Evening star., 1962-12-15
Needed: Foster Homes

The urgency Of the need to increase
the supply of foster homes in the District
OF Columbia is indiSputable. Junior VII
lage, the principal public institution, is
bursting at the seams. In terms of dol
lars and cents, institutional care costs
the city, per child, well over twice the
amount of foster care. And most i'm
portant, no matter how dedicated the
efforts Of welfare administrators, no
institution is a satisfactory substitute
for the environment Of a real home.
Moreover 1t is equally clear, as the
Public Welfare Advisory Committee has
pointed out, that there are several steps
which the Commissioners can and should
take Immediately to alleviate this short
age.
Perhaps the most pressing is mod
ification of the ridiculously stringent
"health" standards which now apply.
In one instance cited by the committee,
a home was rejected because the bed
room Of the prospective parents was said
to lack sufficient ventilation. Another
was turned down because the family
dining room lacked outside windows,
connecting instead to an enclosed porch.
Certainly minimum standards must be
adhered to in order to assure the health,
comfort and the safety of children who
are entrusted to strangers, and no doubt
some Of the homes offered are wholly
inadequate. But how many others which
are not truly inadequate have been re-
jected for such unsubstantial reasons
as those listed above? No one knows.
Another flagrant inadequacy is the
stingy rate of $57 month, which is the
maximum now available to foster parents
for the care Of child over six months
old Without question a more liberal
amount would stimulate interest; nor
is this selfish consideration on the
part Of many prospective parents. For
the practical fact is that most Of the
families to whom the Welfare Depart
ment must look for assistance are them
selves hard-pressed financially too
strapped to take on an additional burden
for which they are not reimbursed. We'll
fare Director Shea has suggested that
the maximum board rate be raised next
year to $65-a figure which surely is not
out Of line, despite its proposed reduc-
tion by the District budget office.
Several Of the other suggestions by
the Welfare Advisory Committee also
deserve serious consideration, including
particularly the need for further addi-
tionS to the staff of so-called foster home
recruiters" There Is no reason why
children may not be placed In foster
homes for relatively short periods Of
time, when these are the only conditions
under which the homes are available.
Perhaps there also is merit in the idea
of establishing, as a pilot project, a
group home" for several children.
Welfare officials are frankly dubious
that these remedial measures would pro-
vide an ample" number of foster homes.
But that is not the point. Certainly they
should improve on the dismal results of
the fosterhome program during recent
years, and any advance in this direction
would be gain well worth the effort
The ideal goal is that rehabilitation eff
forts may permit homeless children in
many instances to return to their ma
tural parents. In the words of the ad-
visory committee, however, "the next
most desirable alternative is to increase
the number Of foster homes where love
and attention are available"