Plea for more foster families

There are about 1,400 children is foster in Idaho – 250 right here in Eastern Idaho. During foster care awareness month, The Idaho Department of Health & Welfare wants to get the word out that there is still an urgent need for foster families.

Rexburg residents David and dawn Pulsipher have had a bout 30 foster kids in their home over the past 17 years.

“We’ve been extraordinarily blessed in our lives,” David said. “With that, comes the responsibility to share with people who may not have been blessed in the same way.”

Dawn recalls how they got started in foster care 17 year ago.

“It was mostly just the feeling that we wanted to open our home to make a safe place for children to come stay with us,” Dawn said.

Chris Freeburne, who is a program manager over foster care, says it’s important for people to realize these aren’t bad kids – they’re kids from bad situations.

“The general public thinks kids come into foster care because of things like juvenile delinquency or something that they’ve done, but all children are victims of abuse or neglect, so they are most often declared to be in imminent danger by law enforcement,” Freeburne said.

Freeburn says one of he biggest reasons children have to be removed from their homes is because of drug or alcohol abuse by the parents.

Dawn Pulsipher says when those kids come her home, her own children see firsthand some important lessons.

“It’s helped our children know that the choices they make have consequences, and if they choose to do drugs, or sell drugs or become incarcerated, their children can be taken away,” Dawn said.

Foster care officials say one myth about foster care is that families have to be a family like the Pulsiphers, with two parents and a mother who stays home with the kids.

“You can be single,” Freeburne said. “You can live in an apartment. You can also be working.”

The other qualifications are you must be at least 21, pass a background check and have a home study.

For those who want to help, but are not able to make the commitment like the Pulsiphers to have foster children live with them, there is also the CASA program. That stands for court appointed special advocate. They usually spend around 6 hours a month checking up on a child in foster care and advocating for them.

Stacy McAlevy, who is the executive director of the local CASA program explains what the volunteers do.

“They’re in the homes,” McAlevy said. “They’re in the schools. They’re talking to teachers. They’re talking to counselors. They’re talking to everyone that’s involved with the children. They report back to the judge. So, it’s rewarding to know you’re making a difference in the life of a child.”

There are some challenges involved with being a foster family, but the Pulsipher family sees some rewards too.

“You get to make a lot of new friends and you get to know a lot of different people,” daughter Grace said.

“I’ve actually bonded with a lot of people that we’ve taken in — one in particular that we had for a few years. We just kind of became friends and it was good,” son Michael said.

“They kind of felt like family and so it just felt right to treat them like family,” daughter Katherine said.

Foster families receive a monthly stipend to cover expenses for having the children in their homes. There is a need for foster families and CASA volunteers. To find out more about foster care, call Chris Freeburne with the Health & Welfare Department at 208-528-5900. For information about the CASA program, call Stacy McAlevy at 208-523-6525.