There are over 5,000 Foster Care children in the Contra Costa area. The system by which they are serviced is complex. Within the system there is a network of government and private service providers that try to stem the tide of sadness that surrounds the subject matter and to lead each and every story within to a happy ending.
Children generally wind up in Foster Care through the actions of Child Protection Services (CPS) and through a minor path by the acts of surrendering children, mostly newborns or abandoned children. There is about a 3-6 month window during which CPS and the courts try to reunite the children, but should things fail a longer term foster care arrangement has become the more common arc of involvement.
There is a group of private agencies, such as Agape Villages (previously known as Sierra Children’s Home) that may give some insight in the functioning here. Started by members of the Church of Christ over 50 years ago, it still remains as a faith-based group but it does not require potential adoptive families to attend their church services or to be of their particular religious persuasion, although several positions on their Board of Directors still remains reserved for the Church Elders.
Currently the Agape Villages Agency—which is headquartered in San Ramon and has placement field offices in Dublin, Manteca and Sacramento—has served for the first 7 months of the year:
186 Foster Children
91 New Children in care this year
97 Foster Children Currently in Care
77 Certified Foster Families
The law requires that children be placed not more than 2 hours from a placement office so that there is a reasonable reaction range to the location of the home. The agency provides weekly in-home visits and quarterly support sessions at its offices for the families. There is a bit of competition between the foster agencies for foster homes since the key to the operation is being able to match up the kids ‘in need’ with the parents ‘in want.’
The state of California sets a monthly enumeration for Foster Parents based on a range of factors and this is channeled through the Agency to the Foster Parents. To this monetary and MediCal support, the Agency itself then tacks on what ‘perks’ it can in terms of additional material support as well as training, counseling, and the like. Budget cuts have always been the enemy of Foster Family care and any mainstream attempt to eliminate MediCal could prove disastrous. The California Alliance of Child and Family Services provides legislative and regulatory advocacy regarding a wide range of key policy issues, on behalf of child and family agencies, not much available currently due to the economy.
All Agencies reach out to the local community for corporate sponsorship as well as partnering with charitable societies such as The Rotary Clubs, to add to their ability to sustain the network for the families. The biggest need is simply for caring families and after that there is simple funding.
Agape Villages services are partially supported state funds, but the state funding is not enough. Approximately $7,700 is needed in private funding to support the services to a child for one year while in foster care.
Agape Villages will host a Tee It Up for Kids Golf Tournament, October 17. See the web site for details.
The people at Agape helped in making this summary and if you are interested in contacting them you can go to www.AgapeVillages.org.