Maryanne Grant’s journey to becoming a foster mother began with her work as a Court Appointed Special Advocate, also called CASA.
These volunteers are appointed by a judge to advocate for a child’s best interests in court, often helping to defend children who have suffered abuse or neglect, according to the CASA/GAL National Association for Children.
“I was a HOME and I always felt like I wanted to do more — bring them home with me — and I couldn’t,” Grant said, adding that she is single. “I knew I wanted to be a mother and it felt like the next step.”
Grant was licensed in November 2021 and currently has a 13-year-old foster daughter who has been in his care for the past three months. She said she had another teenager before that.
Always looking for something fun to do, when Grant learned that the Collaborative Foster Care Program would be hosting an appreciation event for foster and foster families on August 13 at Sheridan Community Park, not far from ‘where he lives, he decided to attend. with his family.
Grant brought his foster daughter, his foster daughter’s half-sister, and another foster son who Grant helps take care of when his foster father is busy. The three girls were between the ages of 7 and 13, he said.
The group of four were among hundreds of people at the carnival-themed event, which featured a variety of attractions including giant bouncy bounce houses, carnival games, face painting and balloon twisting and a tank cushioning
One of the most popular attractions at the event was a large foam machine that created a giant pile for people to run through, resulting in many children covered in foam running around the field.
“Traditionally, before the pandemic, we hold appreciation events once a year … for all of our foster and kinship families. And it’s just to give them a space to come together and connect ” said Logan Ellett, supervisor of the Collaborative Foster Care Program. “It’s just to show them how much we care and appreciate them.”
The collaborative foster care program is a community effort between Jefferson County, Arapahoe County and Douglas County, said Hayley Wolfe, a recruitment and retention social worker. The program recruits, trains and supports both host families and relatives.
“On any given day, there are about 430 children in foster care across the three counties,” Wolfe said.
Ellett estimated that the program has about 180 certified foster and kinship families, with kinship families making up about 30 percent. Certified kinship families, he explained, are those who choose to host someone who is biologically related to them or with whom they have ties, whether as a teacher, neighbor or friend.
One of the challenges the program faces is recruiting foster families, especially finding families interested in caring for older children and teenagers, Ellett said. There are about 50 to 80 children waiting for placement in the three counties on any given day, he said.
“About 80 percent of our placement needs, so about 80 percent of those 50 to 80 years, are for kids 10 and older,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe hoped families felt seen and celebrated at the event, recognizing volunteers and community members who came forward to help support families.
Among those who celebrated and recognized the hard work of foster parents was Robert Hansen, aka Magic Rob, who performed magic.
Before working full-time as a magician, he said he worked at a treatment center as a counselor for children with behavioral disorders.
“The children we dealt with, if they weren’t in a therapeutic foster home, they came to us. And if they didn’t succeed with us, they had to go to the psychiatric hospital”, he said. “These kids, a lot of them, fall through the cracks.”
He said he felt very lucky to be a part of the event, which he called incredible. “This is my town,” he said.
One of Elett’s favorite parts of the day was seeing people smile that she knows they normally don’t, she said.
“We hope they just get a little bit of joy out of it,” he said. “I hope they have connections with other people. I hope they know that even though we normally interact with them in a different way, we love them and support them.”
Seeing other host families was the highlight for Grant, she said as she sat under a tree and watched the three girls run around and enjoy the event.
“I think it’s really nice to be with people who get it,” Grant said, adding that he recognizes many people at the previous virtual meeting event.
“We all understand that it’s very, very difficult,” he said. “When we can have a good day, it’s like, it makes those hard parts seem not so terrible.”
Grant said some of the difficulties of being a foster parent include navigating the child’s behaviors and therapy needs, as well as any potential triggers.
Recently, she took her adopted daughter somewhere and a little boy asked her where her adopted daughter’s parents were. Grant said it broke his heart.
However, in this event, he knew he didn’t have to worry about anyone asking him such a thing. It was nice to be able to relax and let the kids do their thing, she said.
Having a support system with other foster moms has also been important, Grant explained. For example, he knows another foster parent who lives nearby and is also single, and he said they help each other take care of each other’s foster children.
“We call it co-parenting,” Grant said, saying she can be an aunt figure to other foster children. “This community is one of the best things.”
“This is family, you know, like our version,” he said. “Chosen family is as important as blood family.”
People interested in learning more about the Collaborative Host Program can visit: collaborativefostercare.com.
Keywords
foster care,
Douglas County,
Jefferson County,
Arapahoe County,
Sheridan,
Collaborative reception program,
relative
