Making A Difference in Your Community : Temporary Foster Home Need Is Acute

With more than 10,000 reported cases of child abuse in Los Angeles County each year, the need for temporary foster homes to house victims is acute.

With the help of volunteers willing to open their homes to youngsters in need, a nonprofit organization called Bienvenidos has been doing its part since 1986 to meet the needs of children separated from their birth parents.

From its founding in West Covina, the Bienvenidos Foster Family Agency also has offices in Long Beach, East Los Angeles, Pomona and Van Nuys.

“Our aim is the reunification of children with their natural birth parents,” said Tom Bursis, coordinator of Bienvenidos’ Van Nuys office. “When a possible abuse case is reported to the county Department of Child Services, an investigator is sent out and the first thing is normally to pull the children out of the home.”

Whether the report is substantiated, while the matter is being investigated there is at least a short-term need for a safe foster home for the children involved. If evidence of abuse is found, then a longer stay is necessary.

Bursis says he sometimes gets calls from department caseworkers in the middle of the night seeking shelter for a child removed from a possibly abusive situation.

With a roster of 400 children placed in 200 residences throughout the county, Bienvenidos is contracted by the Department of Child Services to provide services to families. The state Community Care Licensing Department authorizes Bienvenidos to certify volunteers as foster parents after they have met requirements that include first-aid training, a minimum level of available space in the residence, adequate income to care for themselves and maintain their household and a certain degree of physical fitness.

Bienvenidos’ Van Nuys office administers the foster family program in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, where 60 foster children are now in 27 homes.

The foster families are given a monthly stipend of between $525 and $660 per child, depending on the age of the child, Bursis said. The money comes from the state MediCal program. Many parents, however, spend their own money in the course of caring for a foster child, Bursis said, adding that Bienvenidos draws its overall funding from federal and state government grants.

Foster parents undergo an initial orientation training of 11 to 14 hours in which topics such as parenting skills, child discipline and recognizing child abuse are taught.

An additional 15 hours of training is required each year.

A department foster child social worker visits the residence three times a month to make sure the children are being properly cared for, and to assess any special needs.

“Most of the kids that come here are traumatized,” Bursis said. “We hook them up with therapists or whatever other care they need.” He said the children stay in the foster home for periods ranging from a day--in cases where abuse is not substantiated--to years. Some foster parents end up adopting the children permanently.

“But this really is a family reunification program,” Bursis stressed. The goal, he said, is to get abusive parents rehabilitated and to get natural families back together. “We’re not pushing adoption, although some foster parents come into it with that intent.”

Bursis said the children and their natural parents get periodic hearings before a family court judge, who decides if the children can be returned to their homes.

To find out more about volunteering to be a foster parent, call Bienvenidos at 800-828-5083.

The Asian/Pacific American Education Commission of the Los Angeles Unified School District (213-625-6796) seeks volunteer representatives from the east and west San Fernando Valley areas. Parents, students, professionals and community members are eligible.

Getting Involved is a weekly listing of volunteering opportunities. Please address prospective listings to Getting Involved, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax them to (818-772-3338).