SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Longtime teacher and mother of seven, including three adopted and one foster child, RosaLee Hagstrom, said fostering and adopting kids is the hardest thing she and her husband have ever done.
She also said it’s been the most rewarding.
“My husband and I are both teachers, so we’re already kind of in that mode of, you know, really impacting kids’ lives,” Hagstrom said. “But when you do foster care, you’re actually completely changing the trajectory of a kid’s life.”
Hagstrom said most foster kids have been traumatized in some way. And why having access to trained professionals, especially when it comes to mental health issues, through the statewide and state funded 24/7 365 day Family Urgent Response System hotline known as FURS, has been vital since its inception in 2021.
Especially since either kids or their caregivers can call, and they are able to send someone usually within an hour if needed.
“There’s often a lot of suicidal thoughts or actions [kids have],” Hagstrom said. “Kids always have a crisis at 10 on Friday or Saturday night. It’s never like four in the afternoon when you can just go somewhere and speak with someone like their regular therapist or something like that.”
The latest figures show over 4,000 calls or texts for assistance were made to the service.
Soon RosaLee and everyone else may have to look elsewhere for help as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget would cut the program.
David Baker is the CEO of the Sacramento Children’s Home, which runs the FURS call center and said the governor does a lot to support children and mental health services, and why he was surprised by the cut.
“Well, everybody’s a little surprised and a little shocked, I think,” Baker said.
Statistics show that in California, one in three foster kids become homeless.
Receiving timely trained care Baker said is extremely helpful in helping parents not terminate a foster placement, and reducing the amount a child is moved around.
“Also, it prevents kids from needing to be in higher levels of care. If we can provide the support to them at a lower level of care, we can maintain that placement,” he said. “It’s better for kids, it’s cheaper for the state, it’s better for families.”
According to the governor’s office, the cut would likely not be immediate and that the current budget is only a proposal at this point.
Hagstrom said she hopes the service can continue.
“I’m trying to convince others to become foster parents,” she said. “Having programs like that in place makes it a little more feasible for people to feel like they’ll have the support that they need.”
Support Hagstrom said no matter the case, she’ll continue to provide to kids that need her the most.