by Courtney Oldwyn

Special to the Sounder

Since she was nine years old, Michela has attended 11 different schools. Not because her family moved often, but because that’s when she was removed from her home and placed in foster care for the first time.

New home after new home, new family after new family – Michela spent fourth and fifth grade on Orcas Island, then seventh and the start of eighth in Friday Harbor before being sent to another home in yet another community.

After every change in school she fell further and further behind academically. Eventually she dropped out of high school. Being able to stay at least in the same town or on the same island “would’ve really helped; at least I wouldn’t have had to change schools so much,” she said.

Currently, there are more than 10,000 children in foster care in Washington. Only a small number of those come from San Juan County. The main problem the county is facing is that the lack of licensed foster homes causes local children who do come in to care to be placed in off-island homes. There are no licensed foster homes on Orcas and only one on San Juan Island.

Foster care is in itself extremely stressful for children and can, in the long term, be as traumatizing as staying in an abusive or neglectful home. The loss of parents, siblings, friends and their own community “culture” is incredibly disorienting to children. Add to that the loss of their friends, the school many of them have been attending since kindergarten, teachers they have built relationships with and the community they’ve grown up in and their lives become even more disoriented.

Last year on Orcas, 10 children were removed from their families by the state, but only a handful of them were able to remain on the island. Some were able to live with family members or “suitable others”: friends, neighbors, teachers or other adults that these children may have a pre-existing relationship with. The others were sent to licensed foster homes off island in places like Skagit, Whatcom or even King Counties.

“If we had homes ready, these children could easily be placed here,” said Christina Urtasun, a foster care recruiting and retention specialist with Fostering Together, which is contracted with the state to find and support foster families in Western Washington. Fostering Together acts as a liaison between the Department of Social and Health Services and foster parents.

“We do everything in our being to keep kids where they are,” said Kari Jellison, supervisor responsible for the islands with DSHS.

On Wednesday, Jan. 27, Jellison and Urtasun held an informational meeting at the Eastsound Fire Station, following a similar meeting in Friday Harbor the week prior. The two women visited the islands to inform islanders about the need for licensed foster families, and the foster care licensing process.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of noise lately from the islands about the need for licensed homes, for information, for support, for someone to come out here,” said Urtasun.

Christina Leoutsakos is currently the only social worker for the islands. According to Jellison, Leoutsakos makes a visit to the islands twice a week.

“We do everything in our being to keep kids where they are,” said Jellison. “We have to work with what service providers are contracted out here. Christina [Leoutsakos] and I are committed to the islands, and being a constant.”

“I’ve had kids literally stay the night in my office because we have nowhere to send them to,” said Linnea Anderson, San Juan County Juvenile Court administrator, during the Friday Harbor meeting.

A problem facing local kids, especially teenagers, is that they’re unwilling to seek help from the state when living in bad situations because they’re afraid they’ll be forced to move off island.

“These kids just want to go to school; they just want to play basketball,” said Anderson.

Many of these teens end up living informally with friends or extended family, couch surfing between homes or staying in potentially neglectful situations with their parents. Friends, family and community members often decline to call in to the state possible cases of neglect or abuse because they don’t want to be responsible for these children having to move off island.

Due to the lack of licensed foster homes in the community, children are sent to informally live with another family, or even placed by the state in a home with a “suitable other;” these families do not receive the same benefits and support as licensed foster homes.

Island families considering whether or not foster care is right for them should keep in mind that foster families always have the final say on which children to accept into their homes. They can set age parameters, or even agree to only take in children from their own communities.

Families who become licensed may receive calls, as often as every day, looking for placement for children from all over the state, or they may not have a child in their home for months. Often, children from other counties are not placed in island homes because of the travel restrictions and the complications it causes for social workers.

Licensing requirements include fingerprinting, a background check, home visit, CPR and First-Aid training and completion of a 24-hour training program.

The licensing process itself can be lengthy and hard to navigate but there is help through programs like Fostering Together, which Christina Urtasun collaborates with to provide mentorship to new families going through the process. Urtasun has been working over the past few months to set up a licensing and training program in San Juan County.

“I’ve been working on it for months but it’s finally ready to go,” said Urtasun, urging anyone even considering being a foster parent to attend the classes.

“The training is scheduled for April on Orcas Island, and is open to all interested families. Who knows when a training like this here in the islands will happen again,” Urtasun continued, stating that in her eight years as a recruiter she never remembers a class being held on island.

As for Michela, she is currently working to earn her high school diploma but is already planning ahead to the next step: higher education.

“It is my wildest dream to go to a four year college,” writes Michela in her application essay to Seattle University.

On her own for more than a year now, Michela is working on putting down roots. She has an apartment in Friday Harbor, she’s studying to get her driver’s license and has found support and friendship from past mentors who live in Friday Harbor as well.

At the informational meeting in Friday harbor, Michala made connections with a few local moms and business owners. She has ta potential job interview. She is building her own “village.”

“I just never had that luxury of staying anywhere very long,” she said.

For licensing and initial paperwork, visit fosteringtogether.org or contact Urtasun at Christina-urtusan@olivecrest.org.

Sounder reporter Mandi Johnson contributed to this story.