By Lindy Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice
Sue Hanson, a Montrose County commissioner, knows something most people don’t know. She knows how many children in Colorado are in foster care, and that these children have not been the priority they should be.
She has been working behind the scenes – and not so behind the scenes – looking for ways to support these children and the families that step up to care for them when they are no longer safe in their homes.
To that end, she and her fellow commissioners, Keith Caddy and Roger Nash, have approved $1.5 million dollars to assist organizations that support these children and their caregivers. The money is being distributed equally to Kin-Connect, Hope and Home, and Brad’s House.
“Foster care is a priority to Sue, and she has done a lot of work and put in a lot of effort into helping these kids,” said Rebeka, owner of Kin- Connect. Rebeka does not give her last name due to the volatile nature of her work.
One family’s story:
JoAnne, a grandmother on the western slope of Colorado, was going about her regular Saturday activities of keeping house, working in her garden and all the things grandmothers do, when she got the call she knew was coming, yet hoped never to get.
Child Protective Services had taken her two very young grandchildren from her son and his girlfriend. That call changed her whole family’s life in that instant.
JoAnne had spent the last three years worrying, praying and begging Child Protective Services to intervene and remove the first baby, when he was born addicted to the drugs his parents were using, and continued to use heavily. She was told repeatedly that, although things were not ideal in the home, the criteria have not yet been met to take the child.
A year and a half later, a second grandchild was born, and he was addicted too. This grandmother began her pleas again to remove the children. The home they were living in was crawling with rodents and raw sewage was leaking into the home, in photos posted on social media. The children were seen unclothed, living in filth, small and unclean for their age, and drug paraphernalia and weapons were lying in reach of the babies.
All of this evidence was submitted to the agency in the county where the children lived, and again, this evidence was not enough to remove the infant and the toddler.
Even though it was well documented by police that both parents had repeated contact with police, and the mother of the children had previously had a child removed from her custody for the same behavior, it was still not enough.
Through all those months and years, JoAnne and the children’s aunt and uncle had many conversations about what they would do if the time ever came when the babies were removed. Early on, they agreed they would find a way to keep the children with the family, no matter what it took.
“There were so many nights, that after my husband went to bed, I would find myself in tears, sick to my stomach, and angry beyond belief, that I could not find a way to help my grandchildren who needed me to be the strong protector they didn’t have, and at the same time, find a way to help my son with his addiction,” said JoAnne, thoughtfully.
Continuing, she said, “I had always known that it may not be possible to do both and there was never any question about who needed my help the most, an adult, my son, who chose this path, or the babies who didn’t have a choice.”
When the call came on that Saturday in the summer of 2023, the family had 48 hours to get everything the children would need, understand the requirements of CPS, and get it all in place.
When children are removed, they often come with absolutely nothing. No clothes, no toys, no shoes, no coats, nothing but the clothes on their backs. They are traumatized not only because they are removed, but also by the life they had been removed from.
According to JoAnne, the upfront cost to the family just to get beds, clothes, diapers and all the basics, was about $2,500. CPS requires that everyone in the home, including any pets in the home, have to be seen by a doctor or a veterinarian and get a clean bill of health. When a family doesn’t have insurance, this is an enormous cost burden to the family,” Rebeka said.
“I know that my family is blessed in ways many other families are not. Fortunately, by pulling together as a family, we were able financially and physically to meet the needs of the children and keep them with our family. I wish we had known about organizations like Kin-Connect when we were going through this. In some ways I have no idea how we were able to do this whole thing,” JoAnne said.
According to Rebeka, “The state is moving in a better direction by understanding that kinship care is a much better option for children who have to be removed from their home for their safety.”
She said that people who have not been exposed to families who have experienced the system have no idea how dire things are for these children; and the relatives who step up to care for them.
“It changes everything about their lives. Often its grandparents who either are living on social security or still have to work full time. These kids are traumatized, and have physical and emotional needs that no one person can be expected to handle on their own. That’s why I founded Kin-Connect 12 years ago. I saw the need,” she said.
The legislature seems to have become aware that children in these situations do better when they are kept with relatives when possible, instead of in traditional foster homes.
This shift in thought is reflected by the recent passage of Senate Bill 24-008, which establishes more funding and support for kinship care for neglected and abused children. Currently, 51 percent of children who are removed from their homes are now living in a kinship home.
Families that want to care for children still have to go through a vetting process, but the bill allows that process to be expedited. It also covers the upfront cost to families while completing the certification.
Before SB 24-008 passed, families could not get any assistance for the four to six weeks that it took to run background checks, take the required classes, and become trauma and CPR trained, all of which costs money. Those costs were previously borne by the family.
Ross Wright, from Hope and Home, said, “Historically, abuse was considered more serious than neglect. That is not an accurate portrayal of the actual injury and damage done to children.”
Wright says that SB 24-008 was a huge step in the right direction. “It’s a very expensive bill that promises to make a huge positive impact to kinship families.”
“For a long time, the focus hasn’t been on these children, it seems to be more on getting help for criminals and addicts, than caring for the abused, neglected and traumatized children. We see some positive movement on that from the state, but more needs to be done to protect the most vulnerable among us,” Rebeka said.
When asked what people can do to support her organization, Rebeka said, “We are always looking for long term support, but in the short term, we need help making sure that these kids have a Christmas. We don’t have a lot of storage, and honestly, the needs are so individual that we need financial support rather than items.”
To donate to local kinship families and help Rebeka help those families in need, go to their website at kinconnect.org.