Foster care the focus for Marsh Foundation open house
The community will have the opportunity to learn more about foster care and becoming a foster parent on Wednesday when the Marsh Foundation holds an open house.
The event, planned from 4-7 p.m. at at the
Wapakoneta Chamber building located at 30 E. Auglaize Street, will help people interested in providing foster care learn how to get started .
Mellisa Snyder, Marsh Foundations director of foster care and adoption, said when people come in many times they don’t know where to start.
“They can come out get some cookies, meet with some workers, and learn about the process,” Snyder said.
Staffers will walk people through the process from start to finish and answer any questions they might have.
“It’s a lot of unknowns, when it comes to foster care adoption. Some of those unknowns tend to be scary, but once we explain them they aren’t nearly as intimidating as they thought they were,” Snyder said.
Among those unknowns are cost, safety expectations, who will be coming to your home, all of which can all make potential foster care parents feel anxious.
“It is 100 percent no cost to you; we actually reimburse you per day that a child is in your home,” Snyder said.
There are a lot of misconceptions tied to being a foster care home.
“A lot of people think that we are just going to show up at midnight with three kids and say they are yours, (but) that’s not the case,” Snyder said. “(Foster parents) have complete control of who comes into their home. That is one of the biggest messages we try to get across at these meetings. I’m never just going to show up with a kid.”
She said potential foster parents have a lengthy checklist of what they will and won’t consider, and parents can say no if they are uncomfortable.
“If they are licensed and they never accept a child, there’s no consequences,” Snyder said.
There is a three- to sixmonth training period where potential parents would become certified. Marsh Foundation staffers will visit homes to conduct training as it fits schedules.
“There is a very large need; we get calls daily where we don’t have homes for these kids, whether it be an infant all the way on up to 18. We get daily calls of children that have to be turned down,” Snyder said.
For more information visit www.marshfoundation.org.