Challenges of Foster Parenting in the Philippines

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“This is Joshua, my foster child,” Manilyn “Mallie” delBianco always insisted when her colleagues and friends were mistaken that she adopted her new 7-year-old child.
Based on Del Bianco’s foster parenting case, there are people still overlooking that fostering is different from adopting. However, these altruistic works have the same goal: to care for children, fostering just lasts for a limited time. Foster parenting’s time span usually ranges from one week to six months, and is only extended up to one year depending on the interests and comfort of the child from his or her current foster parent.

Fostering simply means a planned time span of stand-in family to provide guidance and care for a child whose true family has probably passed away, got jailed, gone to a war, or just abandoned him or her due to poverty. On behalf of the foster parenting’s empowerment, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) certified The Parenting Foundation of the Philippines, Inc. (PFP) as an organization responsible for introducing “foster parenting” as more effective way to care parentless children than any other like institutional care. Recently, PFP conducted a study on foster care and institutional care, and the analysis showed that abandoned children more prefer to get into other family than to stay in a monastery which provides only an institutional care. The study also revealed that children more like foster parenting than nunnery or convent’s care, because they can be well-nourished by more attention their stand-in parents give.

Maria Paz “Pazie” U. de Guzman, an executive director and psychologist, expressed herself through saying that children deserve the right to grow up in a family. De Guzman also clarified that due to the great number of parentless children being adopted in residential facilities like nunnery and monastery, these children might more likely receive less attention, care, support, and guidance resulting of their bad quality of nurturance.

Full Responsibility in Foster Parenting
Going back to Del Bianco’s foster parenting responsibility, she told that she got Joshua at 6½-year old and he’s now turning 8 in November. Despite the fact that she has already raised two children, and been given a grandson named Sandro by her daughter, she has never restricted herself to provide Joshua what he needs and wants, provide him  the affection of the family which he lacks.

Del Bianco shared that it is now a full responsibility to care Joshua because he’s now at his age to attend school. As what she told more things about Joshua, she also shared that Joshua, at first, only spoke in Tagalog while her grandson spoke much in English, but beyond the difference between them, they still got close to each other.

She added that Joshua was still a baby when a woman, playing as his biological mother, went to a nunnery and handed him over to the sisters. As years passed by, Joshua became toddler, and the woman who left him to the sisters has never come back; therefore, through the help of PFP, sisters chose to transfer him as foster child to Del Bianco’s care.

Fostering VS Adoption Issue
Although foster parenting legality’s documents are easier to process than adoption, Del Bianco knows that she must prepare herself emotionally, financially, and mentally in order to do the responsibility of parenting 

Del Bianco must know that fostering is not a simple responsibility, because she has to face some expected circumstances in her life as the stand-in mother of Joshua. She’s responsible for Joshua’s health problem; she must fight for Joshua’s safety when someone is bullying him at school. She has to teach him good conduct for Joshua’s nice performance in future.

Best options: Regular or Volunteer
Through conducting periodic training seminars on parenting, PFP provides foster parents a list of guidelines to carry out their responsibility for their foster children well. For over two decades of PFP’s services, the organization has succeeded in transferring thousand children to several foster parents’ care in the Philippines, not adding up those children joined up again with their family, and those whom DSWD have turned out well to transfer abroad.

These days, PFP does this welfare for abandoned and parentless children with two types of foster families: the regular and the volunteer. Regular foster parents receive monthly subsidy of P2500 to fulfill the child’s daily expenses, while volunteer foster parents like Del Bianco’s bear everything the child needs. Currently, PFP has now 35-40 regular foster families and 20 volunteer families from Metro Manila, and from towns in Southern Luzon. De Guzman stated that a foster family doesn’t necessarily hold affluence to have the right of taking in a child. As she quoted, “we have foster families from the lower middle-income bracket (one foster parent works as a security guard) who are willing to become substitute families for these children,” it only denotes that once a foster family can gain sufficient income to sustain their foster child’s needs, they can have one to foster.

De Guzman added that DSWD has empowered foster care services through letting foreigners in the Philippines to foster a child; and for those who have enough income and stable job to feed child, they may be given a chance to adopt the child they chose to foster.

Another Story of Successful Foster Parenting
In 1990, despite Beto family is a lower middle-class family, they began to foster children. Epifanio and Lydia Beto have already seen and cared for children from different backgrounds, personalities, and health problems. Beto family fulfilled their 25 kids with love, and did handle their responsibilities to give them everything they need.

In 2005, DSWD Undersecretary Alice Bala chose the Beto family as the Most Outstanding and Inspiring Foster Family. Beto family also received the prestigious Chairman Simeon C. Medalla Award.

Making a Difference through Foster Parenting
Del Bianco hopes to grow the percentage of foster parenting against placing parentless children in residential faculties like monastery, nunnery, and convent. “I would like to start a ripple effect among my friends, raise their consciousness and get them to start thinking seriously about how foster care can change lives,” she said.

 “People may donate P1,000 or P2,000 for these children and that would already spell a difference,” she added. At this time, Sen. PiaCayetano, who’s been a certified foster parent, pushes a bill on foster care for sanction in both chambers of Philippine Congress. Once the bill is approved, DSWD-accredited Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) will get profits from the regular budget; therefore, more abandoned and parentless children will be fostered, and will have good future.

Going back to the foster parenting of Del Bianco, she took in Joshua as her foster child so her grandson, Sandro, can have someone to play with. She also revealed that the two have been treating each other as best friends, and no one seems can set them apart.

 “By fostering, I’m actually helping two kids grow up healthy and happy.” She quoted to encourage other parents to foster child if they want.

Source: Challenges of Foster Parenting

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