8/23/13 - Brighton City Manager Dana Foster may be best known for managing the Livingston County town of 7,000, but he and his wife Molly have an avocation that keeps them more than busy in their spare time. The foster parent program in which the Fosters are involved is operated by Bethany Christian Services, which serves a 3-county area, including Livingston County, from its East Lansing offices. The children come into the program via Child Protective Services and the Michigan Department of Human Services, which contracts with Bethany to provide temporary care. The children the Fosters have been foster parents to range in age from infants to 5. Foster tells WHMI that sometimes the kids placed in foster homes have no more than the clothes on their back. The Fosters have been in the program for about a year, going through an intensive training program to prepare them for the rigors and sometimes unexpected surprises in the program. All who successfully go through the training are licensed as a foster parent home. The Fosters have had a child for as little as a few days and as long as a month or more. Bethany Program Director Nancy Willimen says the organization â which is in over 30 states and many foreign countries - provides foster care, adoption and in-home family services to disadvantaged children and families on five continents. The goal is ultimately to return children to their birth parents whenever possible. Willimen says if the child cannot return home because it continues to be unsafe â which is determined by the court â then he or she is placed for adoption. (TT)
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