OHIO — Right now, kids are spending the nights on couches in Ohio’s children’s service agencies all around the state, said State Representative Andrea White, R–District 36, and that’s because the foster care system is short on foster parents.

Some of the reasons are high costs and inflation and that’s why White alongside state representative Sharon A. Ray, R—District 66, are reintroducing a bill that aims to help with some of the costs.

One of those people who could use the extra help is Eva Fuellen, whose house has been full for a long time. Right now, her home includes three foster kids, two adopted girls and three dogs. But it wasn’t like that when she first started fostering.

“I’ve been a foster parent for 14 to 15 years. I can’t keep count,” Fuellen said. “I was working at the casino so it was just a balance, but I didn’t have as many kids I only had one or two kids at the time.”

Fuellen said fostering can be a huge challenge to take on.

“You can help guide them through their hard times or through their trauma and that’s the hardest part is just to see where they are when they come here,” Fuellen said.

CEO of Youth Advocate Services Sarah Steuer said the foster care system needs parents.

Over the last few years, they’ve seen a decline in parents taking on such responsibility and grocery shopping rising costs have not helped.

“Foster care can’t be done without foster parents. We’ve seen a decline in the number of licensed foster homes that we have in the last five years,” Steuer said. “Pre-pandemic, we had about 55 licensed foster homes and today we have 32.”

Anita Godfrey, director of foster care with Youth Advocate Services, started out at child welfare children’s services as her first job out of college.

She said she’s passionate about advocating for the children’s wellbeing and for a foster parent making sure everyone is safe and has what they need.

But she’s seen a lot over the years, and children needing help can be a daunting thing sometimes.

“It could be from sexual abuse where a child is being sexually abused by whoever is in the home. It could be another child that’s sexually abusing them, or it could be an adult,” Godfrey said. “We’ve had kids who’ve been physically abused with whether they’re punched or whether they’re struck with an object. We have children that come in and they’re unhoused.”

All these children need help while the two state lawmakers have House Bill 7 in the works, that could provide some money for childcare.

This is a bill that was proposed last year as House Bill 580 and is now being reintroduced. 

While foster parents often receive a stipend, White said it can vary per county between $400 to $1200 a month. Child care, being around on average around $700 to $1000 it makes it very hard for families to take on placements.

“We want to propose providing that publicly funded child care for that child as they are in a foster home placement or a longer-term kinship care placement because that is a hurdle that prevents families from accepting a foster placement,” White said. “We’re going to think positive that we can pass this bill quickly.”

Being a foster parent means helping a child people don’t know.

 “Takes a lot of patience and a lot of love and understanding,” Fuellen said.

As for the challenge of rising costs, Fuellen said fostering is all about a child in need.

She sees the glass half full as her foster kids visit her even when they grow older.

“You can’t put a price tag on it,” Fuellen said. “[They visit] Christmas, all of them Valentine’s Day, they are looking forward to Valentine’s Day because is love, you know we do stuff little notes, kids just need to be normal, like feel normal because they’re already displaced they need to feel that this is home.”