Good foster families are precious

Many times we hear horror stories about foster children being moved time after time. I was talking yesterday to Catherine Huerta, acting director of Fresno County's Department of Children and Family Services, about that problem. She said foster children often test their new caregivers.

When they go to a new family, they want to see how serious that family is about taking care of them. So they will test them to see how committed they are. If the families don't understand the reasons behind that acting out, they might give up. "What the children need," Huerta said, "is a family that will not give up on them." Amen to that -- don't we all need that unconditional love from somebody?

Huerta said good foster families "are like gold." "My obligation," she says "is to be there for them as a constant support. Our expectation of them is huge. If we could turn it around and provide support for those families, we would see the biggest difference."

Even the best foster families, however, are second choice to a strong, healthy natural family. Cathy said it is vital to provide as many resources as possible to struggling natural families, to connect them with the services that already exist in the community. Agencies like Exceptional Parents Unlimited can really strengthen a family.

She mentioned a new program called "differential response." In this program, families in crisis are red-flagged early -- before the children are hurt. I like this because I'm a fanatic about early-warning systems, about solving problems when they are small and manageable, rather than later when they are desperate and expensive.