County Tries New Tack in Effort to Attract More Foster Families

Orange County supervisors adopted a new strategy Tuesday in their effort to reverse the two-year decline in the number of the county’s foster families.

Supervisors voted unanimously to contract with one or more of 47 state-licensed agencies to help recruit foster parents--especially for hard-to-place children with medical or emotional problems.

Such contracts would be working agreements only and would cost the county no additional money.

“Home-finding agencies act as a broker and a support network for foster families,” said Larry Leaman, director of the county Social Services Agency.

Because the state reimburses the home-finding agencies at higher rates than the direct county reimbursement to foster parents, “they provide services such as training and support, at a more intense level than counties are funded to provide,” Leaman said.

The number of foster families in Orange County declined from 687 in January, 1984, to 583 in December, 1985. Meanwhile, the number of children entering county custody climbed 15%, according to county officials.

With fewer homes available as more children enter the system, Orangewood, the county’s 170-bed emergency shelter, has had to handle the overflow with temporary cots in a gymnasium.

To reverse the trend, supervisors in May approved a $30,000 public relations campaign aimed at attracting new foster parents. They also approved hiring a part-time social worker’s assistant to train existing foster families in how to provide care for children with special problems.

Since January, Leaman said, 28 new foster families have been recruited in Orange County, marking the first increase since 1984. But he said the number of children continues to climb, especially those with special needs.

These include children with such congenital problems as drug addiction, venereal disease, AIDS and life-threatening respiratory problems, as well as emotional problems arising from physical and/or sexual abuse.

The average foster parent is generally ill-equipped to handle these cases, which is why the county is turning to home-finding agencies, Leaman explained.

County children’s services officials already have begun talks with Guadalupe Homes, a group home operator and foster family recruitment agency serving several counties.

Anticipating an eventual contract here, Guadalupe Homes has opened a small facility in Garden Grove.

But Leaman said his agency will send out letters soliciting proposals from all licensed home-finding agencies in California by the end of this week. It is possible that the county would contract with more than one agency, he said.

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley expressed support for the program but also was concerned that it might further erode the existing foster parent pool. He asked children’s services officials to submit detailed reports every two months showing the gains accrued by the program.

“The actions taken to remedy our limited number of foster homes are encouraging,” Riley said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “However, I want to know if, in fact, they are paying off in increased foster homes.”