Placement Needed

My email gives a ding. The subject line reads “Placement needed”. Already my mind is going through the different families I have on my caseload. The number of them who can take in a child at that moment is low and as I read through the email it quickly gets lower. Many of the foster families on my caseload simply don’t have the capacity, be it physically or emotionally, to take on another child. Those I have to offer are only able to do a short-term placement. They’re meant for the emergencies. The calls coming in the in the middle of the night or a place for a child to sleep while family it being contacted. I give one a call anyways and they’re able to have the child in their home for a week. I already know this child will need to be in care longer than that. There’s no appropriate family who has been located and birth parents are currently unwilling to work with CPS. It’s the best I have to offer though and none of the other foster care licensing workers have anything better. It’ll mean another move at the end of the week; another scramble to find somewhere for a child to call home while they go through a horrible experience. It’ll mean another layer of trauma as the child moves from one stranger to another. It’s the best we have to offer and is better than sleeping in the office. The thought offers little comfort.

In March of this year, there were 2,161 foster care cases and 561 reports of child abuse assigned to the field for the state of Montana. Of those cases, 236 were from Cascade County. While this number seems staggering, it displays a declining trend in foster care cases for the state demonstrated since 2019.

What happened to the children involved in those 236 cases? For some, they were able to remain in their homes with protective measures being put in place. Others were removed and placed with friends or family members in what is referred to as Kinship Care. The remainder were placed into Regular Youth Foster Care.

While Montana remains third in the country when it comes to placing children with family, it doesn’t negate the need for regular foster care. Involvement with Child and Family services is often generational and can make finding safe family placements difficult. Parents can be unwilling or unable to share the names of people able to care for their children at the time of removal leaving children in limbo. Family members may need time to prepare to have a child placed in their home or are unable to immediately take in a child due to life circumstances. These and other scenarios can lead to a child needing to be placed with a licensed foster family.

In Cascade County there are a total of 75 licensed foster families. They are comprised of single individual households, couples, and families having multiple children of their own. To become a foster parent, individuals must complete the required licensing paperwork, complete background checks, attend training, and undergo a SAFE interview process. The whole process can take up to 6 months but is typically much shorter. Once licensed, families remain fostering for an average of 2.8 years. This is higher than the national average where it is predicted half will close their license in their first year.

Families will choose to close their license for a variety of reasons. Some will close due to changes in life circumstances. Others will close due to achieving permanency through adoption or guardianship. Fostering is hard and the harsh reality is some families will close their license due to their experiences while fostering. Children in foster care have experienced trauma be it from their caregivers or just the removal itself. This can lead them to having behavioral or mental health struggles. Some come into care with medical or developmental issues. With each placement comes appointments with counselors, doctors, CPS workers, and other supportive services. Foster parents can become overwhelmed and experience strains in their personal and professional lives. Working in a flawed system can create feelings of frustration or helplessness. All of this can lead to either the placement of a child disrupting or, ultimately, a family to quit fostering altogether.

Let’s do an exercise. Think of ten things which are important to you and write them down. Cross out five of them. You no longer have access to those five things. Cross out two more things. Those items, collections, or people are no longer there. You’re down to three things on your list. Cross out two more. What is the one thing you have remaining? For many the remaining item will be family in some form or other.

There are times a child is unable to stay with family. For those times it is important to keep as many of the other items on the list as possible. More foster parents mean the chances of finding a placement in their hometown more likely. It means a child not having to switch schools. It means a child being able to be placed with their siblings or at least close to them. All this is accomplished through the presence of foster parents who are willing to open their homes to a child in need. Individuals willing to be there for a child when their whole world has fallen apart. Families who are willing to support not only the child but the family they come from so they can return home or to become their home when they can’t.

The email dings again. Another request for placement. Another child I just don’t have a home for.

For more information or if you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, please call (406) 727-7746 or inquire online at https://dphhs.mt.gov/CFSD/Fosterparent/index