National Advocate program celebrates foster families
By Kirsten Stokes
A nonprofit organization is appreciating foster parents everywhere and celebrating their contributions.
The National Youth Advocate Program offers a range of services for at-risk and vulnerable teens experiencing homelessness, foster care and other forms of trauma.
Kayla Heckaman, a licensing coordinator with the National Youth Advocate Program, helps those interested in foster care become parents and provides them with resources and training.
“We work with foster parents to provide safe and nurturing homes for our foster families,” Heckaman said. “And just offering them a good and safe environment outside of their home.”
In Missouri, more than 12,000 kids are in foster care and in need of a home. Many are accompanied by at least one sibling. One of the common trends Heckaman sees in foster care is a lack of parents to house siblings or more than one child at a time.
“We currently have youth who are living in group homes and shelter who need foster home placements,” she said. “Obviously shelter care and residential facilities and those kinds of things are not ideal for youth.”
Gina Raber is coming up on two years of fostering with her husband and said the experience can not be done alone. She recognizes not everyone has the resources they need.
“I’m in a support group that were are apart of through our church. That’s a huge, huge, support for us,” she said. “I have a cleaning lady that comes to my house so that I can focus on kiddos.”
Even if fostering a child is not something you can take on, Raber said there are still plenty of ways to help like making meals for parents or helping clean so parents can focus on the children. Attending fundraisers and asking questions of a foster parent to get their insight also helps, she said.
The National Youth Advocate Program provides 24/7 support to foster parents, comprehensive educational opportunities and a holistic approach to serving families so they can better care for youth experiencing care.
