By Padma Nagappan
The Alpine Sun

     David Meyers of Alpine has been a foster parent for nine years, cared for 10 children and adopted two of them. Twila Perucci of El Cajon has been one for 28 years, and cared for 104 children during that time. She has four children, two of whom are adopted.
     These are but two remarkable examples of the incredible service being rendered to children in East County, by numerous caring foster parents and the dedicated social workers who recruit these parents and place the children.

Why they became foster parents
     Twila Perucci said, “I love children. I could not bear to think of a child not having a stable family environment, so I decided to be a foster parent.”
     Perucci is also the President of the Foster Parent Association of San Diego County.
     David Meyers’ story is impressive because, for much of the time that he has cared for the little ones, his wife has been away on active duty in the Navy.
     “My wife motivated me to become a foster parent,” Meyers said. She is my inspiration. I am retired from the Marine Corps and she is active duty Navy. When we were stationed in Okinawa, we helped out at orphanages through our church.”
     “I grew up in a big family,” he added. These factors led him down the path to foster parenting.

Age groups of foster children
     “We have mostly cared for newborns to two year olds,” Meyers said. “Sometimes we’ve gotten them right out of the hospital. One time I had three little ones less than eighteen months all by myself while my wife was overseas.”
     One of the babies he cared for is now his adopted daughter. “She is eight-years old now, but she was medically fragile, barely five pounds at four months,” Meyers said. “She’s a miracle, she truly is.”
     Eighteen months is the longest a child has ever stayed with him. “I still see that boy. We are his godparents now. He spends holidays with us,” Meyers added.
     Perucci, on the other hand, has taken in children from birth to 18 years of age. The longest a child has stayed with her has been seven to eight years.
     “I am in touch with many of my former foster kids and their birth parents,” said Perucci. “We have a wonderful relationship.”

Challenges faced
     When asked about some of the hardships they faced as foster parents, Perucci said, “I take medically fragile children, so keeping them healthy and making sure all of their special needs are met is certainly a challenge.”
She added, “Sometimes parents don’t come when they are supposed to visit, so the children can get upset. And that can make it hard for the whole family.”
     For Meyers, the hardship has been seeing the children return to less than ideal environments.
“When you know a child is going back to a situation that is not so good because of the way the system works, this is the hardest.”

Plenty of rewards
     “To see my daughter now, as well as other children lead a normal life and be loving people,” is very rewarding said Meyers.
     Perucci has seen many successes over her 28 years as a foster parent. “These kids are fabulous. They need love and attention. The biggest reward is when they go back to their homes or to an adoptive family and thrive in that environment.”
     From the heart to the table — a cookbook published by the group to help raise funds for the Foster Parents Association (F.P.A) of San Diego County, Foster Lift which is a non-profit organization.
     Recipes have been contributed by many caring foster parents as well as the social workers from the Foster Home Licensing department of the county who are passionately committed to the cause.
     Beverly Bruff, a social worker with Foster Home Licensing is the editor who put the book together. Bruff came up with the idea of the book when she received a Christmas present from her sister, which was a cookbook brought out by another non-profit organization. She worked with the F.P.A., which meets every month, and got many parents to contribute through word of mouth. Social workers talked to people and Ann Fox, their manager at the Foster Home Licensing department sent E-mails out requesting unique recipes.
     “Some of the recipes are very easy and very healthy,” said Bruff, “They are perfect for busy families. In addition, there are cooking hints always useful for any one trying out recipes, a table of measurements and Quick Fixes for people in a hurry.”
     “These are recipes that can be made by kids”, said Twila Perucci whose contribution goes by the appetizing name of ‘Cup of Dirt’ and has Gummi Worms as a key ingredient. David Meyers even wrote a recipe called ‘Breakfast Sausage Casserole.’
     “A lot of hard work and love went into it,” said Ann Fox, manager of the San Diego Foster Home Licensing Department. “The whole effort is to support foster families. We’ve never done this before.”
     "People think about foster children, but not the actual families who care for them,” Fox added. “These people amaze me, every day.”
     To buy the book which sells for $10, call 877-792-KIDS(5437). Books can be bought directly from the Foster Home Licensing office at 8965 Balboa Avenue.

Need for more parents
     Fox, explained that in San Diego County at any time, there are at least 6,000 children who need foster care.
     “We always try to place them with relatives or a friend of the family first, foster care is the third option,” she said. “There are 1,600 foster families in San Diego right now.”
     The children that they work with are often abused or neglected. According to Fox, homes are desperately needed for young children through age five.
     “Since a lot of people work full- time, they are unable to care for very young children, she said. “So, we are looking for parents who can do that. The second group we need help with are the siblings. We would rather not separate them if we can find foster parents who can take in more than one child in a family.”
     Teenagers are the third group of children for who need foster homes. “The placement can be anywhere from a few months to long-term, depending on each child’s personal situation,” said Fox, who went on to clarify that just about anyone can become foster parents.
     The requirements for a foster parent are that they be over age 18, they can be single or married, male or female.
They have to show sufficient income to support themselves. Owning a home is not a requirement, they can be renting.
     Those interested in becoming foster parents can call the 1-877-792-KIDS (5437). Social workers will respond to inquiries and explain the process.

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