COVID-19 impacts foster children
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Local foster care agencies in Monterey County say they are now recruiting families for children in need of homes, even those who may have been exposed to COVID-19.
More than 300 children currently await foster homes in Monterey County.
January Brown is a peer recruiter for Family to Family and says the need for homes is growing.
Brown says the agency she works for has successfully found homes for some children but also says there are still many children who are left with no families to take them in.
She says many of these children are now having to be placed in group homes or transferred to different counties that are sometimes hundreds of miles away.
Brown and Steve Duran, a foster parent and worker at Peacock Acres in Salinas, say the pandemic has made it more difficult for them to find families who are willing to take children in.
"Folks are a little bit fearful of kids who have possibly been exposed to the COVID-19 and that's become a challenge right now in Monterey County," says Duran.
Duran began volunteering at Peacock Acres when he was 17 years old and has taken in around 20 children throughout his life.
He says he always knew he wanted to be a father.
Agencies like Family to Family and Peacock acres say grief and trauma can likely occur and be harmful to the children as they try to cope with circumstances out of their control.
"Studies have shown that children do much better when they're able to stay in their own communities. That's why it's very important right now that we find resource families and foster homes right here," says Brown.
Family to family has made virtual changes in their parent application process to accommodate those who are sheltering at home.
"It's completely safe. I mean, you want to view the children not as foster children...as children. There's so many precautions you can take, the same precautions you would take in your own home. This is the time," says Brown.
She says social workers and emergency response teams in Monterey County are still conducting welfare checks for children and families 24 hours a day.
Other resources like food and clothes are also available to the foster children and foster families.
To find out more visit www.f2fmc.org or peacockacres.org
