Help America's Premature Foster Care Infants !

On February 13th 2013, Angels In Waiting authored Assembly Bill 1133, which received a 100% bipartisan “Yes” Vote, was signed by Governor Jerry Brown and became California State Law on January 1^st 2014. Nine months later, the “All County Letter”, a letter created by California’s Department of Social Service to inform all Departments of Children and Family Services through-out California about new laws effecting foster care infants and children has still not been written.

However, Los Angeles County of Children and Family Services, heard about the new state law and our cost-effective Nurse-Foster Provider program, created by Angels In Waiting (AIW), through a conference where other counties were utilizing AIW’s Nurse-Foster Providers. The other agencies enthusiastically complemented AIW’s innovative nursing program, the nurses caring for their medically fragile foster care children, and AIW’s extremely high nurse-adoption rates.   Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services Recruitment Team, decided to be proactive and not wait for the All County Letter to be written. They have over 71 medically fragile foster care infants and children each of which needs to find a home and a nurse foster Mommy or Daddy to care for these precious innocent souls.

Too many of the foster care population are premature infants who were delivered early due maternal use of illicit-drugs. This is a crisis many of our local Neo-Natal Intensive Care units are experiencing, due to the rise in the combined use of Meth and Black Tar Heroin, creating complications of unseen proportions. Just last week AIW helped place several medically fragile preemies, that were on methadone or a similar potent synthetic pharmaceuticals to mitigate the preemies drug withdrawals, which only complicates the underlying medical conditions that qualify these innocent souls as medically fragile.

Angels In Waiting would like to commend the Los Angels Department Of Children and Family Services for “Stepping-up” and requesting AIW’s help in recruiting Nurse-Foster Providers for their Medically Fragile Foster Care Population as an alternative to placing them in group homes, institutional care settings, or in homes with less educated and poorly supported foster parents.

Thank You Los Angeles County Department Of Children and Family Services “Recruitment Team” for reaching out to AIW to help your medically fragile foster care population to find homes and a good chance for adoption through the hearts and hands of Nurse-Foster Providers. For I have seen first hand numerous times the miracles that occur through the hearts and hands of our Nurse-Foster Providers.

Links:

• Read About Our Bill and California's New Law

Through public recognition and awareness, Angels In Waiting and our Nurse Foster Program can make a bigger impact in the welfare of medically fragile foster care children.   While compiling this report, I chose to go behind the scenes and touch on the power and passion of one nurse and what that dynamism has been able to accomplish.  Linda West-Conforti, RN and founder of Angels In Waiting, was honored for her unique nursing accomplishments at the 2014 Nursing Excellence GEM Awards - Giving Excellence Meaning.   Linda was one of the Regional Finalist in the Volunteerism and Service group and later was nominated as a finalist for the National Nurse of the Year Award.   Public recognition of nursing excellence has been an important part of the acknowledgement of nurses an a profession, which has added to the flight of Angels In Waiting in networking and recruiting more nurses.   Linda has watched her dream unfold over the past seven years and now has more than 50 nurses who have joined Angels In Waiting and many other states interested in her program.  

As quoted by Linda during her acceptance speech:  “Because of the dedication and commitment of nurse foster parents, many of the foster care children are in healthy, permanent homes and well on their way to a more promising future."  This could not be more apparent then in Linda’s adopted, medically fragile child, Sammy.  Sammy is now 11 years old and was recognized this year at his school an award for being a Conflict Manager - helping address conflicts on the playground.   After many situations on the playground, Sammy intervened to stop “bullying,” and when a position as Conflict Manager came available, Sammy made an appointment with the principal to apply.   Also this year, he was also awarded a certificate for “Caring."  Sammy’s full story is available on Angels In Waiting website: http://www.angelsinwaitingusa.org/sammy.php

I’d like to end this report by saying, without the loving care of a qualified nurse, many of these unfortunate infants and children would not be given the chance to be an award-winning child through their schools or have someone there to take pictures, post them on facebook and give the child a chance to feel “proud."   Angels In Waiting and their nurses give a child the home, love and opportunity they so deserve.  

“Even the most fragile infants and children when given a chance can become something very special in this world.”   Sammy wants to be President one day and you know what, I think he will.

A special thanks goes to our Global Supporters who gives Angels In Waiting the necessary support to network, document and recruit nurses.  Many of our nurses adopt the children they take care of, and so Angels In Waiting is continually recruiting more nurses.  We at Angels In Waiting say: “job well done”!  Thank you Globalgiving.

Written by Volunteer Manager of Angels In Waiting, Nancy Van Buskirk

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• Our website