Luncheon to recognize area’s foster parents; More adults needed to provide homes to youths

Thibodaux Region Office of Community Service wants to bring awareness to the region’s foster program as well as honor the 106 certified foster parents in the Tri-parish area during Foster Parent Month.

The Thibodaux Region is inviting all the honorees to a luncheon today in Houma, and tomorrow in Gonzales. This includes foster parents from Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption, Ascension, St. James, St. John and St. Charles parishes.

“This is our way to show our gratitude for the parents who open their homes to shelter children who need them the most,” said Cidney Ordoyne, one of the foster care and adoption recruiters for the Thibodaux Region.

Louisiana’s Department of Social Services is in need of temporary foster and permanent adoptive families for children that are in the state’s custody. Today, there are more than 5,300 children in the state’s custody.

After Hurricane Katrina, the number of children from New Orleans rose to more than 1,000, according to state officials.

“We want to bring awareness that there are a lot of children in this area who need adequate shelter. All children deserve and benefit from enduring positive relationships with caring adults,” Ordoyne said.

Thibodaux’s Office of Community Service has more than 300 children in temporary or permanent homes after the area accepted an overflow of foster children from St. Bernard, Jefferson, Orleans and Plaquemines parishes.

The local OCS has a combined total of 86 children who need foster care in Lafourche and Assumption parishes. In Terrebonne, there are 57 children in need of foster care. And there are at least 25 school-aged children eligible for adoption in this area, according to Ordoyne.

“There are more children than there are foster families. When this happens the children end up in facilities that don’t meet the state qualifications. We prefer placing children in home settings, so that they can have that experience,” she said.

Finding a home for a child is the biggest task the Thibodaux’s OCS faces daily, next to keeping the siblings together.

“One way to keep the children together is to have someone in their family take care of them. This solution doesn’t always work because just like foster families, their relatives don’t have room for all the children either,” Ordoyne said.

The timeframe a child stays in custody varies with each case, she explained. The parent is given an 18-month window to restore the family to a point where the child can return home.

“Our main goal is to help rehabilitate the parents through different programs in order to increase the child’s chances of returning home,” she said.

In some cases, Ordoyne said family restoration is not possible; in those cases, the child becomes a permanent ward of the state.

“When parents fail to meet the needs of the child, as a child protection agency we go to plan B, which is our concurrent plan, where the staff looks for permanent residency for the children,” the recruiter said.

“At this time the parental rights are taken and the child is available for adoption. If the child is not adopted he or she will stay in the state’s custody until the age of 18,” Ordoyne said.

For financial support, the agency gives foster families a boarding supplement for each child they house. Ordoyne said this supplement is used to help with food and boarding expenses. Medically, the children are covered through Medicaid.

“Foster parents shouldn’t rely on this as income; they should be able to support the child without the supplement,” she said.

The state is launching a media campaign to raise awareness for the need for foster parents. The state mandates that interested parents have to complete a seven-session training, participate in an individual home study and provide references to be certified as a foster parent.

The applicant must also be 21 years or older; can be single, married or divorce; must have adequate shelter, employment and a clear criminal record.

Interested applicants can contact Ordoyne at (985) 449-5055 or stop by any of the regional offices in Thibodaux, Houma, Laplace or Gonzales.

The Associated Press contributed to portions of this article.