L-R, Back Row: Lauraine Gumbs, Brittany Christopher
and Arlette Richardson
The Department of Social Development has launched a child wellness campaign, dubbed “Stand by Teens”, where it is soliciting caring men and women from the community to register their interest in being foster parents for less fortunate girls and boys who stand in need of stable home environments.
During the day on Monday 28th August, 2023, officials from the Department were stationed at the island’s two banks, National Commercial Bank of Anguilla and Republic Bank, in an effort to garner support for this cause. In addition, on Wednesday 30th August, personnel from the Department promoted the campaign on the local radio station, Klass FM with host DJ Hammer.
Visiting the station to explain the foster care programme to the public were Senior Social Worker of the Family and Social Services Unit, Mrs. Angelina Carty; Social Worker Mrs. Kerlyn Webster; and Social Worker Ms. Arlette Richardson.
Mrs. Kerlyn Webster explained the recruitment programme to DJ Hammer: “Through this drive, ‘Stand for Teens’ we are asking persons to stand up, stand out and stand tall to support our teenagers who stand in need of foster care,” she said. “The purpose of foster care is to provide a planned temporary alternative care placement for children who are in need of care and protection in a stable home environment.”
“When we speak about care and protection,” she said, “we are speaking about a safe environment for children who may have suffered various forms of abuse in their original homes, whether that abuse is physical, emotional, verbal or sexual.”
Mrs. Webster noted that children also enter the foster care system because of neglect or abandonment by their own biological parents. “In addition,” she said, “the child’s parents could be ill or confined in one way or another and may not be capable to provide the care that the child needs. Or, in some cases, the parent(s) may have died.”
“The ultimate goal of the Department,” Mrs. Webster stressed, “is to reunify parents with their teenage children, as long as it is possible. In some cases, that might not happen, due to the death of the parent. But, with this goal in mind, we continue to work with families and do all that we possibly can to reunify the parent with the child.”
She said that every year teens come into the care of the Department, and after some work is done with them they might be able to be reunited with their families. However, in cases where this reuniting is not appropriate or possible, then there is the need for the teenager to be provided with foster care.
She noted that fostering may be short term, such as some days or week; it can be medium term which may consist of several months, up to a year; or it can be long term, extending over a year and more.
Mrs. Webster said that currently the Department takes care of 25 children – 15 girls and 10 boys, the majority of whom are teenagers.
She said the Department chose to launch the foster care campaign because: “as we know, teenagers are transitioning into adulthood, and this is a pivotal and important time of their lives where they make decisions as it relates to relationships, their education and career goals.”
“This is a very crucial time,” she noted, “and that is why we are requesting persons to help us in supporting our teens…So, we are encouraging people to open up their hearts and doors to give our children the much-needed time and attention that they require through foster care.”
Mrs. Angelina Carty, Senior Care Worker, commented: “Ultimately, one of the benefits of foster care is the fact that that the foster parent will be contributing to the future of young people in Anguilla. If people can have that rewarding experience in mind, that, in itself, is the biggest benefit that would be derived from providing foster care.”
She said that one of the other benefits is that there is a foster worker at the Department for each foster child, and equally, foster care givers also have a social worker assigned to them who will be there to support them throughout the various challenges that may present themselves.
While the child is in foster care, Mrs. Carty said the Department provides school uniforms and other school resources and seeks to fulfill other essential needs. Also, she said that the cost of medical care is covered by the Department through a medical card provided for the child. Therefore, there would not be any additional medical costs that the foster care provider would incur.
“We also provide support in the area of extracurricular activities for the child,” Mrs. Carty stated. “Such activities will be arranged with the school through the child’s social worker. In case the child is struggling with educational needs or if the child requires development through extracurricular skills, we would also be supportive in these areas. And we do provide a monthly stipend for meeting the needs of sustaining the child with food.”
She also said that there is a social worker who is always on 24-hour duty and can be called at any time if something untoward takes place which requires attention on the part of the child while in foster care.
Persons who are interested in providing foster care to a child may call the Department of Social Development at 497-2317 or make contact via WhatsApp at 235-2317 to make arrangements with a Social Worker.
The Department of Social Development would like to express thanks to the helpful spirit of young Ms. Zoey Roach who has assisted immensely as a summer intern, preparing material for the “Stand by Teens” campaign.
