GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — The pandemic has seemingly put much of life on hold including aspects of the foster care system. But, that doesn't mean the need isn't still there for willing foster families. In fact - for some potentially very scary reasons - the need is even greater.
"At this point, everything is on hold because of the pandemic," says Annmarie Jordan. The Jordan family began fostering a now 16 month old girl when she was just a week old. In many ways, they're in the same boat as any other family.
Her husband, Brad says, "It's tough being cooped up. The kids don't have any way to get their energy out."
But, things like standard foster checks are now done virtually.
"If there is a need to check on the welfare of a child, we will do that in-person," says Laura Mitchell with Samaritas. She says the alarming part of the pandemic for them... is the severe reduction in reported cases of child abuse to the State of Michigan.
"For early March, they were taking in 5,000 complaints a week. It's down to 2,000."
Those complaints often come from teachers or coaches... someone outside the family who notices something. Kids aren't seeing those people now. And there's added stress inside the homes.
Mitchell adds, "The fact that complaints aren't coming in is a serious concern, because we know that there are still children who are being harmed during this time."
So, the call is out for more willing foster families now, to take on the flood of children who will need them in the near future. And the current families are dealing, just like the rest of us.
Annmarie says, "It's kind of our new normal for now and we're making it work."
If you want to know more about fostering with Samaritas, go to samaritas.org/fostercare.
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