by Tori Hamby
Fifteen children have been placed into the temporary or permanent custody of Denver couple Kim and Ted Palmer.
Not counting their two biological children, a 14- and a 16-year-old, they have adopted one child, found adoptive families for two foster children currently in their custody and helped reunite children with parents who needed help getting back on their feet.
The Palmers are one of Lincoln County?s 17 foster families, although three are only licensed to take care of relatives, such as grandchildren, nieces or nephews. Six of the county?s foster families live in the Denver area.
?To see children go from hurting and feeling sad to being able to laugh again is amazing,? Kim Palmer said.
Out of the 71 Lincoln County children in foster care, 16 live with families within the county as of Oct. 31, said Sandy Kennedy, foster care and adoption program manager for the Lincoln County Department of Social Services.
Being forced to move away from home, she said, creates even more disruptions after a child is removed from their family. This means the department needs more local families to meet the county?s needs. Ideally, Kennedy said, the county needs about eight more foster families to bring its total up to 25.
?Our goal is to keep those children stable,? she said. ?They don?t need to lose school teachers or neighborhood friends or that one nurse or doctor they have a special bond with.?
When choosing a foster family for a child, Kennedy said, DSS staff members look at factors such as the number of children living in a home and their ages. Some children might need a stay-at-home parent or two parents living in the home.
Prospective foster families go through an extensive vetting process that includes a 30-hour mandatory training class, home inspections, interviews with licensing workers and criminal background and reference checks.
There are challenges that prospective foster families need to be aware of before pursuing the application process, Palmer said. Her teenage kids, for example, have had to share their rooms and their parents.
?My 16-year-old shares a room with a 7-year-old and my 14-year-old has shared a room with an infant,? she said. ?They?ve had to sacrifice, but they share the same heart that we do when it comes to opening our home.?
Foster parents can also become attached to the children in their care, she said, creating feelings of sadness and anxiety when it?s time for them to go live with their permanent families.
?The question we get asked 99.9 percent of the time is ?How can you watch a child leave after you?ve become attached??? Palmer said. ?But you have to remember that its not about you, its about the children.?
Once a child is placed in a foster home, county social service and court workers try to come up with a plan to place a child with a permanent family within one to two years, Kennedy said. That could mean the child might return to its birth family or the county finds an adoptive family.
?Our overarching goal is to achieve permanence,? Kennedy said.
Kim Palmer said one of the most rewarding aspects of foster parenting is watching a family reunite. In one case, she said, she and her husband fostered the children of two teenage parents.
In addition to providing a safe and secure environment for the kids, the Palmers helped mentor the young couple and taught them the ins and outs of parenthood.
?To watch a family be reunited is the greatest reward you will ever get,? Kim Palmer said. ?We got to hand their children back to them and say, ?Hey, you?re going to do a great job.??
In the case of the two foster children living in the Palmer home ? a 7- and 10-year-old ? they will soon be adopted by family friends of the Palmers.
Nine Lincoln County children have either been adopted by their foster families or outside families so far this year, Kennedy said.
?We just try to make them feel as secure as possible so they can begin to trust people again,? Kim Palmer said. ?Trust is the key.?
By the numbers
? 17 ? Number of approved foster families in Lincoln County
? 6? ? Number of approved foster families in Denver
? 25 ? Number of families that Lincoln County DSS hopes will volunteer themselves as approved foster families
? 71 ? Number of Lincoln County children currently living with foster families
Interested in helping?
Call the Lincoln County Department of Social Service at 704-732-0738 to learn more about the foster parent application process. The department provides the following services:
? Recruiting, licensing and supporting foster families
? Recruiting adoptive families
? Performing home studies
? Providing independent living services for teens
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Source: http://denverncweekly.com/news/2012/11/county-dss-we-need-more-foster-families/
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