“I’d probably be somewhere in jail or on the streets somewhere, “Andre McGowan has been in the foster care system since he was 14. He says he has been lucky.
He’s had 6 different foster homes. But each was a good family. And the latest to care for him, he still considers his family.
McGowan says, “I still go home now on Christmas, Thanksgiving and all that stuff. Even if I just want to get away I can go home and just hang out with them.
But the state is learning not all its foster homes are as welcoming.
DHS spokesperson Julie Munsell says, “They’re a range from what we’d call neglect, which is just not taking the best care of children, to serious abuse. So they pretty much run the gamut.
“They’re all over the state they’re not necessarily located in one particular area or one particular county,” Munsell is talking about the 13 foster homes the state shut down.
Of the thirteen, married couples ran eight, single women, the other five. In some cases, not only were the foster children removed from the home, but also the biological children.
Munsell says, “What makes the system better is having people who want to successfully contribute to the development of children in need, who have their heart and their soul in it, who want to do the right thing.
“And our job as skilled trained professionals is to identify those families. And the other, either weed them out in the screening process or make sure that we catch them through the monitoring process,” Munsell adds.
And foster families can learn a lot from the kids under their care.
Andre McGowan says, “If you see the kid as a human being and involve them on who becomes their parent or their foster parent, then you have a great match.
The Foster Care System should always be evaluating Foster Homes and making sure they are providing a safe environment for the children being placed their. It is nice to see someone watching out for these children and actually shutting down homes that have no business taking children in. I hope to see better management of foster homes in the future with guidelines that need to be followed and measured.