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Maine Seeks More Foster Homes for Growing Number of Kids in Need

Patty Wight
/
MPBN
Foster parent Dottie Bishop began taking in foster children to fill a house that felt empty after after he son grew up.

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine has a shortage of foster and adoptive parents, at a time when demand for placements is growing. Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it needs more than 100 additional foster families and another 100 adoptive families.While there's been an uptick in interest since the announcement was publicized, the number of children in the system who need homes is still high.

When 17-year-old Kathryne first arrived as a foster child at Dottie Bishop's home five years ago, she was nervous. "Well, it was a new home for me," Kathryne says. "And the last one - it kind of scared me a bit."

Kathryne - who asked that we not use her last name - says that before coming here, she'd been living with another foster family but it wasn't a good fit. And her situation before that - living at her uncle's house - was even worse. "Let's just say in my uncle's house it was kind of abusive." But Kathryne, who has Asperger's, says that when she came to Dottie Bishop's home, she felt comfortable almost immediately.

"These kids have a lot of issues they have to deal with, you know," Bishop says.  Dottie Bishop has been a foster parent off and on for years. Right now, she has four kids in her home, two 17-year-old girls, and two young boys, ages four and five.

Bishop used to own a day care and has a son of her own. But after he grew up, she says the house felt empty. "I always wanted a lot of children. It was always my way - that's why I had a day care. And this is even better because they're here all the time."

But according to the state Department of Health and Human Services, there just aren't enough Dottie Bishops in the system right now to meet the growing demand for homes.
 
"We have seen a significant increase in the number of children coming into our care," says Mary Mayhew, commissioner of Maine's Department of Health and Human Services. She says there are more than 1,900 children in foster care, an increase of 400 in the past three years.

"Certainly the level of substance abuse and its impact tearing apart families and jeopardizing the safety of children is certainly one of the largest contributing factors," Mayhew says.

And, the department has acknowledged, there are barriers to finding more willing foster and adoptive parents. On a recent Maine Calling program, some would-be foster parents called to complain that they've had a hard time getting qualified, and say some qualified parents have opted out due to lack of support from the state in the form of mental health services for some kids.

The director of Child and Family Services, Jim Martin, a guest on the program, responded that DHHS is working on the issue. "There is a need to figure out how we provide more hands-on direct support for those foster families, and that when they pick up the phone and need a call back from the Department, that we're there to respond to that."

Foster parents must complete training to become a licensed foster home and receive an average subsidy that ranges from $22 to $36 a day. Dottie Bishop completed extra training required to take in children with greater needs. And she admits that caring for them is challenging at times.

"It is. But you have to stop and remember when you were a teenager," she says. "What if your parents had given up on you? Everybody deserves a chance. And the sad part is these kids are our future. And if people don't help them, then what kind of future are we going to have?"

"Kids in foster care normally have things bad that happened to them," says Bishop's other 17-year-old, Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn arrived six years ago from an abusive household, and was so angry she says she snarled at Bishop.

Bishop says Kaitlyn has come a long way since. She's made the honor roll at school. And Kathryne - the other 17-year-old - says that since living with Bishop, she's come out of her shell. She's learned to stand up for herself. Most kids, she says, just need time and understanding from adults. "They need to be more there for them - take care of them and help them when they need it."

While the goal for every foster child is to reunite with his or her biological parents, that's not always possible. It wasn't for Kathryne and Kaitlyn. But they still visit their mothers, and have chosen not to be adopted. Instead, Bishop sought permanent guardianship for the girls. She says now they know they'll never have to leave, and there's a place they can always come home to.

Find out how you can become a foster or adoptive parent.