A Totally Different Attitude

PCHAS Foster Care & Adoption staff serve children and families all across Texas from our offices in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Itasca and Wichita Falls. The need for families is great, especially for kids ages 7-17 and siblings.  

Foster families provide a safe and stable home for children while their birth family makes changes so the kids can safely return. The reunification process requires openness and cooperation from everyone involved and can generate an array of thoughts and feelings for people who care about kids.

For many who are not already involved in the child welfare system, adoption may be more familiar and can seem easier to reconcile as a solution for children. For these (and other) reasons, many families reach out with a desire to adopt, but children needing to be adopted by non-family members are actually in the minority. In 2021, out of 17,000 children who exited the Texas foster care system, only 14% were adopted by a non-relative family.

PCHAS is proud of the many families who have partnered with us to give children permanency, through adoption, when reunification wasn’t possible. Even more, we love it when families invest themselves in preparing to welcome children and find themselves moldable along the way; families who put kids first.

Adoption was the reason Sam and Lisa contacted PCHAS. They were already the parents of three amazing kids, but they had a vision for also becoming a forever family for kids who needed one. The COVID pandemic and some other life circumstances made the process longer than they initially planned, but they stayed the course and committed to learning about the needs of kids and strategies to help them heal.

In a recent conversation, Sam talked about all they learned and even more about how the process and education grew their hearts. Initially focused only on adoption, they began to consider fostering and eventually opened themselves to whatever was needed most. “By the time we were licensed, we had a totally different attitude,” Sam said. In return, he is excited his family is “finally able to serve in the way we wanted to serve.”

In February, the family was verified to foster and approved to adopt. By the end of April, they received a call about a pair of elementary-school-age siblings that seemed like a perfect match. Sam and Lisa knew this was their chance to meet a need in their community and to serve kids that needed a family. This is an emergency placement and early in the case, so the plan is for the children to go home and their parents will have 12-18 months to work with CPS and the court to achieve this goal.

Instantly growing their family from three to five kids hasn’t been without challenges, but it’s been worth it. Sam and Lisa are finding joy in giving the kids experiences they’ve never had before and doing what they can to help them maintain connections with their birth family. They are trusting in God’s plan and learning to be content even in uncertainty. The family is "all in" for whatever is best for the kids and Sam sums it up perfectly: “We want to be there for them if they reunite or if they don’t… we love these children and this is our service.”

Have you ever thought about adopting? Wondered about fostering? You deserve honest information from someone who cares about the future of your family. Your Foster Care & Adoption Guide is happy to spend time helping you make the best decisions for your family, whether that means fostering, adopting or supporting families who do. Connect with us at 281-324-0544 or fosteradopt@pchas.org or Join an Online Info Session to learn more.