Reporter
carisa.lee@cnc3.co.tt
Teenagers with troubled pasts who have had difficulty being adopted now have hope, as the Children’s Authority Kinship Foster Care programme has opened up a window for the placement of errant teenagers.
Foster Care team lead Anjuli Tewari-de Fague, in an interview with Guardian Media on Tuesday, admitted that it was extremely difficult or rare for foster parents to take in a child with a criminal past.
The Kinship Foster Care Programme, which is an option where relatives (other than a parent) can care for a child related to them, was launched in 2023.
Tewari-de Fague said since the inception of the programme, they had collaborated with 21 people who were willing to give their teenage relatives a second chance.
“Families are a lot more obligated to take care of their own,” Tewari-de Fague said.
“So even though their nephew or grandson may have had dabbling in the past, now we are able to explore placement options for those children who we did not know where to place before,” she said.
According to the Children’s Authority, there are 104 approved foster care providers, 81 traditional foster parents and 23 kinship foster parents.
The team lead said they had taken in a lot more teens than before because of kinship foster care and, adding from the moment a relative shows interest, the Children’s Authority would assist them along the way.
“We are holding your hand in the process, so every month we check up on you, check up on the child, make sure their needs are being met, make sure you are being supported and every month you do get a stipend that meets the financial needs of the child,” she said.
Tewari-de Fague said there was no waiting list for foster care, as they tried to place children in a home in the shortest possible time. She added that because of the small pool of foster parents, some of them took in more than one child.
“I couldn’t tell you specifically how many children were in need of placement, so there’s not a formal waiting list, but once they are approved for foster care they get placement fairly quickly,” she said.
According to her, the authority gets calls for placements daily.
“We actually do have a couple of amazing foster parents who have like six or seven kids in their care,” she said.
Currently, there are 35 children in kinship foster care, 52 children currently in foster care and 117 children in traditional foster care.
During September, the Children’s Authority raises awareness of its foster care and adoption programmes. \
For more information on Foster Care, the team can be contacted at 627-0748 ext 40988 or email foster care@ttchildren.org.