May is National Foster Care Month, which is a time to celebrate the families who provide safe and loving homes for children who have suffered from maltreatment. DePelchin is grateful for the opportunity to work with foster families across our service areas — Houston, Austin, Lubbock and San Antonio — and provide these families the services and support they need to help children heal from the trauma they have experienced.

Last year, DePelchin cared for 769 children in foster homes and we licensed 140 families to provide foster care. The generosity of our supporters allows us to connect with these families and ensure they are fully equipped to provide the safe and supportive home that children need.

Much of our work at DePelchin focuses on providing prevention services to help families stay together so that foster care does not become necessary — services such as counseling for parents and children and classes that give parents strategies and tools to manage their children’s behaviors. However, there is still a need for families to step forward to provide temporary care (foster care) for children who have been removed.

We understand that those who are considering becoming involved but do not have experience with the foster care system might have a lot of questions. We want to begin to answer those questions and help families gain a clearer understanding of what foster care involves.

At DePelchin, a foster parent must be at least 21 years old, be in good physical health, pass a criminal background check and be able to financially provide for a child. Beyond that, our foster families come in all shapes and sizes. They are single or married, same-sex or traditional, working or retired. They are renters or homeowners, have children of their own or no parenting experience. What they all share is a genuine desire to care for children and the ability to provide a safe and loving home.

The process of becoming a foster parent with DePelchin typically lasts between three and six months, beginning with one of our free informational orientations. Among other steps involved, prospective foster parents must submit an application and other documentation, complete a required trauma-informed training program and participate in a home study to ensure the home meets all safety standards.

One misconception is that becoming a foster family is expensive. However, at DePelchin, training and home study are free and we reimburse the cost of background checks.

Finally, it is important to know that you are not alone. We assign caseworkers to all of our foster families and those caseworkers visit the home at least once a month to ensure that the child is safe and to see what resources the family may need.

Sometimes a family provides foster care until the child can be reunited with his or her birth family, and sometimes the foster family becomes a forever family through the legal process of adoption. All foster parents are important, and all are critical to the safety net we try to provide for the most vulnerable children among us.

If becoming a foster family sounds like something worth exploring, please sign up for one of our informational sessions to learn more. And when Foster Care Month comes around next year, we might be celebrating you!

(HOUSTON) — Hundreds of supporters and friends celebrated the work of DePelchin Children’s Center on April 26 at DePelchin’s annual Families for Kids luncheon. The event raised more thabn $360,000 for the services and programs that DePelchin provides to ensure children are part of safe and loving homes.

The luncheon honored Baker Botts L.L.P. with the Kezia Payne DePelchin Award, which is named for the woman who founded DePelchin in Houston in 1892 when she discovered three babies on her doorstep and opened what she called a “faith home” for the children. When she died suddenly the next year, the faith home she established was at risk of being lost until some of Houston’s most notable women — including Alice Graham Baker, wife of Captain James A. Baker — vowed to carry on the mission. At Mrs. Baker’s request, Captain Baker organized and secured a Charter of Incorporation to formally continue the mission started by Ms. DePelchin, and what was then known as the DePelchin Faith Home Association would become Baker Botts’ longest-tenured pro bono client.

Baker Botts lawyers have served on the DePelchin Board throughout the organization’s history, and some of the most recognized members of the firm have provided pro bono services to DePelchin.

“In my twelve years at DePelchin, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside Baker Botts partners and staff members, and their dedication to our children and families has been unmistakable,” said DePelchin CEO Jenifer Jarriel. “Everything they do for DePelchin is because they share our vision for a world in which all children are safe and healthy.”

The award was accepted by Baker Botts Partners Scott Janoe, who sits on the DePelchin Board of Directors, and Keri Brown, who sits on the Board of the Foundation for DePelchin Children’s Center.

Sally McDonald of Fox 26, who hosts the station’s “Fox Finding Families” segment that features children hoping to find adoptive homes, emceed the luncheon. The featured speaker was Dr. John “Push” Gaines, a former at-risk foster youth turned youth advocate, author, college football champion and motivational speaker.

Cecily and Rick Burleson served as Chairs of this year’s luncheon.

Money raised at the Families for Children event supports an array of DePelchin services, including maltreatment-prevention programs, family preservation, foster care and adoption, and residential treatment. Last year, 769 children were cared for in foster homes, 140 families were licensed to provide foster care, and 128 children were adopted through DePelchin.

DePelchin recently had the chance to explain our work and provide the public with more information about preventing child abuse on Houston Matters, a radio show and podcast produced by Houston Public Media.

DePelchin Senior Vice President and COO Jesse Booher joined host Craig Cohen on the April 24 edition of Houston Matters to discuss Child Abuse Prevention Month. They talked about ways that individuals, families and organizations can help to keep families safe. Booher discussed the range of prevention programs and other services that DePelchin provides in the Houston area.

“We’re a full continuum provider, so in our prevention programs, we meet with families where there is no designation of abuse and neglect, where families might need just a little bit of support, some skill building, counseling, and things to wrap around them,” Booher said. “We do also work with families who are involved with Child Protective Services, sort of the next step along that continuum, and then we have very robust foster care and adoption programs. So when the most serious types of abuse and neglect have occurred, we have families and staff who are willing and able to step in and help heal that trauma — not just the child’s trauma, but the family’s trauma as well.”

The show began with a focus on how, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sharp reduction in the number of suspected cases of child maltreatment that were reported. Those numbers bounced back in 2021 and 2022 as students returned to school and began to see medical providers more frequently. The groups who most commonly report abuse and neglect are teachers, law enforcement, and medical professionals.

Booher also emphasized the importance of anyone who suspects a child is being abused or neglected calling the Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400. He noted that the people who take those calls at the hotlines are well-trained professionals who can often determine whether further investigation is warranted without a process that is too invasive for the family.

“If something doesn’t sit right in your gut — if you have a question or a concern — it’s OK to make that phone call,” Booher said.

You can listen to the full interview at this link. The interview with Booher begins at about the 8:10 mark.