The Booths know all this. But they also know there are foster children who need good homes where they will find more than a roof over their heads and three meals a day. The couple agreed to open their lives to the public in the hopes that people will gain greater understanding of the plight of foster children and perhaps, just perhaps, a few might consider taking some of these children into their own hearts and homes. The road to the Booths' home almost always begins at the Polinsky Children' s Center, the shelter for abused and neglected children run by the county of San Diego. On rare occasion, the Booths pick up a child at a hospital.
Some children are scared and cry on the ride home.
In the morning and at night, Booth and his wife, Janet, try to create comfortable routines for the children in their home. It was a blistering afternoon in July when Janet picked up Christopher. Paul had a job for the day unloading cars off a ship in San Diego Bay. Inside Polinsky' s waiting area, the children took seats against the far wall. They were amazingly well behaved.