The Search for Foster Families

Helping vulnerable children find a safe place to stay when they can’t be at home is a task that Jennifer Moore, chief executive officer of Dufferin Child and Family Services, and her Orangeville-based team tackle on a daily basis. But it’s also a task that has gotten more challenging in the last four years as the number of available spaces fails to keep pace with the need.

Ideally, DCAFS staff would be able to turn to a roster of foster parents – individuals, couples or families who can provide temporary care and support to children under 18 who are not able to live with their family or caregiver – willing to open their doors. 

“There’s been a sharp decline of foster parents in the community and part of that has to do with the pandemic,” Moore says. “I don’t think we can underscore enough the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable populations and just in general on how we function as a community and care for one another. It’s been challenging for people to step forward and consider fostering, regardless of what their social situation may be, because the pandemic impacted all of us in different ways.”

DCAFS, as an integrated Children’s Aid Society agency, currently has 16 children in care and, according to Moore, “virtually no local foster home resources.” There are also 16 youth participating in the Ontario government’s Ready, Set, Go program which provides transitional support for young people aged 18 to 23 leaving foster care facilities. A further six children are in a kin service living arrangement (meaning they are living with a relative or close family friend), and one child is on adoption probation, which means the child has been placed in an adoptive home, but the adoption is not yet completed.

Moore aims to boost local foster parent participation at a free drop-in event, Becoming a Foster Parent, 6 to 8 p.m. on April 23 at their office on 655 Riddell Road in Orangeville. It’s a day that could, without exaggeration, change a child’s life for the better. Whether potential foster parents are in the early stages of considering it, or ready to make the commitment, Moore says she hopes many will come out to learn more. “What we hear from people who have fostered over the years is that it completely changed their lives in a really positive way,” says Moore.

Attendees will have a chance to speak with both foster parents and former foster kids, and learn about the training and support they can expect from DCAFS throughout the fostering period. Moore says she often bumps into young people who DCAFS previously provided care for and who had been in local foster homes, and she’s always happy to hear that they stay in close contact with their foster parents. “They talk about the fact that their lives would not be anything that they are without the people who had been so generous to give of their time in that way.”

Moore understands it’s a long process for most potential foster families. “A lot of times we have people reach out two or three times and say they’re interested, but then kind of back away. We try to continue to have more conversations without making people feel like they’re committed to us for anything if they’re in that contemplative stage.” 

In 2024, after their autumn recruitment drive, 28 people reached out to express interest in fostering, and two went beyond that contemplative stage into really wanting to understand and think about whether fostering was right for their family. These are statistics Moore says are “fairly typical.” 

The goal in a fostering situation, explains Moore, is ultimately to reunite the child with their family of origin as soon as is feasible, which means working with families to reduce risks, increase strengths and improve relationships, “Because wherever possible, we know kids do well with their own family.”

The current alternatives

As a recent article in the Toronto Star – about the provincial ombudsman launching an investigation into the child welfare system – found, the lack of foster families and other licensed settings in Ontario has led to children staying in hotels, motels, Airbnbs and even offices. It’s a reality Moore and her team do everything they can to avoid. “For every youth who is referred to us, we have to call hundreds of licensed settings for each of these youth, and we continually call and always have concurrent plans underway,” says Moore. 

“We’re always trying to work with families and extended family members to come up with alternate plans. We’re always seeking out anything that’s been newly licensed. We try to strike some unlikely partnerships that could lead to creative planning for these youth. We spend a lot of time working the phones. It’s daily… it’s hourly, honestly.” 

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In addition to helping kids find a foster home, DCAFS also places at-risk children in licensed residential settings, such as group homes. As local foster facilities are also in short supply, this can lead to children being temporarily placed in privately run facilities. 

“We’re grateful that these settings exist because there are so many kids who do need to get to a safe space for a period of time,” says Moore. “But the placement issues that we’re facing in Dufferin County are reflective of placement issues that we’re seeing across the province. It’s a whole systems issue that we are all trying to tackle together.”

Moore explained that in Dufferin County there is only one local foster home and it is intended for relief purposes only, meaning if a foster care provider was going away for the weekend and needed relief, that’s where the kids would stay temporarily.  

What it takes

So what makes a good foster parent? “Honestly, a good foster parent is someone willing to make the commitment, willing to learn and willing to be part of a team,” says Moore. “We look for people from a wide variety of backgrounds. We need foster families and foster parents – whether they’re single or a couple, however they present themselves – to reflect our community.” 

On that note, Moore is outspoken about her hope for broader community support too. “We are here as an organization whenever formalized support is needed, which is great. But we’ve gotten to a place where many of us don’t even know our next-door neighbours’ names, and we need to somehow rebuild community because that’s how we take care of the most vulnerable in our community.”