May 14, 2023 • 11 mins
Program Directer of foster care at St. Vincent Family Services Theresa Van Dootingh and foster parent Janice Edwards talk about how they help children in foster care.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Oh, MICHAELA, we are aboutto have such a very important conversation,
very meaningful, and I think itmay get pretty emotional as well, because
it's all about foster care and becominga parent to people who really need it.
On this Mother's Day. We thoughtit was the perfect conversation because there
are moms of all kinds, adopted, fostered, biological, chosen, and
(00:22):
more than twenty seven thousand children inOhio Mendy need a place to go.
They don't have family, and sowe thought it was a day to have
this conversation and invite Saint Vincent FamilyServices in to talk with us. To
Risa van Duting, the program directorof Foster Care, and Janis Edwards of
Foster Parent Ladies, welcome to whatmatters on this Mother's Day. Thank you
(00:42):
for having us such an appropriate dayto have this conversation. And May is
National Foster Care Month. What doyou want people to know about foster care
because realistically there's a stigma out there. What do you want to say about
it? Oh? Absolutely there's Imean, you hear those horror stories of
the abused children and the children thatare violent, the children that will break
(01:03):
things, but underneath that all weteach our foster parents to learn that there
the children are more than the traumathat they come with, And being a
foster parent isn't just opening your home, it's opening your heart and just kind
of filling in those empty spaces thatthese children have when they're removed from their
families. And Janice, you've doneit over and over and over again.
(01:26):
You don't even know how many childrenyou have fostered over the time you've been
fostering kids. Huh, that's correct, So you think maybe twenty maybe more
than that. I was there approximatelytwenty twenty five. I don't know why.
We're getting a little bit of feeda little bit of feedback. She's
(01:47):
checking some things out, So tellme a little bit. We'll talk some
more through it, Like tell mea little bit about why you chose to
be a foster parent in the firstplace. I chose to become a foster
parent because it was something that originatedin my heart. I wanted to give
(02:09):
and to give back to someone whomI believe really needed. What I had
to give that was a safe home, safe environment, love care, and
someone that will listen to them,someone that would see them as an individual.
(02:34):
Who needed more than just a materialisticthings. Someone that leads needed love
and guidance. Is it hard atfirst when a total complete stranger comes into
your home and they're looking at youas a mother figure, And is it
hard to break through to kind ofsay listen, I am here for all
(02:55):
the right reasons. I've got yourback. Is it hard to build relationship
at first? How do you breakdown those walls? Which sum it is?
But I let the child be thechild. I don't try to formerly
ideas about me into his head.I just be me and let him see
(03:19):
what it is and let him feelmy love and let him see my caring
for him. And then he comesback. For an example, I have
someone in my home today and hecalls me mommy, not mam but mommy.
(03:40):
And when he says mommy, thiswas a special, special sense of
what a mommy is. And thatalmost broke my heart to hear him say
mommy, because it means how muchyou mean to him and what you have
done for him. Teresa, howhard is it to find the Janis of
(04:03):
the world? Is it difficult tofind women like her? Because I think
that's an important part of the conversationwe have to have today. I wouldn't
say it's difficult to find people likeMiss Janice, even though Miss Channis is
a diamond. She is great.But what's difficult is finding people who are
willing to get past the hardness andthe tough times to continue to see the
(04:29):
outcome that they've had on a child. Mchalla threw a number out the beginning
this segment, But realistically speaking,if there weren't Miss Janness out there fostering
these kids, what would happen tothe number of kids that don't have a
foster parent? Where would they be? And how many of them aren't there
in Ohio alone? So I can'tspeak just kind of off the top of
(04:55):
my head of how many kids needfoster homes in Ohio. I believe right
now it's in the like thousands twentyseven according to a news release that you
guys put out earlier this week outyes, thank you. And so with
that, if they're not in afoster home, then they are going to
like residential facilities where they're locked up. They're not in a home per se.
(05:17):
It's a literal facility and they aregreat for certain types of children that
need that extra care in those extraeyes on that extra hand. But not
all kids need to go to residentialfacilities. And if they are, if
there are no Janus's miss edwards ofthe world, then these kids are just
being displaced over and over and goingto several different homes and they're not given
(05:39):
the opportunity to become stable and toshow who they actually are underneath all of
the trauma and abuse or whatever it'sgoing on in their life. You know,
I think parents think about this,And when I say parents, I
mean we have talked before about itat my house. Janets. You have
grown children I know now who arealton a way. But to actually say
(06:02):
hey, I'm going to do somethingabout it, it takes effort and you
need to know where to go.So how does Saint Vincent help people who
are thinking about it connect more tothe idea and learn more withoun't necessarily knowing
they're going to jump all in?Absolutely so, we are building our presence
in the community, going to events. You'll see our names around either on
(06:25):
built not builboards, I'm sorry,like posters and yard signs and things like
that. And then we also havean amazing licensing coordinator who works with our
parents every step of the way fromthe first contact that they have with us,
if it's via email, phone,an inquiry form online through like adopt
Ohio, or through our own website, she gets that notification and she's reaching
(06:47):
out within twenty four hours just togive information about us, who we are
as an agency, and how wecan help parents become foster parents. Jannie,
You've had, like we've mentioned,more than twenty your soul, you
so many foster children. You've kindof lost count through the years. Do
they forget you? Do they forgetwho you are? Or they always grateful
(07:10):
for the difference you've made in theirlives? Why they are in my home
or I'm gone when? And what'sthe average you keep them for? About?
How how many do you keep themfor years? To keep them for
months basically is for months, okay, but I've have I did have to
that I kept over a year okay. Yeah. Um. It is just
(07:35):
amazing how they will come back tomy home or sometime I can be out
and don't recognize them, but theywould recognize me and say, oh hi,
miss Jannis, and I will lookand say who are you? And
(07:56):
they would say, will you rememberI was in your home? No,
I don't, but they remembered andthey would come and give me a hug.
And there are some now that I'veseen and they want to come back.
I said, what would you wantto come back to my home for?
I just like being there, tosay, the loving place. So
(08:20):
what would you say to anyone listeningright now who's maybe considering becoming a foster
parent? Why do this? Well? I think it takes love. Love
is the first thing that we cangive a person, and then that desire.
(08:43):
You can have love, but nodesire to share it. And once
you give that, I think itbuilds a trust, a sense of belonging
to the child, and then youcan work with him, you know.
(09:03):
And when you do that, hiseyes were open and he can begin to
see the things that he could notsee, but he can begin to see
it, see the reality of whatis in your heart. And I even
tried to teach them to look beyondthe scope of their environment in my home,
(09:30):
to look out in the world,to have an idea of what they
are going to face once they leadthe comfort zone of my home, because
I tried to provide a safe,comfortable environment for them. Teresa, how
can folks learn more. Where canwe go online to get more information if
(09:54):
there's interest in dipping a toe inthe water to find out what this is
all about. Absolutely so people aremore than welcome to go to our website.
It's SVFS Ohio dot org slash fosterCare. We are also going to
start hosting at least once a monthan info session, just kind of getting
(10:16):
a brave overview what foster care is, how people can become a foster parent,
what qualifications they need, and forour next session is actually Thursday,
May twenty five, It's at sixpm. It's via zoom. It's all
of that information that is also onour website. You know, there's a
quote that Coach Trussell used to use, and my husband and I it was
(10:37):
our favorite thing that Trust used tosay, and he got it from someone.
It's passed on forever. But it'sso true for foster care and no
matter where you are in life,people don't care how much you know till
they know how much you care.Absolutely, and being a foster parent can
really show these kids that's someone outthere cares about them. Teresa and Jana
(11:01):
is honored to have you here withus on this Mother's Day Thank you for
spending time on What matters. Thankyou. This is What Matters on six ten WTVN
Oh, MICHAELA, we are aboutto have such a very important conversation,
very meaningful, and I think itmay get pretty emotional as well, because
it's all about foster care and becominga parent to people who really need it.
On this Mother's Day. We thoughtit was the perfect conversation because there
are moms of all kinds, adopted, fostered, biological, chosen, and
(00:22):
more than twenty seven thousand children inOhio Mendy need a place to go.
They don't have family, and sowe thought it was a day to have
this conversation and invite Saint Vincent FamilyServices in to talk with us. To
Risa van Duting, the program directorof Foster Care, and Janis Edwards of
Foster Parent Ladies, welcome to whatmatters on this Mother's Day. Thank you
(00:42):
for having us such an appropriate dayto have this conversation. And May is
National Foster Care Month. What doyou want people to know about foster care
because realistically there's a stigma out there. What do you want to say about
it? Oh? Absolutely there's Imean, you hear those horror stories of
the abused children and the children thatare violent, the children that will break
(01:03):
things, but underneath that all weteach our foster parents to learn that there
the children are more than the traumathat they come with, And being a
foster parent isn't just opening your home, it's opening your heart and just kind
of filling in those empty spaces thatthese children have when they're removed from their
families. And Janice, you've doneit over and over and over again.
(01:26):
You don't even know how many childrenyou have fostered over the time you've been
fostering kids. Huh, that's correct, So you think maybe twenty maybe more
than that. I was there approximatelytwenty twenty five. I don't know why.
We're getting a little bit of feeda little bit of feedback. She's
(01:47):
checking some things out, So tellme a little bit. We'll talk some
more through it, Like tell mea little bit about why you chose to
be a foster parent in the firstplace. I chose to become a foster
parent because it was something that originatedin my heart. I wanted to give
(02:09):
and to give back to someone whomI believe really needed. What I had
to give that was a safe home, safe environment, love care, and
someone that will listen to them,someone that would see them as an individual.
(02:34):
Who needed more than just a materialisticthings. Someone that leads needed love
and guidance. Is it hard atfirst when a total complete stranger comes into
your home and they're looking at youas a mother figure, And is it
hard to break through to kind ofsay listen, I am here for all
(02:55):
the right reasons. I've got yourback. Is it hard to build relationship
at first? How do you breakdown those walls? Which sum it is?
But I let the child be thechild. I don't try to formerly
ideas about me into his head.I just be me and let him see
(03:19):
what it is and let him feelmy love and let him see my caring
for him. And then he comesback. For an example, I have
someone in my home today and hecalls me mommy, not mam but mommy.
(03:40):
And when he says mommy, thiswas a special, special sense of
what a mommy is. And thatalmost broke my heart to hear him say
mommy, because it means how muchyou mean to him and what you have
done for him. Teresa, howhard is it to find the Janis of
(04:03):
the world? Is it difficult tofind women like her? Because I think
that's an important part of the conversationwe have to have today. I wouldn't
say it's difficult to find people likeMiss Janice, even though Miss Channis is
a diamond. She is great.But what's difficult is finding people who are
willing to get past the hardness andthe tough times to continue to see the
(04:29):
outcome that they've had on a child. Mchalla threw a number out the beginning
this segment, But realistically speaking,if there weren't Miss Janness out there fostering
these kids, what would happen tothe number of kids that don't have a
foster parent? Where would they be? And how many of them aren't there
in Ohio alone? So I can'tspeak just kind of off the top of
(04:55):
my head of how many kids needfoster homes in Ohio. I believe right
now it's in the like thousands twentyseven according to a news release that you
guys put out earlier this week outyes, thank you. And so with
that, if they're not in afoster home, then they are going to
like residential facilities where they're locked up. They're not in a home per se.
(05:17):
It's a literal facility and they aregreat for certain types of children that
need that extra care in those extraeyes on that extra hand. But not
all kids need to go to residentialfacilities. And if they are, if
there are no Janus's miss edwards ofthe world, then these kids are just
being displaced over and over and goingto several different homes and they're not given
(05:39):
the opportunity to become stable and toshow who they actually are underneath all of
the trauma and abuse or whatever it'sgoing on in their life. You know,
I think parents think about this,And when I say parents, I
mean we have talked before about itat my house. Janets. You have
grown children I know now who arealton a way. But to actually say
(06:02):
hey, I'm going to do somethingabout it, it takes effort and you
need to know where to go.So how does Saint Vincent help people who
are thinking about it connect more tothe idea and learn more withoun't necessarily knowing
they're going to jump all in?Absolutely so, we are building our presence
in the community, going to events. You'll see our names around either on
(06:25):
built not builboards, I'm sorry,like posters and yard signs and things like
that. And then we also havean amazing licensing coordinator who works with our
parents every step of the way fromthe first contact that they have with us,
if it's via email, phone,an inquiry form online through like adopt
Ohio, or through our own website, she gets that notification and she's reaching
(06:47):
out within twenty four hours just togive information about us, who we are
as an agency, and how wecan help parents become foster parents. Jannie,
You've had, like we've mentioned,more than twenty your soul, you
so many foster children. You've kindof lost count through the years. Do
they forget you? Do they forgetwho you are? Or they always grateful
(07:10):
for the difference you've made in theirlives? Why they are in my home
or I'm gone when? And what'sthe average you keep them for? About?
How how many do you keep themfor years? To keep them for
months basically is for months, okay, but I've have I did have to
that I kept over a year okay. Yeah. Um. It is just
(07:35):
amazing how they will come back tomy home or sometime I can be out
and don't recognize them, but theywould recognize me and say, oh hi,
miss Jannis, and I will lookand say who are you? And
(07:56):
they would say, will you rememberI was in your home? No,
I don't, but they remembered andthey would come and give me a hug.
And there are some now that I'veseen and they want to come back.
I said, what would you wantto come back to my home for?
I just like being there, tosay, the loving place. So
(08:20):
what would you say to anyone listeningright now who's maybe considering becoming a foster
parent? Why do this? Well? I think it takes love. Love
is the first thing that we cangive a person, and then that desire.
(08:43):
You can have love, but nodesire to share it. And once
you give that, I think itbuilds a trust, a sense of belonging
to the child, and then youcan work with him, you know.
(09:03):
And when you do that, hiseyes were open and he can begin to
see the things that he could notsee, but he can begin to see
it, see the reality of whatis in your heart. And I even
tried to teach them to look beyondthe scope of their environment in my home,
(09:30):
to look out in the world,to have an idea of what they
are going to face once they leadthe comfort zone of my home, because
I tried to provide a safe,comfortable environment for them. Teresa, how
can folks learn more. Where canwe go online to get more information if
(09:54):
there's interest in dipping a toe inthe water to find out what this is
all about. Absolutely so people aremore than welcome to go to our website.
It's SVFS Ohio dot org slash fosterCare. We are also going to
start hosting at least once a monthan info session, just kind of getting
(10:16):
a brave overview what foster care is, how people can become a foster parent,
what qualifications they need, and forour next session is actually Thursday,
May twenty five, It's at sixpm. It's via zoom. It's all
of that information that is also onour website. You know, there's a
quote that Coach Trussell used to use, and my husband and I it was
(10:37):
our favorite thing that Trust used tosay, and he got it from someone.
It's passed on forever. But it'sso true for foster care and no
matter where you are in life,people don't care how much you know till
they know how much you care.Absolutely, and being a foster parent can
really show these kids that's someone outthere cares about them. Teresa and Jana
(11:01):
is honored to have you here withus on this Mother's Day Thank you for
spending time on What matters. Thankyou. This is What Matters on six ten WTVN
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.