COUNTY SEEKS FAMILIES TO FILL FOSTER PROGRAM.Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer With 40 foster children waiting to be placed in temporary homes as the holiday season approaches, Ventura County leaders launched a campaign Wednesday to recruit families. ``Search your hearts, find some room in your family, in your household to do this,'' said county Supervisor Kathy Long during a news conference to kick off the 50 Homes in 50 Days campaign. Although the county has 181 foster families, that is still not enough to meet the need. The number of children needing placement has edged up while a number of participants have adopted children and pulled out of the program. Others have moved away. In the past four years, Ventura County has lost one-third of its foster homes. ``Our statistics show there has been a falling off of homes - of people willing to step forward and become a foster parent,'' Long said. ``It becomes a crisis when you see the list growing and frankly, you see the holidays coming. You know people want to find a way that they can give back to their community. So we're giving them that opportunity to become a foster parent.'' The 40 children waiting to be placed range in ages from 2 months to 17 and are staying at Casa Pacifica or one of five other shelters in the county. In recent years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time county has streamlined the cumbersome cum·ber·some adj. 1. Difficult to handle because of weight or bulk. See Synonyms at heavy. 2. Troublesome or onerous. cum process toward foster parenthood and set up a mentoring program for new participants. Many prospective foster parents have misconceptions Misconceptions is an American sitcom television series for The WB Network for the 2005-2006 season that never aired. It features Jane Leeves, formerly of Frasier, and French Stewart, formerly of 3rd Rock From the Sun. and misgivings about children in the program, said Robin Clark of Camarillo Camarillo (kă'mərē`yō), city (1990 pop. 52,303), Ventura co., S Calif.; inc. 1964. It is the center of a fertile farm area where citrus fruits and flowers are grown. , who has been a foster parent for 20 years and is about to adopt her 10th child. ``They think they have horns or have something really wrong with them, that they're like an alien,'' she said as two of her young sons played nearby. ``These kids are just like anybody else's. They're just like the kids on your corner.'' Foster placements typically last three to six months. The county provides an expense allowance ranging from $375 per month for a baby to $528 for a teen-ager. Dental and medical expenses are covered under Medi-Cal. Sheriff Bob Brooks is lending his support to the campaign. ``We recognize that kids coming out of dysfunctional dys·func·tion also dis·func·tion n. Abnormal or impaired functioning, especially of a bodily system or social group. dys·func homes have a nine times greater chance of ending up in jail or prison when they grow up. So the intervention A procedure used in a lawsuit by which the court allows a third person who was not originally a party to the suit to become a party, by joining with either the plaintiff or the defendant. of a loving family can salvage salvage, in maritime law, the compensation that the owner must pay for having his vessel or cargo saved from peril, such as shipwreck, fire, or capture by an enemy. Salvage is awarded only when the party making the rescue was under no legal obligation to do so. a life and keep that young person from a fate that's not only going to be destructive to them but for the community as a whole.'' FOSTER HOME FACTS City Homes enrolled Homes needed Camarillo 16 4 Moorpark 7 2 Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. 17 4 Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. 35 9 Newbury Park 6 2 CAPTION(S): Box BOX: FOSTER HOME FACTS (See text) |
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