DCYF looking for a few good families
Agency leader: New strategies needed to recruit foster parents
WOONSOCKET – Department of Children, Youth and Families Director Trista Piccola on Tuesday issued a “serious call to action” to people interested in becoming foster parents, as she said there is a growing need for foster families across Rhode Island.
In an interview at The Call office, Piccola said that the state of Rhode Island has 20 to 22 percent of its foster children in an institution or group home, which lags behind the national average of 12 to 15 percent, a figure that she called “concerning.”
“These kids should be living in a home,” Piccola said.
Equally as troubling for Piccola was the fact that from inquiry to licensure, DCYF loses nine out of 10 families who were expressing some level of interest in becoming foster families. In studying that pipeline, she said, roughly 40 percent are lost at the very beginning of the process.
Piccola said the traditional process of inquiry to licensure can take up to six months, as much needs to go into determining if a person is suitable to become a foster parent – from background checks to appointments for safety inspectors for fire and lead inspections.
With that in mind, Piccola says she decided there’s got to be a way to condense the process without subverting it or cutting any corners. Thus came the idea of a weekend-long retreat for at least 200 families looking to care for children in need.
The recruitment weekend is scheduled for March 9 through 11 at the Rhode Island Convention Center. In one weekend, people can complete most requirements
to become a licensed foster family and help a child in their community. Piccola estimates that 70 to 75 percent of the licensing process will be provided in the single weekend, as opposed to the traditional 10-week training regimen.
“We decided this would be the route we’d take, much of it is driven by wanting to pilot new methodology,” Piccola said. “We have kids waiting today for a family, they need to be out of an institution, there’s a high level of urgency to get out of institutions.”
On-site training will be provided in Providence, as will connections with specialists, background checks, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, appointments for safety inspections at home, and possibly on-site physicians for physicals.
After the weekend, Piccola said, “all that’s really left is to finish is a small bit of training and the completion of a home study.”
When asked why this had never before been tried in Rhode Island, Piccola said: “You can’t continue to apply yesterday’s solutions to today’s problem. We can’t be afraid to customize the approach, one-size-fits-all generally doesn’t work.”
While 200 families will address some of the need – 190 kids are currently waiting for a family and more are coming in – Piccola is confident that “the word is out, it’s working.”
“While this is an event, it is because we need this now. We’re piloting this methodology to determine if this is something we can and should replicate,” she said. “We want to know if this actually works and we’ll be tracking those outcomes.”
The goal is 30 days after leaving the event, 75 percent of prospective parents will be fully licensed. But Piccola cautioned that it’s not just about finding 200 families to show up, it’s about finding 200 of the right families.
“We need families for older youth, sensitivity around LGBTQ, large sibling groups, Spanish-speaking,” she cited as a few examples. “We’ve gone to our communities to ask for help. Who do we need to reach out to, who do we talk to in these areas?”
Three communities have been targeted – Woonsocket, Central Falls, and Newport – as Piccola said there’s disparity in the number of kids removed and the number of licensed families available in those cities.
One of the highest removal rates in the state is in Woonsocket, where 12.9 children per 1,000 (ages 0 to 17) are removed from home, compared to 8.4 in “urban core cities” and 5.2 in the entire state. Among children ages 0-9, that figure is 16.1 per 1,000, compared to 9.3 in the urban core cities and 5.7 around Rhode Island.
But, Piccola said, she’s hopeful that the event in March and further efforts will be able to address the need for foster parents in Central Falls School Superintendent Victor Capellan, right, listens to remarks by 22-year-old Michael Holman, of Central Falls, who was taken in by a foster family, during an event at Central Falls High School Thursday. Rhode Island.
“The very fact that you’re thinking about it says you’re the right person to explore it,” she said to prospective parents. “You don’t have to be perfect to be a parent, the fact that you would even contemplate it says to me you’re somebody who should call.”
Follow Jonathan Bissonnette on Twitter @J_Bissonnette