Youth Villages trains and supports therapeutic foster parents

When Joshua came to live with Frances Robinson in 2012, the 6-year-old was not able walk on his own and only ate through a feeding tube. At 37 pounds, he was underweight and in need of an advocate and medical supervision for his developmental delays, lung disorder and cerebral palsy. 

Today, he weighs nearly 60 pounds and is able to take steps on his own and eat pureed foods. Most importantly, he has an adopted mom. 

When Robinson first met him, she said there was an instant connection. She knew from the beginning that he was up for adoption and felt called to be the one to adopt him. The adoption was finalized in July 2013.

“Joshua was a miracle to me, and I think I was a miracle to him,” Robinson said. “He takes my mind off of my disability, and I hope I am taking his mind off of his. He’s my baby, and I protect him and care for him as if I gave birth to him.”

Robinson’s relationship with Joshua began with Youth Villages’ therapeutic foster care program. 

“The Lord put it on my heart to help someone else,” she said. “I was single and didn’t have any dependents of my own.”

Like children in traditional foster care, those in therapeutic care have been taken into custody by DHR because of abuse or neglect, but they require more one-on-one time from foster parents due to a medical diagnosis or an abuse history they are working through. 

Youth Villages currently serves 22 youth in therapeutic foster care from its Homewood office. As of January 2014, there were 990 children in foster care in Jefferson County, according to DHR. Of those, 158 children were in therapeutic foster care. 

The key to Youth Villages’ program is being a key partner for these foster families and children.

“We offer support to all the families because we know taking care of a child, period, you need support, and we want to make it as rewarding an experience as possible,” said Christi Koons, foster parent recruiter for Youth Villages.

The organization not only offers foster parents free training but also regular meetings with a counselor, reimbursement for the costs of bringing a child into the home, free continuing training, 24/7 support and respite care for the weekend.

Counselors work with the foster child one hour a week and the family one hour a week.

The next free 12-week training class starts in May and is held on Tuesday nights at Youth Villages’ office on Beacon Parkway in West Homewood.

 “We try to get them educated about our children so they graduate ready to take on this new role,” Koons said.

Following the class, parents work with a placement specialist to receive a child in their home.

“We try to connect the needs of the family with the best parent equipped to meet those needs,” said Bethany Sanders, regional manager of Alabama for Youth Villages. “We get several referrals in a week and need as many parents as possible to make the best match. We would love to have two to three times as many parents as referrals.”

Youth Villages is also in need of respite parents to care for children temporarily for a break for the full-time foster parents. Robinson continues to serve in this capacity.

Often, biological families are still very involved with children in foster care, meeting their children first for short supervised visits and eventually having the children overnight on weekends.

In fact, Youth Villages encourages foster parents to help them reconnect with their families with an ultimate goal of placing them back with their biological families if that is possible.

“We encourage our parents to play the same role they would play with their biological children and to be an advocate for the child if their needs are not being met,” Sanders said.

Some foster parents are retired and have no other children at home. Others take in children who can become playmates for their children, and both can have a positive impact on each other. No matter their life stage, all therapeutic foster parents have one key quality in common.

“It’s a calling, and you have to have your heart in it to help a child in need,” Sanders said. “These are kids who have been through abuse and neglect that makes coping with everyday schedules and structure in life more difficult. The parents that are willing to put in the time for the training and commit to supervision needs are harder to be able to find. It’s a bigger commitment that they have to make.”

For more information, visit youthvillages.org, call 917-2966 or email foster@youthvillages.org.

Story Update as of April 27: The next foster training will start in June.