Stanislaus has their own foster families and also works with resource parents in foster family agencies, such as Aspiranet.
Aspiranet has six receiving homes, which have continued to accept new children during the COVID crisis.
Foster placement during the pandemic
To date, no foster children in Stanislaus County have tested positive for COVID-19, so no “isolation” placements have been needed.
“The kids still need a safe place to go,” said foster parent Brandon Evans, “The pandemic hasn’t stopped abuse or neglect or parents dying.”
Brandon Evans, 32, has been living in foster families since he was a kid, not as a foster child but as part of a host family. He’s a third generation foster parent with Aspiranet. Both his parents and grandparents were resource parents with them.
The Stanislaus County native and his wife, Toni, became resource parents about eight years ago. They have two biological children, ages 2 and 7, and have provided foster care for more than 400 children.
“We had two children arrive during the start of the pandemic, about a week into the stay-at-home order,” said Evans.
Evans said that they talked to Aspiranet to learn what they and Stanislaus County were doing for new placements, which includes additional screening of the children for symptoms of COVID, as well as “regular illnesses.”
In addition, Aspiranet provides their foster families with pandemic kits, which contains items such as hand sanitizer, masks and gloves.
Evans said both little girls were healthy when they arrived and have remained well.
The family also has an 18-year-old foster youth living with them temporarily in part because the pandemic disrupted her school plans and transition into assisted living.
On the other end of the age spectrum, Jenny and her husband Timothy, have welcomed two newborns directly from the hospital into their receiving home.
They live in a remote area of Stanislaus County and requested to not use their full names.
“It’s a little less intimidating because the babies came from the hospital,” said Jenny, comparing their receiving home to those accepting older children.
However, Jenny said that being in a rural area they have had some difficulty finding supplies.
“The challenge for awhile was keeping enough formula, diapers and wipes,” said Jenny, “(Women, Infants and Children benefits were) a little harder to get into place, since the offices were closed.”
Foster parents make adjustments during coronavirus
“Everything seems more intense with the precautions and especially with caring for someone else’s child,” said Jenny. “I take even more precautions”.
She said she also has challenges with having her children, ages 4, 8 and 9, home from school and maintaining her in-home daycare, where she has continued to provide care for two children of essential workers.
For adjustment during COVID, Evans said, laughing. “My wife is a clean freak, so things aren’t much different.”
He said their biggest challenge is not being able to take the kids out much, so they bought bikes and outdoor toys to keep the kids active, as well as doing their school work.
Keeping up with class work for a first, third and fourth grader has been another challenge. Again chuckling, Evans said, “We signed up to be foster parents, not teachers.”
Foster parents and youth need resources during COVID-19
“A lot of pre-existing issues for child protective services are being exposed with the pandemic,” Christine James-Brown, CEO of Child Welfare League of America, CWLA, said in an interview for USC Center for Health Journalism.
She said states are doing what they can for workers, foster parents and the children, but there are a lot of needs.
“Foster parents are older, so some are afraid to take a new child in,” said James-Brown. “Foster parents are people without a lot of resources.”
Huber said in the county the majority of foster caregivers older than 65 are related to the child in their care.
“We’ve reached out to our caregivers over 65 to see if they’re OK or if they need any extra resources,” said Huber. So far, everyone seems to be coping.
Evans said fortunately his family has resources but he knows not all foster parents do.
“We also do a lot more grocery shopping with six kids in the home,” said Evans.
In response to the increased expenses for food, the California Department of Social Services is issuing additional funds using pandemic electronic benefit transaction or P-EBT cards for children who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals, including foster children, who automatically qualify.
Irene Clements, executive director of the National Foster Parents Association, said her organization partnered with other advocacy groups to submit an open letter to Congress requesting additional support for children and families involved in the child welfare system.
“We feel foster parents and (child welfare) staff are first responders,’ said Clements. “They need rapid testing, especially for children new to the system, because we have so little info about them.”
She also said that economics is a big issue for foster families, as many have lost their jobs and the kids are eating more since they aren’t in school.
Other challenges include the need for technology support, such as devices and reliable internet for foster families and social workers, the difficulties for CPS workers to monitor the children’s safety remotely and the loss of in-person visits for biologic families.
Support for local foster families
Huber said that the county has been able to provide appropriate PPE for their social workers, and that they have been working with caregivers to be sure they have the supplies that they need.
“We’ve been creative to keep supplies on hand,” said Evans. “A friend made masks for all of us and we can get supplies from Aspiranet.”
Sandra Genova, Aspiranet program director for foster care and adoption services, said the nonprofit organization started planning early, so they have enough PPE, masks and gloves, though they need hand sanitizer.
She said they helped foster parents plan for isolation in case they have COVID-19 in the house.
CSA-Stanislaus has also been hosting teleconference trainings for CPS workers and foster families, including sessions about how to talk to children about the pandemic.
“Our social workers are prioritizing safety but also the health and well being of the children,” said Huber. “This is a time to see this work is their calling.”
Both Huber and Genova said they are still recruiting during COVID, because there is always a need for foster parents.
“Don’t let the pandemic scare you,” Evans said, encouraging others to become foster parents, “My favorite thing is seeing the kids happy, content and in a family.”
For information about CSA-Stanislaus foster care program, call 209-558-2110 or visit http://www.csa-stanislaus.com/childrens-services. To report any concerns for child maltreatment, call 1-800-558-3665.
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
To help fund The Bee’s children’s health and economic development reporters with Report for America, go to bitly.com/ModbeeRFA
This story was originally published May 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
