Last night Child and Family Services of Central Manitoba held a special event for people considering the idea of fostering a child out of their homes.  

"It's a foster family information night,” says Anne Johnston-Peters, North Central  Region Foster Coordinator. “It’s for anybody who's ever thought about caring for a child out of their own home, or is wondering what fostering is all about. We want to let people know what it's all about; the system, what it's like, the kind of kids that come into our system, and our needs. It’s just to give them a bit of information on what being a foster family all entails."

She says the information evening outlined everything you’d want to know about fostering. Johnston-Peters notes she may hold more of the events in the future. She adds they’re always looking for families, and says there are some wonderful foster families in the Portage are who’ve done this for years, and have formed strong relationships well into their foster child's adulthood.

Fostering a child does not provide a replacement for the individual’s birth family. Johnston-Peters notes it’s about providing alternative short-term homes for a child who cannot, for whatever reason, live with their birth families for the time being. Everything is done to be reconnected with their birth families, and some cases are only for overnight stays, with others for a few years. She says it’s about finding those special people who are there for these kids, who have a big heart and plenty of empathy to care for kids as their own, but they’re not their own. Parents are expected to be involved with helping the children transition back into their homes.

Johnston-Peters says there’s a need for emergency homes with children who come into care right away, but who usually don’t stay very long. If you have an extra bed, and are home 24-7, they could use your help.  She notes it’s also difficult to see the children aged 12 to 17 find foster homes, and could use more help in that area. Johnston-Peters says another big need is for families who can take in siblings, noting it's hard to find homes that are willing to take in more than one child, and they try not to split siblings up if at all possible.

All in all, she notes it’s very rewarding. It’s one of the toughest jobs, seeing as parenting is difficult, anyway. These children have been traumatized and would rather be with their birth families. So, it’s giving and giving and sometimes not getting much back in return.  But she notes in that little bit of time you have with a child, you can know you will make somewhat of a difference in his or her life.