>> All right. Kurt Paulson, thanks very much.
>> Thanks for having me. >> Some 7000 children in
Wisconsin are in need of foster care families who provide them
out of home care when their immediate families cannot. Of
critical need. Families who provide treatment foster care.
This can be for physical, developmental or emotional needs
of the child as part of Children's Wisconsin, a health
care system and child welfare agency. Foster children and
their families can get wraparound services here to
discuss is Amy Basting, a foster home recruiter and the treatment
respite foster care lead at children's. And thanks very much
for being here. >> Hi, Frederica. Nice to have
time to spend with you today. >> So we understand again that
there is a dire need for treatment. Foster families
across Wisconsin. What does that need look like? How many
children are waiting? >> Well, in across the state of
Wisconsin, there are like you mentioned, are about 7000
children in need in in foster homes. Really in terms of
children waiting? None. We need to get them into homes ASAP. So
there are children placed into foster homes, but sometimes it
takes a little bit longer and they have to wait in. Maybe
group care where they would just do better in a treatment foster
home. >> Is it is it difficult to get
licensed as a treatment? Foster parent? And then what about the
commitment? Is that difficult physically, emotionally or
financially for these foster families?
treatment foster parents are a little bit higher, but it's
nothing outside the nothing really difficult. You know, you
might have to you have to maybe have some experience parenting
five years experience parenting a lot of people can knock that
right off. So the qualifications are pretty easy to meet. The
toll it takes as far as on your emotions or your health. There
is so much support that Children's Wisconsin treatment,
foster parent treatment, foster care Program offers that we hope
we are supporting our treatment. Foster parents at the level that
they need so that they can take breaks using respite care when
they need to take care of themselves. You know, if there's
health needs that they need to take care of, need to take care
of themselves, we're going to make sure they take care of
themselves. those wraparound services in a
moment, but what does it mean to be a treatment? Foster parent
treatment? of foster care. So if you
compare it to its counterpart, general foster care, that would
be to capture the needs of kids with lower to low to moderate
level needs and then moving up the scale treatment. Foster care
is there to capture the needs and care for children with
moderate to high level needs. So we are looking at caring for
that population that is beyond the scope of general foster car.
>> What are the rewards for the foster parents?
>> Well, they tell me that it's very it fills their heart. They
feel so rewarded when they see the children meet. Some
treatment barriers and exceed and grow and change and get
healthier. And they know they were a part of that. So the
rewards are great in terms of just feeling personally
successful as a parent. >> Well, what does children's
offer families and foster children in its wraparound
program? >> So in treatment, foster care,
we wrap our foster parents with more support beyond, like I
mentioned, the general foster care program. So in addition to
support meaning visits from visits and contact from a social
worker, our treatment foster care program gets additional
staff that come to the home and support and advocate for both
the foster parents and children. We reward our treatment. Foster
parents with respite, and it's kind of like how you earn rest
or vacation time, or paid personal leave at work. Our
foster parents are getting some paid time off to take care of
themselves. Our treatment foster care program also offers
clinical consultation, a mentoring program we have in
teen Incentive program built into our treatment foster care
program for those homes that are willing to care for our older
youth, which is greatly needed. >> So what are the end goals for
children in foster care? >> The end goals would be
hopefully, reunification with would be that the children meet
some of their treatment goals, whether they are health related,
mental health related, behavioral. So we really want to
see children gain a sense of well-being and thrive in our
treatment. Foster care programs. >> All right. Well, we leave it