Here Are Ways You Can Help Foster Parents
If you read last week’s column, you know the dire shortage of both traditional and kinship foster families in Oklahoma. Numerous state officials are pleading with Oklahomans, just like you and me, to consider opening their homes to foster children. There are children in our community in need of […]
• Ask the child’s name or the name he/she will be going by then be sure to use that name. Avoid referring to the child with labels like “the foster kid.”
• Donate clothes or essentials if you know a family recently welcomed a child. Budget cuts have eliminated clothing vouchers for foster children, often leaving them coming into custody with only the clothes on their backs. In our new facility, Ray of Hope will proudly house an emergency clothing closet to help defray the foster child’s immediate needs.
• Gift diapers, formula or a few small toys. Remember, no vouchers mean zero upfront assistance with baby essentials.
• Local entertainment venues could consider a “foster day” to help make it more affordable. Some families care for multiple foster kids, so activities such as bowling, movies, zoos or trampoline parks are very expensive for everyone to enjoy together.
• Don’t ask why the child has been removed from his/her home. Foster children have already lost so much of their privacy, and most of that information is privileged and not to be shared.
Much more here…
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