Foster care seeks Hispanics

A lack of awareness in Utah's Hispanic community about foster care is preventing hundreds of children from finding a home, but the Utah Foster Care Foundation is out to change that.

The foundation launched a campaign Tuesday morning to inform Hispanic immigrants that the U.S. has a system that allows them to adopt abandoned and abused children, something most Latin American countries don't have.

Ruth Gonzalez arrived in Utah from Buenos Aires, Argentina, with her biological son about eight years ago. But it wasn't until three years ago that she found out through a friend that foster care, a foreign concept in her country, exists. She's now the proud mother of three adopted children and two foster children.

"The United States is so lucky to have a system for children like this," Gonzalez said, as her 3-year-old adopted daughter stared adoringly at her.

The outreach program, kicked off at Salt Lake City's Latino Mall, will have volunteers knocking on doors and leaving fliers in Spanish that inform Hispanic immigrants about the program. Christina LeCluyse, a foster care foundation family recruiter, hopes the outreach to the Hispanic community will finally find homes for children in Utah's crowded foster care system.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published data in 2008 that there are about 20,000 foster children who will turn 18 in 2009. Essentially, they grow up without a permanent parent, increasing their chances of becoming homeless after leaving the system. Utah's share of that total is about 2,600, about one-fifth of whom are Hispanic. Federal law mandates they be placed in a home with a similar culture to their own.

On the brochure volunteers will pass out, a happy husband and wife are enjoying the park with two presumably adopted boys, underneath the phrase "Los ninos traen viva" or "Children bring life."

LeCluyse said she chose the slogan to appeal to the Hispanic culture's strong love for children. As she has been out on recruiting assignments, she said the most common reason Hispanic couples became dedicated to foster care is because children bring joy and laughter into a home, and share that happiness with their new parents.

Gonzalez couldn't agree more. Even with six children under her wing, she wants to adopt again.

"I love children," she said in Spanish. And if given the opportunity, she firmly believes Utah's Hispanic community will show the state's abandoned children that they do too.

To become involved in foster care, visit the foster care foundation's bilingual Web site at utahfostercare.org.

e-mail: mmcfall@desnews.com