Local News - December 2003

Foster families celebrate season

By SARAH GRANO, Staff Writer

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Foster families joined together for pizza, soda and a visit from Santa Claus at a holiday party put on by the  Coalition Against Child Abuse (CACA).

“These foster parents have given their time and opened their home,” said Leigh Ann Johnson, a teacher and CACA board member. “It’s just a way to let them have a special time.”

Families with foster children and adopted children from all over Lincoln County braved rainy winter conditions to celebrate.

Children ranged in age from infants to seniors in high school, and their adoptive and foster parents also varied in age and background.

“I just have a loving caring family,” said Ashley Heaton, a high school senior who was adopted a year and a half ago. “I got a good family.”

Each child at the celebration received a tote bag full of goodies from early child care students at the Lincoln County School of Technology.

Students from the school also helped children wrap angels to be given to their parents as gifts.

The Lincoln County Department of Social Services currently has 55 children in foster care.

There is a growing need in Lincoln County for foster parents, said Sandy Kennedy, supervisor of foster care and adoption at the DSS.

The majority of children in foster care have escaped neglect situations. Some have been taken out of situations due to dependency or neglect.

“I think foster parents are very special people because they are willing to open their hearts and to help a child work through any issues they may have,” Kennedy said.

“They are willing to work at getting that child back to their family, and they treat them like they are their own, which we expect them to.”

Many foster children return to their birth parents, but some have been adopted by their foster parents once it is deemed appropriate by a court.

Those who do become foster parents find the experience both rewarding and frustrating. They have to discipline their new children, but they also receive lots of love.

“These children have never been to the beach before, and we’ve had them three months and have been to the beach five times,” said Bobby Harget, a foster parent of two girls.

Many foster parents have good relationships with the children’s biological parents.

Even so, it’s not easy to let go of the children once they have come into their home.

“I’m going to hate to give them up,” said Wendy Wise, a foster parent. “It’s going to be terrible.”

Foster parents went through 30 hours of training from the DSS. They have had criminal background checks, physicals, home fire inspections and reference checks.

Foster parents can be in their late sixties or 21 years of age. They can be single mothers or married couples.

“We need more foster families to take care of kids,” Heaton said. “There’s a lot of kids in the system.”

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Staff Writer Sarah Grano can be reached at 704-735-3031 or sgrano@ltnews.com

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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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