Kids want, wait, need your love
A situation happens when there is an unsafe circumstance in a home. It is midnight, and three young siblings cling together while they await their fate. A fate that is determined, often, by people who do not know these children.
These are the children that NYAP (National Youth Advocate Program) is ready to care for. NYAP facilitates an outcome that is in the highest good of the children and family. NYAP is a “sub-contractor” of sorts conjoined with DCS to take care of displaced children.
Priority number one is safety. Preferably, all siblings will be placed in the same home. This can diminish the trauma the children have already been through and begin the healing process.
NYAP Regional Director, Elisha Tempest, Greensburg, and Treatment/Licensing Coordinator, Michaela Tant, Madison, sat down with the Ogood Journal to invite the public to get involved with one of our richest resources, our children – our future.
Tant gets acquainted with most families that are served through the Versailles office. Tant acts as the coordinator to follow, assess/adjust ongoing treatment plans for foster children. The foster children arrive to NYAP with a treatment plan developed by DCS called a ‘Plan of Reunification.’
NYAP and DCS are both clear the end goal is safety, education, and reuniting children with their “bio” (biological) family. Tant assists each family in the licensing process and maintains licensure records necessary.
An important aspect of the licensing process is the ‘home study.’ The home study just makes sure your life is a good fit for the children placed in your home. NYAP’s requirements for foster parents are, “Provide a safe and respectful home for the child or youth while they are in your care.”
To be a foster parent “… you do NOT have to be married, own a house, earn or have a lot of money, or have children of your own…” (NYAP, 2024).
Most homes that are licensed in the Ripley Co. area are homes that will take multiple children at once. The higher number of siblings, the more difficult it is to place in one home. When not possible to place multiple siblings in one home, NYAP’s goal is to keep then geographically close to maintain the sibling bond and connection, while in foster care. Frequent visits with parents and siblings are tantamount to the family reunification process.
Reunification is the goal, but safety is continually assessed. Bio parents have their own requirements they must meet to achieve reunification.
Licensed foster parents are needed in this area to provide respite and overnight coverage for other licensed foster parents in the area. Foster parents/homes are often needed during pre-adoptive procedures.
Foster parents that are willing to train for extreme medical needs are needed. Recently, there were a pair of medically fragile twins. They were both placed in the same home who’s foster parents were already trained to deal with medically fragile neonates.
Foster parents are needed to take children with a g-tube, tracheostomy, or other intensive medical interventions. Foster homes are needed for at-risk teens, pregnant or parenting teens, children/teens with chronic medical needs, and Spanish speaking children/teens.
Tant and Tempest assure that the licensing process can actually be accomplished in a month – especially with Tant guiding the process. Two months are ‘allowed’ for pre-service on-line education. After licensing Indiana requires 24 hours annually of in-service education (face-to-face or virtual) for foster parents.
Many parenting techniques are offered and support is as close as a phone call. NYAP are available 24/7 for their foster families.
Currently NYAP has 18 homes on their Ripley Co. ‘Foster Roster.’ The ‘Foster Roster’ is a compilation of licensed foster parents available to take foster children.
There are 32 children in these 18 homes. Only three beds are available to place children that are at the lowest point of their life, who are endangered, scared, and just need love – and a place to rest – safely.
Often, these arrangements work out so well for everyone that the foster parents are included in the lives they helped to reunite. Some foster parents become babysitters as the children age. Some foster parents continue to support the family by providing transportation to medical appointments or school functions. Often you will see both the bio family and foster family supporting the teen as they play sports, attend church or school programs.
Collaborative Care is another needed foster care service. It is for teens 18 – 20 years. These foster children/pre-adults understand they need more support and voluntarily stay in the foster care program. This allows time for transition to adult with post-high school education and/or training. All their supervision, support, treatment plans, and counselors remain in place.
NYAP is supportive throughout your foster experience and is offering the public an opportunity to become involved with shaping the future. The future of our town, county, and nation is dependent on how we – the entire village – raise our children today.
NYAP can be reached locally at: 812-609-4216. Stop by their office at: 835 S Adams St. Suite A, Versailles. There are compensations in place to support foster children – DCS designates the per diem based on the needs of the child in your care. There are funds in place to provide the extras children need to day, clothing, and basic needs.