The CALL of Union County

Painting for a purpose: Answering The CALL of Union County

“So often we go to different countries to serve children, and so often we hear horror stories about all those big cities and we go to the inner cities and serve the kids. I think we often overlook what is right in our own backyard. They could be sitting right next to my daughter at school, that child that just needs love, may have been removed from her home at two in the morning, who just needs to know that someone is there for her,” said Karen Langston, Union County Coordinator for The CALL.

Started by Mary Carol Peterson, Children of Arkansas are Loved for a Lifetime, started statewide in 2007. Langston explained that Peterson felt that churches needed to be more involved with orphans, so she set out to partner with DCFS, which is the Department of Children and Family Services, to work side-by-side with them to help with the foster and adoption systems.

“We adhere to all of the state standards and practices. We are a Christian organization and we go into different churches and events in the Christian community and try to raise awareness, recruit foster families from the community, and when they go through the state-sponsored training and certifications, which are called Pride, we offer that training,” she said.

Though foster parents get the same training that they would from DCFS, Langston said that the benefit of going through The CALL is that since they are a smaller organization, the process moves a little quicker and the foster family has the benefit of having someone help with the legal side of it, which can prove frustrating and confusing at times.

“We are a sort of liaison for them and once they are certified. We offer support groups and the continuing education hours that foster parents must have after the first year,” she said.

Though she didn’t have experience as a foster parent, Langston explained that she did have experience as a house mother for roughly five years in Central Arkansas before moving back to El Dorado.

“I never really let it go, I always had this grief and mourning—I loved working at the children’s home, it was my calling, not my family’s,” she said.

After opening a childcare business, she continued to feel the tug on her heart for children who come from troubled families and bad situations, and she soon decided that she needed to quit her job and redirect her attention elsewhere. Four days later, she received a call from The CALL. She went out to dinner with representatives from the organization and soon decided that she would accept the position as county coordinator.

“Although I was stepping into a position that already existed, we just had the skeleton of it. I was blessed that when I stepped in in October, The Agape House was already spreading the word about it and they contacted me a few days after The CALL and wanted me to visit with them. Together, we brainstormed about their mission and goals versus our mission and goals and they were pretty much the same,” she said.

At the beginning of the year, Union County had about 40 children in the foster care system with only three open foster homes available. Today, Langston happily explained that there are seven foster homes with eight pending.

The goal is to have a pool of homes for the case workers to choose from, which unfortunately is not the case as of yet.

“Unfortunately, when a child comes into care, the case worker has no choice but to find them an empty bed—a bed that might be five to six hours away, because that is all that’s available,” she said.

She explained that the main benefit of having several homes in the area to choose from is that the children would not be uprooted from their schools, friends and everything they have ever known and moved counties away. Another benefit would be to have enough homes to be able to help serve the needs of surrounding counties who face the same problems with not enough room for the children.

“We want enough homes in Union County so that the kid can be matched to the family instead of the bed. That’s not the case right now, and it’s no one’s fault. The state is not doing a bad job, they are doing the best they can and that’s the situation we are in,” she said.

The process of foster and adoptive parenting is much the same, but fostering works much faster. The first step is to go to an informational meeting, which they have monthly. Partnering with a local DCFS liaison, a short powerpoint is presented that shows the basics of foster care. Members are available to answer questions and then help with filling out paperwork.

“The difference between The CALL and a regular DHS family is we ask for an affirmation of faith. We are going to ask that you are an active member of a congregation here in El Dorado. If you can’t do that, that doesn’t take you out of the running, you will just do DCFS paperwork. You get the same support. We do not limit our continuing education and support groups to The CALL families only,” she said.

The next step is to undergo background checks, home studies and interviews. Then, a family is open to fostering, or adoption if they choose.

“The difference is, when you open for foster, you will probably have a 15-minute window and you will start getting phone calls. The CALL really does like for locals to take Union County children, but it is hard to say no and we understand that. When you are in the adoption system, they match a child to you,” she said.

She explained that for adoptive parents, the process can take a long time before they have their child in their arms.

“I tell them that your child may not have been born yet or something may be happening in your child’s life now that wasn’t happening yesterday that may put them up for adoption. It’s not on our timetable, it’s on God’s,” she said.

Once the foster family has their child, it is important for that child to be able to live as normally as possible, which can sometimes include things that they have never experienced before, such as dental and eye doctor appointments.

“It’s a juggle at first, but when you get into the rhythm, you will get into the swing of things,” she said.

For times when a foster family doesn’t know what to do, support groups are offered monthly. The support group meetings also aid in a foster family’s 15 continuing education hours, which they must obtain yearly after the first year.

“We have an advisory board and sit down and discuss things that foster parents may want to know more about, whether it is the legal side of things or just something they want to [be more familiar with],” she explained.

For those who can’t foster, she explained that there are so many ways that the community can help in the rearing of these children.

“It just depends on how intensive you want to get. We have a few who are interested in being transporters, maybe picking the kids up from school and taking them to those dental appointments or even taking them out for ice cream. They have to do a background check and have their driving record checked, but it can be so much more personal than a case worker transporting them and takes a little of the burden off of those foster parents,” she said.

Emergent and respite care is another large need. Langston said that ideally, she would love to see just as many emergent and respite homes as foster homes, maybe even more.

“Lots of times, children are taken at two in the morning, there might have been an emergency situation, a traffic stop or a drug bust and the cops get there and there is a child. More often than what we like, that child gets taken back to the police department and hangs out there until DCFS can get there. Then that child may have to spend the night or several nights in the DCFS office until a bed can be found,” she said.

Emergent homes would offer that emergency help for the children who are removed in the early morning hours and there is a certin number of days that a child may be in emergent care. With a high turnover, emergent care is especially helpful during emergency situations. Respite care, she explains, aids the foster families when a family situation, vacation or any other event happens and takes the burden off of the foster parents during that time.

“Respite is a little more intensive than the Foster Family Support System, or FFSS. This is where foster families pick three people in their natural family as a support system. They still require background checks, but are only allowed to keep the children up to 72 hours,” she said.

Other volunteer positions she would love to see filled include child care for monthly meetings and other functions, CPR trainers, fundraising volunteers, mentors, notary publics, prayer teams, PRIDE trainers, social workers, transporters and office help, but she said there are many ways to help.

“You may have talents that I haven’t even thought of, just lending a hand helps so much for the families that need the support of the community,” she explained.

She said that she hopes in the future for longevity to the support system, a pool of foster families and volunteers.

“I would love to have all of my volunteer spots full, committees and people who can take care of things,” she said.

The Pottery House will be hosting a pottery fun day on Thursday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. with all proceeds benefitting The CALL. With lots of pieces to choose from, individuals of all ages can come and paint their own custom piece and help out foster families in UC. The Pottery House is located at 1112 W Main St.

For more information on how you can help, contact Langston at 870-814-2809 or at [email protected]. You can also visit www.TheCALLinArkansas.org and like them on Facebook at facebook.com/thecallinunioncounty.

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