Seeking Latino and African-American foster parents for Philly kids

An event this Saturday will recruit potential foster and adoptive parents in North and Northeast Philadelphia.

Specifically, a non-profit called The Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations of Philadelphia (Concilio) hopes to draw more potential African-American and Latino foster parents.

 

“We do have a high number of African American and Latino children entering placement. So the idea is that we like to place children within homes that do represent their own culture. To keep some type of similarity for the children during their time in placement,” said Dymonde Davis is the Manager of Family Social Services at Concilio.

Eric Rivera, 19, has been in foster care for about six years. He said it was rocky at first and he got homesick. But he said he realized that he had to remove himself from a bad situation,

“And you know put me into a place where it’s more nurturing, more caring, where I didn’t have to worry about the basic necessities and help me to excel. I’ve gotten really lucky in the system,” he said.

Rivera said one thing that’s helped is having a foster family that speaks Spanish — his first language.

“It was easier in my transition going to a Hispanic family. It was like OK the same culture, we know the same culture, we know the same language and we just understood each other a lot better and you know it’s more accepting to have somebody that looks familiar to you,” Rivera said.

Rivera now lives in North Philadelphia and attends Temple University.

Daisy Montanez, a foster parent from Northeast Philadelphia said it’s good to be from the same ethnic group as the child you’re caring for, but above all, the most important thing is to give the kid a safe and loving home.

The event, Concilio’s “Cafecito de Niños,” will be held from 11am-1pm at the La Tierra Del Caribe restaurant.