May 4, 2006
Boulder Couple Named National Foster Parents of Year
Russ and Mary Ellen Genaw of Boulder have been named National Foster Parents of the Year by the National Foster Parents Association (NFPA).
The couple, who have provided care to more than 35 infants and toddlers over the past 12 years, will receive the award May 5 at the 36th annual NFPA conference in San Antonio. The Genaws also will be honored at a Foster Parent Appreciation Dinner at 5:30 p.m., May 9, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Helena.
The events are timed to help commemorate May as National Foster Care Month.
The couple was nominated for the award by employees of the Child and Family Services Division of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), which administers the state foster care program. Letters of support also were submitted by Intermountain and the Florence Crittenton Home in Helena, Helena Police Chief Troy McGee, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Youth Dynamics Residential Treatment Program in Boulder, and the Assembly of God Church in Helena.
“The Genaws demonstrate by example the importance of respecting all connections, no matter how fragile, a child has with adult caregivers,” said Liz Hayden, family resource specialist with DPHHS. “Although Russ and Mary Ellen are grandparents themselves, they are clear that their role with a foster child, no matter how young, is as a ‘parent’ role model. One of their strengths is identifying the many different and often complicated roles that everyone moves between while in the child welfare system.”
In addition to their roles as foster parents, the Genaws teach classes for foster and adoptive parents. They also serve as mentors for young birth mothers at the Florence Crittenton Home.
“Russ and Mary Ellen can assess a child’s special needs, identify resources that will help meet those needs, and through their personal efforts, they can help a child make monumental developmental strides while in their foster home,” Hayden said. “The Genaws are so devoted to making a difference in the lives of abused or neglected children that they have never refused a request to help a child or family in need.”
The Genaws are among more than 1,000 couples in Montana who serve as foster parents to children who have been removed from homes in which they’ve been abused or neglected.
The state oversees foster care for as many as 1,500 to 2,000 children at any given time, according to DPHHS officials, and the agency is having trouble finding enough licensed foster parents to meet the growing need.
Becoming a licensed foster parent involves taking 18 hours of classes and allowing a criminal background check. Anyone interested in becoming a foster parent should call 1-866-9-FOSTER (1-866-936-7837) or visit www.fostercare.mt.gov.
Page last updated: 06/13/2006
