WHERE’S MOMMY?

By DR CHANDRAKANT SHAH

During my early training and career as a pediatrician, I worked at an orphanage in Chicago run by Catholic nuns for 80 to 90 children aged between six months and five years, all awaiting adoption.

The staff was mostly female, with only two males – a janitor and myself. These innocent children, unaware of the gender of their caregivers, referred to everyone including us as “mummy”.

In the late 1960s, I served as the medical director of the Children’s Aid Society of Vancouver, where I was responsible for over 1200 children. Once, I admitted an eight-year-old boy from a foster home for elective surgery. When I visited him at the hospital, I was surprised to see that he had packed a bag with all his belongings. The child had been moved ten times to different foster homes in the past eighteen months, traumatizing him and making him feel unwanted.

These two experiences remain etched in my mind – what the children truly needed was a warm, welcoming foster home that would accept them, love and nurture them, and help them feel secure.

Canada’s foster care system for its most vulnerable children operates on a province-by-province basis, which means there is no single, unified model across the country. Each province and territory has its own policies, procedures, and regulations regarding foster care, which leads to variations in the quality of care and services available to children.

 Approximately 61,000 are in foster care in Canada at any given time. Most are 1-3 years old or 16-17, and are male. These children are removed from their homes for various reasons, including abuse, neglect, family breakdown, and other safety concerns.

The foster care system is designed to be temporary. Children are placed with foster families, group homes, or residential facilities while the child welfare agencies work to address the issues within their families, with the aim to reunite them with their families if it is safe to do so. If reunification is not possible, alternative permanent solutions such as adoption, kinship care (provided by relatives), or guardianship are explored.

Foster homes are the most common type of placement, although kinship homes account for an increasing share. The system provides foster children with access to education, healthcare, and counselling services to help them cope with the emotional trauma they may have experienced.

Becoming a foster parent is a meaningful and important responsibility, as it involves providing a safe and nurturing environment for children who are temporarily unable to live with their biological families. Foster caregivers support and strengthen families and play a role in keeping children and youth connected to their families, communities and culture.

 Before applying to become a foster parent, it’s important to understand the system.

While each province or territory has its own rules, eligibility, and child welfare agencies that oversee foster care placements,  there are common steps, training and ongoing support, and compensation mechanisms that foster parents generally receive across the country. You can contact your provincial child welfare agency (Ontario Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services, or British Columbia’s Ministry of Children and Family Development, etc.) for specific information on what the process entails.

Typically, foster parents must be at least 18 years old, although, in some places, the minimum age is 21. There is no upper age limit for foster parents, but agencies may assess a potential foster parent’s health and ability to provide care. One does not need to be married to become a foster parent, and both individuals in a couple (if applicable) must meet the criteria. Single individuals are also eligible. Some provinces may require medical assessments to ensure that foster parents can provide adequate care for children.

You don’t need to be wealthy to become a foster parent, but you must demonstrate financial stability and the ability to provide for the child’s needs. Your home must be safe, stable, and appropriate for a child. This typically includes having a separate bed and proper space for the child, as well as safety features like smoke detectors and locked cabinets for hazardous materials.

The provincial child welfare agency or a licensed foster care agency will provide information about the process. They will assess your suitability and your readiness to care for a child, parenting skills, and ability to provide a safe and nurturing environment.through a home study. 

You will need to provide personal references and undergo background checks to ensure you have no history of abuse or criminal activity.

Almost all provinces require foster parents to undergo specialized training before they can be approved. This covers a variety of topics related to child welfare and foster parenting and is a vital part of the approval process. It helps prospective foster parents understand the challenges of fostering and equip them with the skills to care for children who have often experienced trauma, neglect, or abuse.

Foster parents need a strong support system and most provinces offer access to caseworkers, counselling and therapy, respite care, peer support groups, 24/7 helplines, and workshops and networking.

Foster parents in Canada receive financial compensation to help cover the costs of caring for children. The amount of compensation varies by province and depends on several factors, such as the child’s age, the level of care required, and the province’s budget for foster care services. Compensation typically inclu-des a monthly stipend, additional funding for special needs, tax benefits, and other needed support.

For those who love children and want to help those unfortunate children in need of a parental substitute, being a foster parent is most gratifying and rewarding work towards humanity.

There is a dire need for South Asian foster parents for children from South Asian families placed in the care of child welfare agencies. The importance of connecting children and youth with foster caregivers who share, reflect and/or nurture their unique identities across race, religion, creed, sexual orientation and gender can’t be stressed enough.