Typical Excuses Groundless

Sat., Oct. 2, 1999

Valerie Marshall Special To Opinion

Pictures of needy children with big bellies living in Third World countries are what gripped my heart, appealed to my conscience and compelled me to write those checks to sponsor a child. In my job as a program manager for the Division of Children and Family Services, I am no longer looking at pictures but actually gazing into the eyes of sad and hurting children who do not live in other countries, states or cities, but they live right here in our back yard, Spokane.

Many people I have met in Spokane will agree that this is a great city for raising kids. Yet for some children it has been a living hell. Some have not eaten for days because they are too young to fix their own meals. Some have black eyes and do not know how to call 911. Despite their bruised bodies and scarred emotions, some still love and are attached to the perpetrators. Some have been sexually molested by someone they knew and trusted. No, you may never see their pictures on television or plastered on billboards as an appeal for help but believe me, they do exist. They exist right here in our own back yard, Spokane.

Because of all this, there is a critical need for foster and adoptive parents who will care for children, adolescents, teens, medically and physically challenged children from all ethnic groups. As I recruit foster parents, the most common excuses I hear are: “I’m afraid of attachment and having the kids taken away” or “I’m single,” or “I have no one to care for the children while I’m at work.”

When I share how healthy and important attachment is to a child, that child care is paid for working foster parents and that we do have some single foster parents, there are no longer excuses. They then must make a choice.

I made that choice. I met a teenager in foster care who was a victim of circumstances. I became a licensed foster parent. I have been a social worker for 21 years but the most fulfilling choice I made was to share my home and heart with a foster child. She will graduate in the year 2000.

Even if you can’t be a foster parent, everyone in the community can assist in some way. Businesses can offer incentives to employees who become foster parents or offer discounts. Dental care is much needed, so every dental office could make a commitment to sponsor a foster child. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent or contributing to the foster parent program in some way, please call our local number, (800) 558-3040.

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