A bill at the State Capitol would help compensate local families who take in foster children. News Talk 830 WCCO’s Laura Oakes talked with a Minneapolis woman who knows the ups and downs of fostering all too well and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Kelly Wolle and her husband Bryan have fostered seven children in their south Minneapolis home over the past 5 years. They say it’s an all-consuming lifestyle on top of their regular jobs and commitments.
“Our whole identity is that child when they are with us,” Wolle said. “We are going to therapy appointments. We’re taking them to the pediatrician. Some children have never seen a dentist before, so we’re taking them to the dentist.”
On top of that, Wolle says foster parents are also in contact with the child’s school and numerous other things, as there are many different aspects of taking care of a child. But when they leave, she says they are often left feeling “deflated.”
The bill moving through the Minnesota Senate would provide a small financial benefit to foster providers when tax season rolls around.
Under the proposed legislation, foster parents would receive access to the social security numbers for the children they are caring for, so they can “get credit for having them.”
“A lot of times, the non-custodial parents, so the parent who does not have that child, will claim them on their taxes and get credit. Even though we know that they’ve been in our care for a year,” Wolle said.
Wolle’s journey into foster care started years ago when she was volunteering at Children’s Hospital. A job that one night found her teamed up with a baby who had no one to hold it.
“The nurses said, ‘Can you hang out with this kiddo?’ And they said, ‘This is a foster kid, and nobody is here to visit this child,’” Wolle shared.
After that, Wolle started the process and took the required classes to become a foster parent. Now she’s the Executive Director of Minnesota Foster and Adoptive Families, a nonprofit that helps guide others through the process.
She and her husband have been without a foster child for more than a year now and are eager for their next one, as she added that they “want to help” and “give children a little piece” of what they had growing up.
It’s an emotional journey and not one for the faint of heart. Wolle says as fulfilling as it is to help a child, having to say goodbye can be unbearable.
“Attachment is a big part of doing foster care, and it hurts. Every single child that has been in our home takes a piece of my heart with them,” she said.
A very special previous foster child still holds a piece of the Wolle’s hearts. After months of caring for that child and falling in love, the Wolles were down the path to adopting the little one until the county said no.
“They said that I couldn’t meet the cultural needs of this child, and that was certainly a shock for us. I had never heard of something like that happening. Bryan and I are a biracial couple, so we still can’t identify what cultural needs I’m unable to meet.”
For now, the Wolles are moving on, though Kelly says there’s still a lot of work to be done to fix what she believes is a tendency toward discrimination and racism within the county’s adoption process.
Until then, their cherished photos of smiling, giggling toddlers who, after months in their care, ended up somewhere else will have to do.
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