C o v e r s t o ry
Family FIRST Foster care program offers financial, social, and training support to families.
Travis and Lauren Scharnweber have been involved in foster care for almost seven years. They currently have three adopted children (Tonka, Maggie, and Serenity), and two biological children (Ruth and Victor). Photo by Ciara Kleva.
10 | JANUARY 2022 | EPIC KIDS
By Sondra Barr hoenix Christian Preparatory school counselor Amber Walker brought the idea of starting a foster care program to Lauren Scharnweber’s attention in 2016. The director of curriculum and instruction at Phoenix Christian, Lauren and her husband were fostering three children as a non-relative kinship family, at the time. “As a kinship family, you don’t get paid by the state or get training. You’re only approved to care for those specific kids,” explains Lauren. While they’d go on to become a licensed foster family, Lauren was excited to implement a program at the school that would support students in foster care, as well as help parents navigate the often difficult foster system. In Arizona, the need for foster parents is tremendous. With over 14,000 children in care of the state, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security, many of these kids don’t have a family setting to live. Instead they reside in shelters, group homes, or institutions. Foster homes, on the other hand, provide children a safe environment to stay in while one or both parents work to reunite with their children. According to Arms of Love Foster Care, “This can take days, weeks, months, or longer. Some of these children will never be able to return home, and they need a permanent family to love and care for them through adoption.” “We wanted to be able to support the families who’re providing a loving, safe environment for these children, so Amber and I worked together to make that happen,” says Lauren. Their determination to make the program a reality paid off. Currently, 10 families, which include 21 preschool through 12th-grade students, are in the program. The total tuition provided to these families is $169,730 for the current school year. Twenty-three additional students have come through the program since it began.
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