Open hearts, open homes
Children are looking for foster homes, and the Bair Foundation is looking for foster parents to provide them.
Founded in 1967 in New Wilmington by William Bair, the foundation's mission is to share the love and compassion of Jesus Christ through protecting and enhancing the lives of foster children and families in crisis through quality social services.
The nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization covers Butler, Armstrong and Clarion counties.
Children and others up to age 21 are referred to the foundation by their county's juvenile probation agencies and courts.
The foundation is looking for more people like Terri and James Santistevan of Cranberry Township.
They've been fostering children on behalf of the foundation for 20 years and even adopted one girl.
Terri Santistevan estimated they've provided a foster home for 15 children. They are fostering two now.
“My oldest is 18. He's been with us for 12 years. He was a crack baby. When he was forming, his brain didn't fully form,” she said.
“He's nonverbal. He can't walk. But he's happy and he communicates with his smile,” she said.
“I will take care of him as long as I am able. I am 64. He is not a burden at all. He is just a joy to have,” Santistevan said.
He and a wheelchair-using 3-year-old girl the Santistevans have been fostering for a year go to the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children in Oakland because both have cortical visual impairment that prevents them from seeing properly.
Potential foster parents shouldn't think they will be bringing a child home for the holidays, said Jada Hines, intake coordinator for Bair's Butler office, 222 W. Cunningham St.“We can have someone certified in 60 days if it's an emergency kinship situations, such as a grandparent,” she said. “But the process usually takes up to 120 days.”Hines said foster parents must be 21 years old, have their child abuse, criminal and FBI clearances run through the Bair Foundation along with an extensive background check, provide a source of income, complete the required trainings, including CPR and child protective services law.Each foster parent needs to have a physical completed and cleared by their medical doctor. A home study will be conducted by a Bair staff member and a home safety checklist.Each foster child will come into care with his own insurance, and a stipend is given to the foster parents to assist with the day-to-day needs of the child.The length of a foster placement is on a case-by-case basis. An emergency placement could last 24 hours until next of kin is located, or a placement could be 15 months or longer.Hines said all children come into care with some type of special need. A child could come into care because of physical, emotional or sexual abuse, truancy, a parent's death, parent's incarceration, medical neglect, being a juvenile offender or being a voluntary placement.Hines said while there are 425,000 children nationwide in need of foster placement, “each county's need is different.”She noted children without foster parents go into residential treatment facilities or a group home.Those interested in being foster parents should fill out an inquiry at https://fpi.bair.org/Inquiry.aspx?Office_ID=19.
Asked which qualities she's looking for in potential foster parents, Hines said, “We're looking for parents (who) are willing to learn and grow with the Bair Foundation guidance and work as a team.“That's important because they are going to be dealing with the biological parents, the child's school district, attorneys and caseworkers,” she said.Santistevan, who became interested in fostering children after a chance meeting with a foster parent at a Wexford store, said, “I just really feel it's not about you, it's about what you can do for their life.”“I never felt sad about them going to the homes they went to. That comes with the territory. You have to know that before you do it,” she said about foster children they've had who were adopted.She said caring for foster children inspired her daughter, Mary Constantine, to go into nursing and now she's the nurse for her oldest foster child.Interested parents can attend a virtual foster parent orientation from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 15.Santistevan said she believes she can effectively foster two children at a time.“When my little girl gets adopted, I will have an open space if they need it for someone else,” she said.For more information, visit the foundation on Facebook at The Bair Foundation of Pennsylvania; visit the website, www.bair.org; or call the office at 724-946-2220.
