missing children

The First In A Series Of It Takes A Village

The shortage of licensed foster care homes is critical, and children — especially siblings — often have nowhere to go in a crisis. Kids Central Inc. is working to ensure foster children get the care and love they need.

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You can’t take your dog or your favorite toys. The person you love the most — your mother — can’t go with you either. If you are very lucky, you might get to stay with a relative; if you are a little lucky, you might be placed with a caring family.

But many youngsters aren’t so fortunate. They fi nd themselves among other scared children in a group home or in a succession of temporary foster homes.

“These are war-torn children,” says Rosey Moreno-Jones, who’s in charge of foster parent recruitment for Kids Central Inc., a nonprofit organization that manages a comprehensive system of care for abused, neglected and abandoned children and their families. “These children are often traumatized and do not know what’s coming next.”

In the late 1990s, Florida transitioned from a government-based child welfare system to communitybased agencies in each of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits. Kids Central, which serves the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Lake, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando and Marion counties, works with the Florida Department of Children and Families to provide services for abuse-prevention, diversion (when a child is able to remain at home with supervised care) and foster placement.

“We do a lot of prevention and a lot of diversion so children can stay in their homes,” says Nicole Pulcini Mason, director of community affairs for Kids Central. “If protective investigators determine the child needs to be removed from the home, they call us. Foster parents are the backbone of what we do when we get those calls.”

The Foundation for Government Accountability, a free-market think tank, ranked Florida fourth highest in the nation in 2012 for its success in reducing abuse and responding quickly to abuse allegations through community-based agencies such as Kids Central.

“Kids Central is the front door and the back door for these children,” adds

Moreno-Jones. “We manage their care from the time they enter the system until they leave, whether it’s returning to their homes, getting adopted or aging out of system.”

Keeping families, especially siblings, together is a priority. Case managers work with biological parents to assess situations and get the services they need to deal with problems, including domestic violence, drug abuse, mental illness, and neglect and abandonment. In the meantime, children often must be removed from the home.

“We want the children to stay with a family member whenever possible,” says Mason. “Foster care is one of the last resorts, and a group home is the very last resort. Unfortunately, group homes are still a necessity.”

In Florida, almost 8,600 children are in licensed care foster-care homes with a total of 4,727 licensed homes statewide, according to DCF. In the five-county region served by Kids Central, almost 2,000 children are in the child welfare system. Approximately 350 of those children are in actual foster care in 185 licensed foster homes.

Chr is A licia more 30 children come their home over the past seven foster children, two sets of

Chris and Alicia Johnson have had more than 30 foster children come through their home over the past six years. They’ve adopted seven foster children, including two sets of siblings. In addition, they have three biological children who embraced having a larger family, and they currently foster a child who possibly will return to her family someday.

“It may sound like we have enough beds for these children, but not all of them work for what we need,” says Moreno-Jones. She cites an example of a willing foster parent who had a cat, but the child was allergic.

On a recent Monday morning, Kids Central case managers were busily calling foster parents to see if any had extra beds for 15 children, including several sibling groups who came into the system over the weekend.

“One of our biggest challenges is fi nding foster-care homes that can take brothers and sisters,” says MorenoJones. “We refuse to split siblings. A sister or brother is the person you know the longest for your whole life.”

Foster parents Chris and Alicia Johnson of Clermont agree keeping siblings together is imperative.

“We’re passionate about it,” says Chris, who is the senior pastor for Clermont’s Liberty Baptist Church. “These children are already separated from their parents, and staying with their siblings helps them to better deal with the situation.”

The Johnsons have had more than 30 foster children come through their home over the past six years. They’ve adopted seven foster children, including two sets of siblings. In addition, they have three biological children who embraced having a larger family, and they currently foster a child who possibly will return to her family someday.