There are more children who need a safe and united house than there are adoption Parents capable of providing this roof over their heads, according to an Edmonton agency which facilitates the search for houses for children in care.
“We have these vulnerable little people where their family members could go through a crisis and they do not have the necessary support,” said the mother of Foster, Carrie, who has welcomed children in her house for two decades.
Global News does not disclose Carrie’s surname for reasons of confidentiality and security.
“My heart breaks to know that there are thousands of children who just need this person, this person temporarily to be a safe place, to be safe, to be able to be supported.
“We are lucky if you have a person in your life who can be there for you and some of these children have no one.”
Mcman Foster Care said he was urgently looking for new parents with a host family in Edmonton and the surrounding area as soon as possible.
“Becoming a parent family is an incredibly enriching experience,” said Corie Entrop, head of the northern Mcman Foster Care program.
“We know it’s difficult work. Sometimes it is ungrateful work, but we need to need people who want to give back and can provide care to children who need it. ”
Children in terms of care have often undergone trauma and need an adult attentive to guide them, said entrop, adding that Mcman provides continuous support to caregivers who wish to become reception parents.
“Mcman Foster Care is with them at each stage of the process, so they are never alone when they become a parent with a foster family,” said Entrop.
MCMAN has received a new contract with the Alberta government to support 75 additional children in terms of care in the region and needs parents to help meet the need – And it’s just with Mcman, who is one of the many agencies working with children and family services to find houses for children in terms of care.
“We know that in the province there is a family investment crisis and there are thousands of children who need safe places,” said Entrop.
“This is a great concern because they must be quite creative, perhaps on the way they place children, ensuring that they have a safe place.
For more than three decades, the organization has provided family investment services in the Edmonton region (the city, as well as surrounding communities such as Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Leduc, Sherwood Park, etc.) and northern Alberta such as Bonnyville, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie and Whitecourt.
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When there are not enough reception houses in a region, the children taken care of are forced to leave their community – lose their friends, their schools and their family relationships when they have to move.
Mcman Foster Care said that his goal was to keep the children near their biological families and in their schools.
“It is not ideal because they already lose their house,” said Entrop. “Sometimes schools, in particular, are the safe place for children, so we really want to keep children in their communities.
“If we can cultivate the number of families we have in this area, children can stay in their own communities and they are also closer to visiting their families.”
Carrie said that some of her children came from outside the province in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and that it is a lot of work to make sure they are going home to visit an extended family – highlighting the need for more host families in more communities.
“We need this bridge. We need this person who is close to us so that these children can work to return to their family. ”
Carrie said that being a reception parent becomes a global lifestyle.
“I have been fed on everything you want me to have been for 19 years,” said Carrie with a smile.
“For some, I am” mom “, to some, I am” aunt “
Some children remain temporarily in their host home – but for others, they find a new family.
“At my house, we have five that we have adopted. We have one who is currently in care, one who has aged but who still lives with us, the one we transferred to us, then I faced some adults who needed a place to be, “she said, adding that all these people still have relationships and links with their organic families.
“Sometimes you can’t go home, but that doesn’t mean the relationship for this child should stop there.”
McMan Foster Care said that he was looking for in particular indigenous families and allies for children and young people in the LGBTQ2 community.
To become a reception parent, you must be at least 21 years old and resident of Alberta.
Reception houses must be safe, stable and attentive environments, so that other eligibility conditions include that reception parents being financially stable, without major diseases, have no major trauma during the past year, as a death in the family or divorce.
Couples who seek to be reception parents do not need to be legally married or have their own house, but if living together had to be in a stable relationship for 12 months and be able to provide their child with their own room. Singles can also promote, as long as they have an appropriate support network.
In order to give their children with a foster family the attention they need, the reception parents should not have children less than the age of a living at home or expect a baby – but also have direct experience linked to child care. Families are paid to assume responsibility, said entrop.
“They are given money to help maintain the expenses of the child, as well as skill costs every day for the child, when the child is at home. But with the cost of living and with all that goes, you will not become rich for promotion,” said entrop.
Carrie echoes this feeling, adding for her that it is a fulfilling lifestyle.
“There is certainly help to be able to add to the grocery list – my grocery list is huge because I have 11 people at home. It is therefore useful to be able to have these additional funds to be able to make sure of having milk jugs in the house, “she said.
That said, Carrie noted in an ideal situation, the foster family care would be temporary.
“If the system worked better, I would not be necessary. This is the net profit. We would have children who would be gathered with their families. We would be children in their community. We would be in the support network of which these children did not have to come to my house. ”
Entrop noted that nourishing parents receive the last word on which the children enter their home, so that everyone is satisfied with life arrangement.
“The foster families are not forced to take an age that they do not want or something like that – so sometimes there can be a 15 -year -old young person who needs a placement, but we only have beds for smaller beds, say.”
There are other requirements and the entire process from start to finish should take five to six months. Carrie said it was a growth life for all those involved.
“You learn with your children. You learn different opinions in the world and you start to grow as a person while you cultivate your children. ”
She said that she had personally taken the job to help her children with foster family find and establish links with their widened families.
“There is a feeling of reward when you can connect a family member to a lost child. And therefore I hope that other people will think of potentially opening their homes and being this bridge to help.”