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Couples urged to be foster parents

"There are no tricks to taking care of such children. You just need to spend more time with them and treat them as your own children."

Wu Jie-neng, foster parent

After their three sons went to college, Hsu Sen-yu (許森煜) and his wife decided to take in a mentally challenged teenage boy two years ago. The sense of achievement they gained as foster parents prompted them to embrace a 16-year-old girl last year.

The two youngsters with special needs required almost constant attention from the couple, but Hsu said the improvements the pair achieved made it all worth while.

"We do not let the kids out of our sight and we drive them to school every day. Now, after having dinner, they tell us about things that happen in school. It's like having two more family members," Hsu said yesterday at Taipei City Hall.

Hsu and his wife are one of the 130 families in Taipei that have provided foster care to 195 children and teenagers. With more children in need of foster care service, however, the Taipei City Government and the Christian charity World Vision Taiwan are urging families to extend their love to those in need.

"We used to send children with special needs or who had been abandoned to orphanages, but now we are seeking to give these children a sense of family and better care through the foster family system," said Chu Yu-hsing (朱玉欣), deputy director of World Vision Taiwan's foster care division.

The department and World Vision Taiwan have provided foster care to more than 2,400 children since 1993, Chu said, but demand for foster families is growing.

World Vision Taiwan's data show that 45 percent of children placed in foster care were abused or neglected by their birth parents, 17 percent were sick or disabled, while 16 percent were abandoned.

Another couple, Wu Jie-neng (吳介能) and Yeh Chang-si (葉昌絲), have also provide foster care to two children with special needs.

"There are no tricks to taking care of such children. You just need to spend more time with them and treat them as your own children," Wu said.

A 10-year-old boy the couple takes care of suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder. But he can now read and go to school normally after living with the family for seven years, Wu said.

"I told my own children to be grateful and understand how lucky they are to have their birth parents by their side," he said.

Families interested in providing foster care can call 02-2541-8092, ext. 9, or visit World Vision Taiwan's Web site,www.worldvision.org.tw.
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