SAN ANTONIO – Confronted with a critical shortage of licensed foster homes, the Children’s Shelter has launched its #2700 recruitment campaign, reflecting the number of foster families that were needed last year.
Unable to serve that many children equaling the enrollment of five elementary schools, Annette Rodriguez, the shelter’s president and CEO said, “We need to be able to say yes to children needing care.”
She said many of those children had to be placed with other foster care agencies, some outside Bexar County, if they couldn’t be turned over to relatives or reunited with their parents.
The shelter’s spokeswoman also said at one point, 17 victims of abuse, neglect or abandonment in San Antonio had to spend two nights in offices of Child Protective Services caseworkers.
“Children don’t belong in offices. They belong in homes,” Rodriguez said.
She said currently, the shelter has 90 children awaiting placement, but only 50 foster homes.
Rodriguez said she also wants to assure potential foster parents in the wake of a federal court ruling late last year declaring the state’s foster care system was broken after years of violating the rights of children it was meant to protect.
“It may be broken but there’s a lot of good parts that are still working and doing a good job, like the Children’s Shelter,” Rodriguez said.
She said the shelter already goes beyond what is required by the state of Texas in terms of its standards and oversight.
“We go from recruiting, to screening, to training and building strong relationships with our families,” Rodriguez said.
Richard De Jesus, one of the shelter’s longtime foster parents, said, “They give you all the tools and training, all the support.”
De Jesus said he appreciates the shelter’s open-door policy with its foster families. “I have people that have sat down with me and my wife and we have shed tears together,” he said.
He said being a foster parent isn’t a job, it’s a commitment, but it’s not for everyone.
“You have to do this because you really want to and because you really mean you want to help the kids,” De Jesus said.
After six years and 60 kids from infants to teenagers, De Jesus said he has no regrets.
He said the public may be surprised to learn the number of famous people who have been foster kids.
De Jesus said, “How is it we can’t help the community, to give them that opportunity? We may have another Steve Jobs here in San Antonio.”
For more information about foster care, contact the Children’s Shelter at 210-212-2500.