Former full-time foster parents provide respite care in their community

Every parent needs a break from the kids once in a while, but for foster parents, finding childcare can be challenging.

For foster parents wanting to get away for more than a few hours, a certified respite care provider is required. Respite care providers take all the same classes and trainings as foster parents, but unlike foster parents, they only take in children for a couple of days, up to two weeks. Unfortunately, there just aren’t a lot of these part-time foster parents to go around.

That was the experience of Dawn and Roy Delgatty during their 20 years as foster parents.

“Respite care was essential to keeping our… dare I say our sanity?” said Dawn. “But we found it very difficult to find respite providers.”

When they did find respite care, it was often with another foster family. However, sometimes that was a challenge as well. For instance, if a foster family is licensed for three children, and has three children in the home already, they would not be able to provide respite care.

Dawn and Roy have retired from full-time foster care, but recently became recertified in order to be respite care providers to foster families in their community, in part because of their own experiences.

“We decided to do it as a ministry,” Dawn said. “Our church is quite involved with Arrow, and foster care and adoption.”

By providing respite care for foster families in their church, the Dalgattys can provide consistency for those families’ foster kids, and be a positive influence in their lives. Dawn and Roy are excited to look after their first respite kids next month!

If you feel called to get involved with foster care, but don’t feel you’re in a position to be a full-time foster parent, respite care could be right for you. To learn more, click the link below and scroll down to “Part-Time Fostering.”

https://www.arrow.org/services-programs/foster-care/becoming-foster-parent/