May is foster care awareness month. This week RTV6 is working for you, sharing stories of foster care here in Indiana and showing you ways to make a difference.
INDIANAPOLIS — Becoming a long term foster parent is a big commitment, one that is too much to take on for some people.
However, there are other ways to care for foster children without changing your family or making long-term commitments you can't keep.
Allie Missler and her husband provide emergency care for foster children.
“So we get the calls in the middle of the night for a child or children that have been removed from their home for any number of reasons,” said Missler.
Department of Child Services calls the Missler’s and brings those children to Allie’s home. The family has set up a room with a full-size bed and a crib.
READ | Thousands of kids are in foster care in Indiana, many of them are there because of drugs
“We try to treat it like a little hotel, we have a tray with a towel and a new toothbrush and toothpaste and shampoo and conditioner and then obviously for babies we have diapers and things like that,” said Missler.
The couple decided to pursue foster care when their two adult children went to college. Missler made a call to find out if there was a way to help without starting a new family.
Shortly after they started their training, the Missler’s decided to specialize in emergency care, seeing a need that wasn’t being filled.
“And that really came to us while we were in training because we learned that children in Indiana… our children… spend nights in DCS offices. I think my husband and I looked at each other during that training and said not on our watch,” said Allie, “We felt strongly that children who are in the midst of some of the biggest trauma they could ever experience, they’re being removed from their home… shouldn’t spend the night in an office.”
The Missler’s also have backpacks and changes of clothes for kids so they can take them to school the next day if necessary. Allie says keeping things as normal as possible for the child is part of their goal.
While this family knows long term or short term foster care isn’t for everyone, this is what works for them.
“It has been an incredible journey. It of course involves some sad things… but what these children have brought to our life is so much more than we could have ever imagined,” said Allie.
If you are interested in learning more about foster care visit the Indiana Department of Child Services website.
