Can You Help...

I got this email this morning from our DHS case worker...what is your part in caring for the fatherless so these scenerios end in Jesus' Name...

Hello. We have a special foster care need that I would like you to share with yourgroup. This need is critical, and needs to be bathed in prayer to find the right solution.

We have 3 children in DHS custody. Their parents were drug dealers and were in andout of jail. The children witnessed a drive-by shooting. They were shuffled from onerelative to another to another. They lived with aunts, grandparents, second cousins,etc. They have also had DHS involved in their lives from an early age; when the oldestboy was two months old, his mother had left him alone in the home for a day becauseshe was too high to remember him.At last count, each of the children has lived in more than 25 different homes. So youcan imagine the trauma they have dealt with. Then, they were adopted by a DHSworker, who sexually abused the boys. He is now in jail, and the children were onceagain forced to move.At present, the oldest boy is in a loving, caring foster home that wants to adopt him.

Normally, we do not like to break up siblings, but he has requested to the judge thathe be allowed to stay there, and I think that is going to be allowed.So we are left with the two younger children. The boy is 11. He is placed in a group home and has been doing very well since we moved him there. We would like to keephim there for the time being.His sister, though, is having a rough time. She was in a foster home that wasn't reallyequipped to deal with her issues. The foster dad has cancer and was too weak to dealwith her effectively. The foster mom loved her and wanted to keep her there, but thefoster dad said no. So we moved her to a "therapeutic foster home" in Spencer. Thefoster mom there immediately took a disliking to the girl and has sabotaged the placementfrom the beginning. The girl told us she would rather live in the shelter than in this home.

Both children have suffered severe trauma in their lives. Both have been sexually and physically abused. They have trouble trusting adults. They get angry. They will curse.They will yell. They might even throw things.But, they can be taught proper behavior.

The group home the boy is in has taught him"safe" ways to handle his anger, and he is doing very well at it.

We need a home that is willing to take in the girl at this time, with the idea that they would take in the boy once the girl gets settled. The home should preferably be onewith no young children in it. The foster parents should be able to love on these children when they are angry and understand that that is their way of expressing the frustrationsthey feel from a world of adults that have constantly let them down.The home should be willing to allow a trauma therapy counselor to meet with them andthe children on a regular basis to help them through these issues. The home should bewilling to allow the children regular contact with their siblings, previous foster parents,case workers, etc., because the children need more connections in their lives.Most importantly, the home should be people who will stick with them through the rough times and not abandon them like every other adult they have ever known.Please pray about this and forward this to anyone who may be willing to make a differencein these children's lives.

Dave Parker
Child Welfare Specialist II
Canadian County
9A7901 E. SH 66, El Reno, OK 73036
(405) 295-2037, cell 623-6241