FAMILIES SOUGHT FOR FOSTER KIDS.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

An agency that places abused and neglected children in foster care is seeking stable, nurturing adults to become foster parents for youths facing family upheaval.

The Children's Bureau of Southern California is recruiting married couples and single adults who can offer short-term or long-term home care for youngsters, whose backgrounds range from prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol, to those who have been abandoned, and some who have emotional, physical or developmental problems.

Orientation meetings for prospective foster parents generally are held every month or two. A Children's Bureau representative will hold a session at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center, 22900 Market St. in Newhall.

The bureau, a Los Angeles-based private, nonprofit agency licensed by the state to handle foster family placements and adoptions, provides prospective foster parents with the 25 hours of training they must undergo to receive their certification.

Generally, the Santa Clarita Valley has fewer foster children and fewer foster parents than most regions of Los Angeles and Orange counties that the bureau serves, said Lou Graham, director of the foster care program.

On average, the bureau has 15 to 20 foster-family households in the Santa Clarita Valley, Graham said. Many of the families are recruited through their local churches.

The county Department of Children and Family Services sends cases to the Children's Bureau to find foster-family placements for youngsters who have been removed from their homes.

``In the Santa Clarita Valley, in particular, those families have (often) ended up adopting their foster children,'' Graham noted. Adoptions notwithstanding, the usual objective of the county and the bureau is to keep the biological family intact by helping the child's mother and father become better parents, she said.

Failing that, the agency tries to find foster parents who live in the same area as the prospective foster child. ``The ideal is to keep kids in their own community . . . so the child can stay in school,'' she said.

``It's much easier for the (biological) parents to be able to visit, and that (contact) helps in the family unification process,'' Graham added. ``(The children) already are having so many changes that they don't need the loss of their community ties in addition to that.''

Prospective foster parents must be at least 21 years old, have a secure income and pass assorted background checks related to fingerprint checks, driving records and medical clearances. Foster homes must be equipped with smoke detectors and have bedroom space to house another child, and foster parents must provide proof of auto insurance.

The process of obtaining a foster parent certification from the state government takes three to six months, Graham said. Prospective foster parents must take courses in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and submit to home safety inspections from social workers.

Further, foster parents must complete 15 hours of continuing education each year.

Candidates who meet those requirements and possess several character qualities make the best foster parents, Graham said.

``A lot of them come in with a lot of love,'' she said, citing flexibility as another must. ``Each child is different, and you have to be able to adapt to a child's needs. A lot of them have medical needs and developmental delays.''

The Children's Bureau of Southern California is a licensed foster family and adoption agency that was founded in 1904. The agency provides professional treatment and prevention services to more than 5,000 abused and neglected children and their families each year throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties.