Local agency looking for foster families

Image
  • Amanda Hills-Dodson speaks to the Weatherford Rotary Club during its meeting last week. Leanna Cook/WDN
Body

PALS Family, Inc., a family resource center and foster care agency, is looking to sign up foster families in Western Oklahoma.

PALS, which stands for People and Love Succeed, was founded earlier this spring by Amanda Hills-Dodson. Hills-Dodson has been a resident of Weatherford since 2014 and opened her home to foster children in need in 2016. Since then, she and her husband Jake have had 11 foster children come and go through their home. They now are in the process of adopting three siblings who came into their care in 2017.

Hills-Dodson said she felt God calling her to something in 2018, about a year after her family brought in three young siblings. After losing her job as a petroleum geologist this year and attending a Hope for Families conference, Hills-Dodson knew she what wanted to do.

Through this agency, Hills-Dodson wants to aid local children and families by bringing resources only available in metropolitan areas into Western Oklahoma.

For example, one beneficial resource for foster families and those working with traumatized children is trust-based relational intervention. This program looks at the children’s needs and gives strategies to build trust between the foster family and the child.

Last year, 146 children in Custer County went into foster care, with most being placed outside of the county due to a shortage of foster families.

“Being removed from your home is traumatic enough, but being moved 2 hours away where you don’t recognize anything and have to go a new school is scary,” Harlie Cloyd, one of the foster parents working with PALS, said. “If we can keep kids in their home county if not their home town, that would be ideal.”

Cloyd and her husband Braton currently foster two girls along with raising their own son and know the challenges first hand.

“A lot of times foster families don’t make it past the first year because they don’t feel supported.” Cloyd said. “We don’t want that to happen to our foster families.”

Right now, PALS is taking families for both traditional foster homes and respite homes within a 45-mile radius. Traditional homes take both long-term and short-term placings while respite homes take emergency and temporary placings. Cloyd said potential foster parents

Cloyd said potential foster parents do not need to be married or own their home. They must be willing to work with closely with caseworkers and biological parents. Trauma training will be given.

Another service the agency offers is blessing bags filled with a change of clothes, pajamas, age appropriate undergarments, toiletries, a comfort item and a book. The bags also come monogrammed with the child’s named.

Foster families also will receive a $100 initial clothing reimbursement since children typically do not have any coming into a placement. They also will receive a $90 quarterly clothing reimbursement, $125 activity reimbursement per year and two days of babysitting per month. In addition, PALS has a clothing closet for families and partners with local people for haircuts and family photos.

Those who aren’t interested or able to foster but want to support PALS can sign up for a sponsorship, which can go into thousands of dollars.

For more information on PALS and how you can support local foster families, contact the organization at pals@pals.family or call (580) 262-6216.