FOSTER PARENTS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 393, 3 January 1947, Page 13

FOSTER PARENTS

Sir,-I was vety interested in the letter by "Hannah" (Listener November 8), I give her credit for her sincerity, but can’t agree with her that foster-parents take welfare children to augment the family income. Boarders would pay double and wouldn’t have to be clothed, trained, etc., and wouldn’t be a 24-hours-a-day responsibility. I think a love for children and a desire to share happy homes or have somebody to mother is the real reason. There is no need for "Hannah" or anybody to be "ignorant about these dealings." Payment has nothing to do with being a real mother. We are or we are not. The children are all lovely when they are small and don’t understand their position. However, things are very different when the child grows older. They want all the things every young person wants-wristlet watch, a bike, a violin, dancing lessons, singing lessons, music lessons, pictures. tennis, etc. Mum does her best. She likes to see her children the same as their friends. If the child is kept by the foster-parents: until it can stand on its own earnings the addition to the family income is a bit of a myth. Foster-parents need big hearts and get more kicks than pats. The Welfare Department does its best for the children and always sifts out any complaint. The welfare of the child is its job first and last. Children who are clever get every chance to develop their talents. The problem for foster-parents and welfare officers and teachers are the backward mites (there are plenty of them too), the ones who find it hard to make their grade at school. These are never the teachers’ pets. They need all the love and mothering they can get and it is not easy to mother them or teach them. They are not always grateful either. We all want it to "be ;well with the child." The Welfare Officers have the right to inspect their clothing, beds, etc. at any time, They can visit the child at home or at school (they try not to visit at school). School teachers make a report to the Department at least twice a year. Sunday school teachers, ministers, neighbours, and relations all keep a friendly eye on the child. The Department will pay gym. fees, and most children are Guides or Scouts and have to attend regularly at whatever church they belong to. The children themselves are surely the best registers of their state of contentment. A happy, healthy child is vastly different from one who is sick or unhappy. In some ways these little ones are better protected and better provided for than our own children and when they start to work they have no responsibilities towards their people. I could write a lot more from many different angles on this subject hut they do not matter. The only thing that does matter is that these innocent little ones should have the best chance that the Government and the foster-parents can give them. 4

A BAKER'S DOZEN

(Wellington), |