Foster families score free access to state parks

BOISE — Many of the families, state officials and business owners gathered Wednesday at Lucky Peak State Park agreed that one of Idaho’s greatest assets is its outdoor beauty.

Foster parents, under a new partnership, will have greater opportunities to enjoy that beauty with their “bonus kids.” The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare along with the Department of Parks and Recreation will provide all foster families in the state free park entry passes as well as access to a new series of free outdoor education programming for kids and families.

“I think being outdoors, going to parks, is an opportunity for family bonding that is unsurpassed,” IDHW Director Alex Adams told the Idaho Press.

The partnership, which is funded through support from Regence BlueShield of Idaho and Idaho Business for the Outdoors (IBO), fits into Adams’ stated focus on improving recruitment and retention of foster families in Idaho. He said he got the idea shortly after taking office in June and began speaking to Parks and Recreation Director Susan Buxton in July.

In alignment with this goal, Gov. Brad Little announced Tuesday he is providing all state employees with eight weeks of paid parental leave after welcoming a new foster child. The executive order would extend the same benefit that new parents receive after a birth or adoption to foster parents.

Idaho has about 1,400 children in foster care currently, Adams said Wednesday, and 1,124 licensed foster homes.

“That’s about half of what we need,” Adams said.

Several current foster parents who attended the media event Wednesday said they’re looking forward to the new opportunities for their families — both biological and foster placements.

“Nature is very regulating, and it really helps our kids and our bonus kids,” Kevin Watson said.

He and his wife, Christina, have five biological children and have had seven long-term foster placements in the two years they’ve been fostering in Idaho.

Becca Allen, who has fostered 16 kids over four years and has four children of her own, said these kinds of opportunities also provide some needed acknowledgement to the biological kids in foster homes.

“As a biological child of a foster family, you sacrifice a lot,” Allen said. “You sacrifice your parents’ time and energy and their family dynamics. There’s hellos and the family dynamic changes, and then there’s the grief with the goodbyes.”

The parks department is in the process of creating the new First Time Adventure programs, which will be held across the state and focus on teaching skills such as starting a campfire or setting up a tent. Families and all their kids will be able to participate in the ranger-led classes and events.

The first event is expected to be held at Lucky Peak State Park’s Discovery Unit in mid-September, but details aren’t finalized yet.

The State Park Foster Family Passports, which will allow the families to gain free entry to all of Idaho’s 30 state parks, are in the process of being printed and should be sent out to foster families soon, a spokesperson for the parks department said.

Leaders from IBO, which is a nonprofit group of businesses that works to protect Idaho’s outdoor spaces, and Regence BlueShield of Idaho attended the media event Wednesday to highlight the new partnership with the state.

The groups will be covering the costs of the passports as well as some start-up costs with the new educational programming.

“It’s a great way to help the next generation of Idahoans grow up appreciating these outdoor spaces, appreciating what it’s like to go camping and to play in the water and the rivers,” IBO Executive Director Heather Eastman said, “and it’s a great way to support these families who dedicate themselves to taking care of these children.”

Promise Kenyon has fostered four kids long-term, and last month adopted one of the children she had fostered.

The girl was 4 years old when she first was placed in Kenyon’s household, and one of the first weekends with her, Kenyon said they took her camping. The family again went camping over this past weekend with their adopted daughter, who’s now 6.

“It was so interesting to see how far she’s come now,” Kenyon said. “Then, she would trip over a little rock on the ground. And now, she’s just scaling rocks and jumping all over the place and climbing through water, just so much joy and so much dirt.”

The other foster families who spoke to the Idaho Press, the Watsons and Allen, also noted significant boosts in confidence after doing outdoor activities with kids.

“Hiking with little kids, they start out so shaky, and then all of the sudden, it’s, ‘whoa, that’s a big rock,’ and then it’s, ‘I can do it,’ and ‘I did it,’ ” Allen said.

Kenyon sees a potential benefit for the families connecting with each other in addition to their foster kids.

“Some foster families can feel really isolated if they don’t already have a community of people that they know foster,” she said. “So I think that it’s going to connect people and create better community.”

The state has faced significant criticism in the past from frustrated foster families, despite legislative efforts to improve the child welfare system. This session, lawmakers approved the creation of a new ombudsman office to provide an avenue for foster parent grievances and address some of the issues.

Adams said he hopes this new program will mark the first of many new public-private partnerships to improve the system and ensure there are enough foster families to meet the need. He said bringing in other groups that wouldn’t normally be involved in the system will “extend the conversation.”

“It’s going to take everybody,” Adams said. “This isn’t a Department of Health and Welfare issue alone. We have a major role to play, but it’s going to take all of us.”

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.