JOURNEY HOME OFFERS INSIGHT INTO FOSTER CARE
Monday, May 15th, 2006 -- 10:20 AM
Audio - 2:00Dozens of area residents learned more about Foster Care during a special event last Friday.
Tammy Karlen, Foster Care and Daycare Coordinator with the Clark County Social Services Department, says May is National Foster Care Month.
?Families go through all kinds of crisis. Sometimes when those happen, they can?t care for their children,? Karlen says. ?Their children are removed because it got to the point they couldn?t care for them, they were abusive, something happened.?
During last week?s ?Journey Home? bus tour, participants heard addresses from Social Services Director Gary Lehn (LANE) and Clark County Circuit Court Judge Jon Counsell.
Then, they took a bus to Calvary Lutheran Church where observers saw reenactments of three typical home settings that lead to foster home placement: physical abuse, neglect/drugs and sexual abuse.
Currently, Clark County has 14 licensed foster families, 23 foster children and 18 children placed in ?kinship homes? ? which are unlicensed homes of relatives.
Karlen says the goal of foster care is always to return the children to their biological parents when the situation allows.
Foster families are always needed.
?We always have a need. We have a huge need for families that can deal with teens. That?s our biggest gap in the system,? Karlen explains. ?Sometimes we place three or four (siblings) at a time ? not many homes have room for that many children.?
If you?d like more information on foster care, you can call your local Social Services department.
On the Web:
Info on Foster Care in Wisconsin
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.