Meet Family Works foster parents, Ralph and Robin, from Eau Claire, WI. They have six biological children, two foster children, two dogs and three cats. Both Ralph and Robin are nurses, and they foster children with complex medical needs.
Making the move to becoming foster parents
In 2020, a young boy with medical issues needed in-home nursing care and respite for his foster family. Robin was doing pediatric home health and connected with this foster family. After a few months of providing respite care in the foster home, she brought Ralph on board to also provide respite care for this boy. As time went on, Robin and Ralph’s attachment to this boy grew. Soon, they expressed interest in fostering him, and he moved to their family. But their journey did not stop there. Last year, another young boy with medical issues needed respite care. For almost a year Robin and Ralph provided his family with weekend respite. When he recently needed a foster home, Robin and Ralph decided they wanted to continue supporting him and he moved to their foster home.
Their “why”
As Robin stated, they want to do what they can to support children for as long as they can. What they enjoy most about their role is fostering relationships between their foster sons and their birth parents. They recognize parents need support to care for a child with medical needs, and they can provide this. As they say, they are all just part of one big family that loves these kids.
They also enjoy the positive effect that doing foster care has had on their own children and grandchildren. Their children and grandchildren play with children with differing abilities, and it is wonderful! When they reflect on their foster care experience, they say, “it is not exactly where we thought we would be in our lives, but we’ve ended up right where we are supposed to be!”
How do they sustain their lives as foster parents?
Robin and Ralph take care of themselves by using respite to do what they enjoy! Geocaching is one of their hobbies! They have built their circle of supporters and now have many family members and friends that have been trained to provide care for their foster sons. They know that when they take a caregiving break, the boys are cared for by people they trust.
They also celebrate all the small successes they experience with their foster children. One of their foster sons is doing things now that many people said he would never do when he was born. Most importantly, they recognize the progress that the families are making and know that the level of support they can provide is what they need.
Advice they have to other families considering foster care:
Robin and Ralph recommend that if you are thinking about doing foster care but are just not sure if you can do it, try doing respite care. Respite care is a needed service for families, and it can give you an idea of whether fostering might be a fit for you and your family.
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