Twin Sisters in a cloud bank
According to an associated press article I recently read Washington State is over a thousand foster care homes shy of what is needed. And I know that this problem exists throughout the United States. I believe that I have a solution, or at least a partial one, to this problem.
I have a disability, multiple sclerosis, and feel that I would make a very good foster parent as I know that I am a very patient person. However, I have not really pursued being a foster parent because I am a single male and wonder if that would work against me in the long run? But I do own my own home with two extra bedrooms that I could convert easily if I decided to do this. The other concerns I have are that my house needs a fair amount of maintenance work that my disability money just will never cover. And would also need repairs before any child could live here and I’m not sure that DSHS or Child Protective Services would even consider that expenditure? If they would, I know that there are a lot of other disabled people in a similar situations that a program like this would definitely benefit if they knew they could provide a home as well? And my last worry would be if by being a foster parent would that alter, in anyway, my current disability benefits as they stand now?
If these concerns could be satisfactorily addressed I believe that DSHS would find a whole new batch of willing foster care parents who would be more than willing to share their empathy with these children who need a temporary home with positive reinforcement while also providing another financial tool to the disabled who so badly need it. And of course, the disabled need to also be needed by society and what better way than this to achieve that goal.
This could be a very positive match between two groups of people who need to feel that society has not forgotten what they, kids and adults, can contribute back if only the right connections could be worked out?
Bill Walker
Like my writing? Want to read my first novel about a pod of Killer Whales traveling up the Pacific Coast of North America? Here’s the link:
Multiple Sclerosis And Beyond 