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FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012 | Vol. 27, No. 27 www.CENTRALKITSAPREPORTER.com | 50¢
More foster parents needed for Kitsap County Especially those from ‘diverse’ cultures and religions By KRISTIN OKINAKA kokinaka@soundpublishing.com
Greg Skinner/staff photo
Port Orchard resident Glover “Leon” Ashlock leans against a few tons of wood pellets stored in his garage. The stove fuel was bought with aid funds from the Kitsap County Veterans Assistance program.
County cuts veteran aid 25 percent as need grows The move makes less available to more as requests for aid climb By Greg Skinner gskinner@soundpublishing.com
Military veterans living near the edge of financial ruin in Kitsap County now have access to less aid following the Board of County Commissioners’ vote last week to reduce individual payouts. The maximum amount of aid per veteran per year was reduced to $900 from $1,200 in a two one vote by Commissioners Josh Brown and Robert Gelder. The reduction was made to stave off raising taxes, or running out of money based on the current tax rate – the only other options considered. Gelder said that the overall amount
to aid the veterans in need was less this year, when compared to previous years, because it’s part of the general operating budget and nearly every departmental budget was reduced. The levy is collected at a range of 1 1/8 cents to 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The current levy rate is 1 1/8 cents per thousand. Without the reduction in payouts, the fund would not make it through the year, Gelder said. “[The fund] would run out by fall,” he said. The veterans assistance fund dispersed $357,000 in tax collections to veterans in need throughout 2011. The county set aside $261,000 for 2012, citing a “declining fund balance.” During the February regular meeting of the county’s veterans advisory board, the board members voted to forward a reduced aid schedule to county leadership for approval.
Leif Bentsen, human services planner Kitsap County Veterans Assistance Program, said there was no other choice. With the numbers of veterans in need climbing in relation to the continued bad economy, the current guidelines allowing $1,200 in aid per individual veteran per year would have left the fund empty before summer’s end. On Feb. 22, a bill in the state senate that sought to separate the constitutionally mandated tax collection from it ties to the county general fund and make flexible adjustments to the collection rate without a vote. Kitsap County Commissioners joined others around the state supporting the bill, which would have gone into law in 2013. Most agreed it would help veterans. Going forward this year, veterans seeking aid from the Veteran’s Advisory See AID, A6
Rupa Dara, a selfemployeed chiropractor, has always had a love for children. Now, she has two young ones that call her “Mimi.” She’s not their grandmother, but a foster mother to them. “If you can provide it, provide it,” Dara said. “If you have a love for children, you can do this.” It wasn’t until Dara recently became a foster parent and became closer to the situations of parenting, that she realized there is a need for more foster homes. She hasn’t once questioned her decision to open her Bremerton home to foster children. “You look at their faces and think, ‘OK, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do,’” she said Monday. People like Dara are making a positive contribution to the lives of children but it’s no question that more foster parents are needed in the Kitsap area. In addition, having a diverse pool of foster parents is also just as important, say foster care recruiters and regional administrators with the state Department of Children and Family Services. Phyllis Bishop, a recruiter and mentor of the Foster Care Resource Network for Kitsap County, said that a recent situation occurred where her boss told her to look — and get the word out — for Muslim families that would be able to become licensed foster care providers. In one case, See HOMELESS, A8
Muslim children were placed in a Christian foster home, which led to issues with food and prayer, said Bishop. The children had to be removed and were placed in another home. Henry Castanares and his wife were foster parents for more than 18 years. They cared for infants to teenagers in their East Bremerton home until last summer. A protestant couple, Casatanares said they took their foster children to church with them regularly and never came across a problem with that. With the teenagers they cared for, they would explain what to expect at the service beforehand, Castanares said. “It wasn’t a big issue at the time,” he said. “We let the children go with what they believed in, we didn’t force anything on them.” Castanares said his family was fortunate to not come across any big cultural or religious differences that made it so the children had to be removed from their home. Foster parents have the choice on whether or not to take a child in and the Castanares never turned anyone away. However, not all transitions are that smooth. “The biological parents have the right to say ‘My child’s not going to that church’ and the foster family has to go along with that,” Bishop said. Bishop, who has been a foster parent for nine years See FOSTER, A6