Centre County Commissioners Recognize Foster Care Awareness Month, Encourage Community Involvement

The Centre County Board of Commissioners declared the month of May as Foster Care Awareness Month in a meeting on May 14.

During the meeting, the commissioners noted that the proclamation aimed to increase awareness of the opportunities available for the community to get involved in the foster care system in Centre County.

According to a press release by the Board of Commissioners, more than 60 children and youth are currently in the care and custody of Centre County’s Children and Youth Services. Dozens of foster care families help support these children. In addition to volunteering as a foster care family, residents can also use their time, talent and energy to volunteer and support these children and foster families in the county.

During the meeting, Kate Kostohyrz, a Centre County foster parent, noted how the support of the community and kindness of others helped during the foster care experience.

“My foster son and I would come every week (to Centre County Children and Youth Services) for our visits — the woman that helps … loved on him, loved on me. The strangers, the caseworkers, my family, my friends,” Kostohyrz shared. “My mom was hiking in Patagonia and flew back early when I got the call. My neighbor walked over and brought a bunch of stuff. My friends gathered all the things, brought them over and went to Target the night that I got the call. So, people continue to show up.”

The Board of Commissioners noted that the need for foster care parents like Kostohyrz is still great in Centre County. Often, the lack of placements available leads to children being placed in care facilities outside of Centre County, which disrupts their established routines.

“When you are talking about kids who are school age and younger, or those who are entering young adulthood, their connection to their community, to their schools, to their peers, to their family, to their extracurricular activities is huge. Once we start to sever those ties, that trauma that they experience … just increases,” Leah Raker, administrator for Children and Youth Services, shared during the meeting. “So, the more that we can do to make sure folks know that we need homes here. … (Homes) that are ready and available is so key for our kids, and that helps them be successful in their own lives but also helps make our reunification efforts more successful. Then, for those who are not able to have their children returned home to them, it also allows for that opportunity for their foster family to build that connection to them and help that child have the best of both worlds.”

Within Centre County, there is currently a specific need for foster families who are capable of taking kids over the age of 5 and sibling groups. This helps avoid separating siblings into different homes.

However, for those who are unable to become foster parents, there are still other ways to get involved specifically through Centre County’s Children and Youth Services.

“We have a very active foster parent mentoring program, so maybe if you are not able to take a child into your home, you can help people who are,” said Mark Higgins, commissioner chair.   

Supporting foster parents during their journey is an essential part of providing the foster parents and children a sense of community.

“With all the support and all the love that is in my life and that is around us from strangers that have become families, it is possible,” Kostohyrz said. “So to foster, to me, has been this combination of bravery and kindness. And yes, does that mean my heart will continue to break as it expands — but I would say yes a million times over again to care for this sweet, perfect, amazing, brave and kind little human being who I love so much.”

For more information about becoming a foster parent or supporting other foster parents, visit fostercentrecounty.com, the Children and Youth Services website through Centre County government or the national services Child Welfare Information Gateway at childwelfare.gov.