ILLINOIS
Need for foster care is strong in county
Children entering foster care crave what other children seem to have so easily: a home that feels safe and a family that loves and accepts them. Those kinds of homes are in high demand.
"Lake and McHenry counties are extremely short of foster homes," said Erin Ginn, family development specialist for Uhlich Children's Advantage Network (UCAN) in Vernon Hills. "We have no foster homes in Vernon Hills where our office is located."
Families willing to consider adopting a foster child are most in need, although the agency also needs short-term or emergency foster care homes. "We are always recruiting loving, gentle and committed foster families," said Jodie Doane, vice president of government and community affairs for UCAN.
Currently, UCAN is seeking at least five bilingual (Spanish-English) foster parents/families and 20 English-speaking parents/families. UCAN places children from birth through age 16. The process to become a licensed foster care home takes three to four months. "Our children are missing the everyday things in life, pictures with Santa, an ornament with their name on it, a hug for doing a good job or even praise," Ginn said. "We want someone who is open to accepting a child into their home, willing to accept them as their own."
Carolyne and Mark Osterhues, of Tower Lakes, have fostered six children, and they adopted three, now ages 10, 8 and 3. They currently are fostering an 11-month-old. They became foster parents through Family Care of Illinois, which merged four years ago with Uhlich Children's Home to become Uhlich Children's Advantage Network. Uhlich was started as a Civil War orphanage. The agency offers more than 20 programs for youth and families, including counseling and residential care.
'Goodbye Mom'
Carolyne Osterhues knew that she had reached a milestone moment the
first time her oldest decided to call her Mom. Osterhues was leaving for
work, and her middle child said, "Goodbye, Mom" and then elbowed his big
brother to do the same. And he did.
Osterhues tears up as she talks about her oldest child. "He was older, and we were his fourth home," she said. "There were a lot of issues he came with, but with therapy and follow-through and some pretty basic guidelines of parenting, he came around. He's my hero. He's overcome so much in his short little life."
Ginn said the couple is a good example of foster parents who can make a difference. UCAN's theme this year is: "You Can Be the Change."
"We have two kids who have been in the system for five years, but with their foster parents the entire time," Ginn said. "They're on the honor roll. Their parents take them on vacation with them. They don't isolate them. Their foster parents now will become their legal guardians." Ginn recalled a little girl whose foster family told her that she would be safe there. The little girl looked up and said, "Nobody has ever told me that before."
"There is good that happens in foster care," Ginn said.
"People ask me all the time, 'How do you do this?'" Osterhues said. "You take it one day at a time. There are little hiccups along the road. But we've been so fortunate to have these three beautiful children and the other children who have been in our lives."
Families receive extensive general training and also training on issues specific to their foster child, Doane said. They receive ongoing assistance from UCAN. Although foster children have experienced great trauma, it doesn't have to define them, Doane said. When children are matched with the right families and they feel accepted, a new child emerges.
"A lot of times it is that foster parent who makes the difference for them," Ginn said. "The child finally feels accepted and where they belong."
Diana Newton
4 December 2008
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/vernonhills/news/1313256,vh-foster-120408-s1.article
