As of Sept. 1 there are more than 1,500 children in Allegheny County living in foster homes. The task of serving these children, and others waiting for foster homes, falls on the Office of Children Youth and Families and its partners.

CYF tackles issues without clear-cut solutions while working to provide children with a sense of stability when their family unit has been undermined.

“You never want to provide services from a cookie-cutter approach,” said Marcia Sturdivant, Ph.D., Deputy Director Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Office of Children, Youth and Families. “You have to appreciate and recognize the differences in all children. You want to provide the best possible placement for children so you look at each case for the merits of the case.”

For most children, foster care serves as a temporary placement before they are reunited with family members or age out of the system. Adoption is sometimes an option, but for CYF the goal is always to reunite children with their families.

These children have been removed from their homes for reasons of abuse and/or neglect, behavioral issues, or the death of a parent.

“We develop a plan of action with the parents and sit down with them to find what they need to rectify the situation,” Sturdivant said. “In order for the children to be able to return to them they would have to demonstrate their willingness and some progress.”

When placing a child in foster care, CYF’s first priority is to place a child with a member of their family or a close friend. Outside of foster care, children have other options such as group homes and independent living.

Though CYF is continuously pleading for more foster parents, Sturdivant said this is not a reflection on the number of children waiting for foster homes.

“There aren’t that many children waiting for a foster home, but it depends on the needs of the child,” Sturdivant said. “It’s just more difficult to place teens.”

For this reason, a larger pool of foster parents is needed to ensure children permanency in their placement. Having the same number of children as foster parents does not necessarily allow for compatible matches to be made.

Sturdivant identified children over the age of 11 and African-American males as being the hardest to place in foster homes.

CYF works with several smaller organizations in order to help meet the needs of children and families involved in foster care. The Children’s Hospital Advocacy Center houses the Advocacy Resources for Children clinic that works to help a variety of families, including foster care families.

 “Our unique focus is trying to help families that have blended families or temporary living arrangements or transitional needs,” ARCH Chief of Service Janet Squires, M.D. said. “It’s a matter of identifying what is best for that family.”

The primary focus of ARCH is to ensure these families obtain the right medical care for their children. They provide many resources such as tracking down the children’s medical records.

“Some of these kids are going from family to family and if they don’t have that, consistent health care things get lost,” Dr. Squires said. “It’s very hard to take in a child and have to meet their medical needs right away.”

Monique Higginbotham, M.D., one of ARCH’s physicians, has a specific interest in foster care research.

“There are some studies that show kids in foster care have a higher degree of unmet medical needs,” Dr. Higginbotham said. “I think we are just very sensitive to the needs of kids in foster care and the reasons they are in foster care.”

ARCH also works with behavioral issues in foster families where a foster parent becomes unsure of whether they can handle or how to handle a child with behavioral problems. Dr. Squires said ARCH works to mediate conflicts wherever possible to make sure children aren’t moved around unnecessarily.

“If a family has taken in a child and there are some adjustment issues we have a behavioral therapist on hand,” Dr. Squires said. “The purpose is to try to help the family do the right thing for the child.”

For more information on foster care or becoming a foster parent visit the CYF web site at www.alleghenycounty.us/dhs/cyf.aspx.