Budget Initiative to Find Foster Children Permanent Homes
posted 10:59 pm Tue December 18, 2007 - Across The ABC-13 Viewing Area
We're talking about 36-million dollars, which would pay foster parents more, as well as provide better training and resources. Funds many say is for the future of the Commonwealth.
Deirdre Banks, Adoptive Parent - "She really knows family now, she knows family, she knows what family is all about."Alizabeth Banks was just two when her family adopted her.
Banks - "It's a very successful story, she's doing well, you know, excelling in all areas, so I have no regrets."
But others aren't as lucky. Many children stay in foster care -- bouncing from home to home -- waiting to go back to their families or get adopted.
Meg Cosby, DePaul Family Services - "It's how do we make our children healthy, how do we help them grow the best that they can? And having the support from Governor Kaine is absolutely vital."
Virginia ranks 50th in the nation for getting kids into permanent homes. Here in Lynchburg and Campbell County 310 children are in foster care -- fifty of them up for adoption. First Lady Anne Holton has encouraged this initiative. As a Juvenile and Domestic court judge, she saw plenty of need for permanent homes.
Anne Holton, Virginia's First Lady - "Virginia is not doing particularly well by these young people right now, particularly our older kids in foster care."
Kaine's proposal could change that -- providing more money for better training, resources and
Sue Bentley, DePaul Family Services - "The more support we can give them, the more successful they will be."
On average right now, foster parents receive about 500-hundred dollars a month -- that would jump to more than six-hundred. And they hope increasing that will allow for more recruitment and better retention in foster care -- of course, this will all have to be approved by the General Assembly.
If you're interested in becoming a foster parent -- it requires quite a bit of training, background checks and home studies -- the application process is about three to six months. You can call your local department of social services or DePaul Family Services for more information.
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