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Group calls for more foster families

The number of abused or abandoned children is increasing, while fewer foster homes are taking in such children, a children's welfare group said yesterday.

"The increased numbers of foster children per foster family results in a greater burden for these families," said Peng Ming-tseng (彭明聰), chairman of the board of the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families.

The fund has run a foster program for children since 1983. As of Dec. 31 last year, 10,521 children and young people and 2,601 foster families have been involved in the program.

Within the past five years, the number of foster children has increased steadily, from 780 in 2000 to 1,063 last year. But in the same period, the number of new foster families able to take in such children has declined.

Peng pointed out that according to legal regulations set by city and county governments, the total number of children under the age of 12 may not exceed four per foster home; the number includes foster parents' natural children.

Each foster home that has signed up with the fund houses an average of about two children. The fund said that in order to provide the best care for each needy child, its goal is to place only one foster child or one disabled child per family.

There are three types of foster homes in the fund's network: regular, single-parent and professional homes.

A regular foster home consists of parents who are between the age of 25 and 63, who have a happy marriage, steady income and commendable lifestyle.

A single-parent foster home is one that consists of a divorced parent, who, apart from the marital status, has the same qualifications as a regular foster home.

A professional foster home refers to an adult who graduated with a degree in social work or a related major, and has at least two years of practical experience in the field; or an individual between the age of 25-50, who has worked in the childcare profession for at least two years.

Last year, among all the foster children under the fund's care, 36 percent of the children were abused in their natural homes, 19 percent faced family crises, 19 percent were placed in foster homes because their families were unable to raise them for financial reasons and 10 percent had a parent who was serving time in prison.

"Due to the fact that many of these foster children have been traumatized physically or mentally, a foster family has to put in a lot of effort in helping them to recover and to reconstruct their lives," saiddChu Huei-hsiang (周慧香), the fund's social work director.

The fund is calling for more families to participate in its foster care program.
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