Navigating foster care resources in St. Joseph

By Kirsten Stokes

With more than 12,000 Missouri kids in foster care waiting to be adopted, returned to family or looped in the system, several St. Joseph organizations work to lighten the burden for families and make the transition smoother.

“(The number) is coming down,” said Melissa Selsor with the Missouri Department of Social Services. “I think a lot of them (foster children) are closing and coming to permanency, so that means that they’ve got a family to live with or they’ve been reunified.”

The process of becoming a foster parent takes around four months and consists of fingerprinting, a 30-hour training program and thorough home studies to ensure the suitability of the potential foster parent. For new foster parents unsure where to begin, there are organizations dedicated to the temporary placement of children in St. Joseph through counseling, mental health advisory, shelter and essentials for a more comfortable transition.

For cases with allegations of abuse, Voices of Courage Child Advocacy Center aims to give children a safe space to share their stories and be heard. By doing this, each child can be assisted in the best way possible.

“Kids get interviewed here so that we can find out what happened to them, let them tell their story and then let the investigator do their job,” said Melissa Birdsell, executive director of Voices of Courage.

A child can experience confusion when placed in their care, possibly thinking they’re going to a doctor’s appointment or a relative’s house, which is why it’s important to communicate and make them feel safe.

“So that’s another part of our job … informing the caregivers whether that’s a foster parent, a biological relative … to talk that process through with the kids so they are understanding. We don’t want them to be blindsided,” said Whitney Coats, Voices of Courage child and family advocate.

“You want to build trust,” Coats said.

When a child is uprooted and placed in the care of unfamiliar faces, it’s more than just their identity that can be lost in transit; it can be the sweater on their back or the shoes they need to walk into a temporary home.

That’s why organizations like Kaden’s Closet provide first-night bags to ensure that at least on the first night of staying with a foster family, things like hygiene products and clean undergarments are provided.

“Everything we give is just to help them feel better about themselves because they are going into a strange environment,” said Rowena Atkins, Kaden’s Closet. “They need a sense of security with them and so we try and provide what we can with them.”

And something as simple as a crate can make all the difference.

“We fill the crate up with as much as we can get in it, and then when they take it home, they can get their things out,” Atkins said. “And when they leave the foster home, they take it with them”.

Selsor talked about specific programs that help struggling or new foster parents.

“We have a foster care ambassador program where we’ve brought in foster care parents from around the state who are really seasoned and have been doing it for a while,” Selsor said. “And we have a mentor program.”

Between three family resource centers in the state, each county is covered. In Buchanan County, Foster Adopt Connect is the provider.

“Foster parents can go to them for things like training, respite services, anytime a foster parent is struggling … we also do financial and material help as well.

When asked if the three organizations were enough for Missouri, Selsor ensured that collaboration takes place and the state addresses this concern, which is another key component to ensuring that children in St. Joseph receive the necessary support in the system.

Fostering is more than opening your home and life to a child; it’s about creating a relationship they can rely on and trust. It’s a home away from home.

“They are going through something incredibly scary and sticking with them…you don’t realize how much of an impact you’re making on their lives just by giving them a chance,” Coats said.

To become a foster parent in St. Joseph, contact the Missouri Department of Social Services and utilize the programs mentioned above to help ease the transition and make sure that each child who enters the system can exit with a family and hope to keep moving forward.