Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 1 · column 2 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
Foster Homes
Are Needed
For Teenagers
By SHARON KILPATRICK
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
The Social Services Department is looking for local foster homes, especially ones willing to take in teenagers.
Director Beverly Leathers said there are currently 20 county children in foster care, 13 of them teenagers. There are 13 homes approved for foster children, and only five of them will take teenagers.
This is a growing problem, she said. Often parents of teen agers do not know what to do when their children begin “acting out.” Sometimes they turn to social services for help. Children also come under the department’s care through the courts. Because judges see that Rappahannock has been doing a good job with children in foster care and because there are so few alternative placements for teenagers, they want to put more children in foster care, and there are not enough homes.
This leads to children being returned to their own homes sooner than the department thinks they are ready, she said.
In an effort to cope the department has started a program for parents with $5,000 in funds for “family preservation.” The STEP program, for Systematic Training for Effective Parenting, meets two hours a week for six weeks in Culpeper. This program is open to anyone, whether or not they or their children have been involved with social services or the courts. A new series of classes will be starting in January, Mrs. Leathers said.
Valerie Ward, a county social worker who oversees children in foster care, said parents see this as a support group. “They learn from other people who are going through the same things,” she said. “They learn there are ways to cope.”
Mrs. Leathers said some of the money for family
See Foster, Page A-6
92.5%