Wanted: foster parents to meet growing need in Escambia County
- May 18, 2015
- / Mollye Barrows
- / government
Dana Walker has her hands and house full.
The 42-year-old Cantonment mother has three children of her own, ranging in age from 12 to 17, plus an adopted toddler, and two baby girls she is fostering.
"I love taking care of the kids," said Walker, as she held 4-month-old "Baby A" in her lap. "I love being that go-to person for them, that mom, or my husband being that dad for them, that they may not have at home."
[caption id="attachment_23512" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Dana Walker with her 18-month-old, adopted daughter Emma. Emma was in foster care when she was placed with the Walkers. Investigators removed the child from her parents for neglect.[/caption]
The Walkers became licensed foster parents four years ago. Since then they've fostered 18 children and adopted one, 18-month-old Emma. They took her in when she was just two-months-old, after child welfare workers removed the infant from her Milton home for neglect.
"There was a lot of filth in the house," Walker said. "Dad was strung out on spice and marijuana when the CPI’s (Child Protection Investigators) got to the house to investigate. There were dead animals in the floor that he didn’t even know were there. She was strapped in her car seat, with a bottle propped in her mouth and she was filthy."
Now the toddler is a part of their family, which limits the number of additional foster children the Walkers can take.
"This last year, we’ve really seen an increase in kids coming into care. We’re called constantly but we can’t take them because our house is full with six kids," said Walker.
There's a tremendous need for foster families right now. FamiliesFirst Network of Lakeview, the local agency that handles child protective services for the Florida Department of Children and Families, had 1,270 children in foster care as of May 1, a 31 percent increase since January of last year.
The entire state of Florida has seen a 15 percent increase over the last two years.
"We are definitely well above the state average,"said Shawn Salamida, President FamiliesFirst Network, "when you look at the number of abuse hotline calls and the number of children who are removed from their homes and put in foster care and the overall number of children in foster care. Now over the last year, it’s gotten significantly more problematic."
Salamida says part of the reason for the increase is reaction to media coverage about how effectively the state investigates complaints about child safety. They're also seeing a lot of cases related to substance abuse and domestic violence. The agency now is working more closely with protective service investigators.
"We’re actually working with DCF (Department of Children and Families) right now and a lot of our community providers to try to keep the child in the home and keep them there safely," said Salamida. "How can we make sure if a child is removed that it’s absolutely necessary because it’s traumatic for a child to be removed and brought into foster care."
In the meantime, the agency doesn't have enough beds in the four county area from Escambia to Okaloosa, to meet the growing need. Children end up leaving their community and going to other counties, even cities as far away as Tallahassee.
The agency hopes a progressive, new digital media campaign will help them recruit more foster parents and provide more beds closer to home. Using data based on past and present foster parents for the past three years, FamiliesFirst created an ad campaign targeting people who met the profile of a likely foster parent.
"Our target market is women, 24 to 54," said Linda Roush, FamiliesFirst community relations director. "They are primarily the ones who make decisions about what goes on in their homes and they’re the ones who make the call about being a foster parent."
They're running ads on Pandora, Facebook, and other digital media. Until now, recruitment was up to the caseworker, "kind of on the side," Salamida said. Now, it's in the hands of their marketing team and they're already seeing results.
"We started running ads in February," said Roush. "We had been in the hole prior to that when it came to the number of available beds. Now we've added nearly 30 beds. We also had been getting around 25 inquiries a month, from potential foster parents through the online orientation. Now we're getting 35 on average. We follow up on all of them."
Those interested in becoming foster parents can learn more on the FamiliesFirst website. Salamida says reuniting families safely is their first priority, but when that's not possible, the community has always been good about stepping up.
He hopes the ad campaign will help get the word out, the need is now greater than ever.
"What the community can do is number one, be aware of the issue," said Salamida. "I think community leaders need to be aware of the issue and look at ways that we can offer support to families in the form of, are we offering the right drug treatment? Are we offering the right domestic violence programs?
"Certainly stepping up and being a foster parent would be a huge help right now. Even if we change this trend and are able to prevent children from coming in at the rate that they are, we’re always going to need foster parents, we’re always going to need adoptive parents."
The Walkers are happy be to both foster and adoptive parents, but it's not without its challenges including court and doctors appointments, mentoring parents, and taking care of their biological children. Walker says it's worth it to help struggling children and families.
If given the opportunity, she would also adopt "Baby A." The child has persistent reflux, complications from being exposed to cocaine. Walker has kept her since she was five days old and says the real reward is watching these children grow.
"You have little ones that come in, like she came in at 4 pounds and here she is at 13 pounds," said Walker with a smile, "and you see her growing and thriving and doing what she’s supposed to do. She has overcome hurdles. She’s getting there. I would do it all over again."
Dana Walker with her 18-month-old, adopted daughter Emma. Emma was in foster care when she was placed with the Walkers. Investigators removed the child from her parents for neglect.[/caption]
The Walkers became licensed foster parents four years ago. Since then they've fostered 18 children and adopted one, 18-month-old Emma. They took her in when she was just two-months-old, after child welfare workers removed the infant from her Milton home for neglect.
"There was a lot of filth in the house," Walker said. "Dad was strung out on spice and marijuana when the CPI’s (Child Protection Investigators) got to the house to investigate. There were dead animals in the floor that he didn’t even know were there. She was strapped in her car seat, with a bottle propped in her mouth and she was filthy."
Now the toddler is a part of their family, which limits the number of additional foster children the Walkers can take.
"This last year, we’ve really seen an increase in kids coming into care. We’re called constantly but we can’t take them because our house is full with six kids," said Walker.
There's a tremendous need for foster families right now. FamiliesFirst Network of Lakeview, the local agency that handles child protective services for the Florida Department of Children and Families, had 1,270 children in foster care as of May 1, a 31 percent increase since January of last year.
The entire state of Florida has seen a 15 percent increase over the last two years.
"We are definitely well above the state average,"said Shawn Salamida, President FamiliesFirst Network, "when you look at the number of abuse hotline calls and the number of children who are removed from their homes and put in foster care and the overall number of children in foster care. Now over the last year, it’s gotten significantly more problematic."
Salamida says part of the reason for the increase is reaction to media coverage about how effectively the state investigates complaints about child safety. They're also seeing a lot of cases related to substance abuse and domestic violence. The agency now is working more closely with protective service investigators.
"We’re actually working with DCF (Department of Children and Families) right now and a lot of our community providers to try to keep the child in the home and keep them there safely," said Salamida. "How can we make sure if a child is removed that it’s absolutely necessary because it’s traumatic for a child to be removed and brought into foster care."
In the meantime, the agency doesn't have enough beds in the four county area from Escambia to Okaloosa, to meet the growing need. Children end up leaving their community and going to other counties, even cities as far away as Tallahassee.
The agency hopes a progressive, new digital media campaign will help them recruit more foster parents and provide more beds closer to home. Using data based on past and present foster parents for the past three years, FamiliesFirst created an ad campaign targeting people who met the profile of a likely foster parent.
"Our target market is women, 24 to 54," said Linda Roush, FamiliesFirst community relations director. "They are primarily the ones who make decisions about what goes on in their homes and they’re the ones who make the call about being a foster parent."
They're running ads on Pandora, Facebook, and other digital media. Until now, recruitment was up to the caseworker, "kind of on the side," Salamida said. Now, it's in the hands of their marketing team and they're already seeing results.
"We started running ads in February," said Roush. "We had been in the hole prior to that when it came to the number of available beds. Now we've added nearly 30 beds. We also had been getting around 25 inquiries a month, from potential foster parents through the online orientation. Now we're getting 35 on average. We follow up on all of them."
Those interested in becoming foster parents can learn more on the FamiliesFirst website. Salamida says reuniting families safely is their first priority, but when that's not possible, the community has always been good about stepping up.
He hopes the ad campaign will help get the word out, the need is now greater than ever.
"What the community can do is number one, be aware of the issue," said Salamida. "I think community leaders need to be aware of the issue and look at ways that we can offer support to families in the form of, are we offering the right drug treatment? Are we offering the right domestic violence programs?
"Certainly stepping up and being a foster parent would be a huge help right now. Even if we change this trend and are able to prevent children from coming in at the rate that they are, we’re always going to need foster parents, we’re always going to need adoptive parents."
The Walkers are happy be to both foster and adoptive parents, but it's not without its challenges including court and doctors appointments, mentoring parents, and taking care of their biological children. Walker says it's worth it to help struggling children and families.
If given the opportunity, she would also adopt "Baby A." The child has persistent reflux, complications from being exposed to cocaine. Walker has kept her since she was five days old and says the real reward is watching these children grow.
"You have little ones that come in, like she came in at 4 pounds and here she is at 13 pounds," said Walker with a smile, "and you see her growing and thriving and doing what she’s supposed to do. She has overcome hurdles. She’s getting there. I would do it all over again."
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