Atkinson Family Services

How about some numbers?  They really aren't important to me or our story, but most people are interested.  So, one time only, here are the numbers.  We started in 1968, with 2 children of our own.  By 1977, when we moved from San Jose, CA, to Sacramento, CA, we brought with us 13 children; 2 natural, 3 adopted, 6 foster, 1 in guardianship, and 1 family friend.  We became a county group home in 1978, and a state group home in 1983.  We incorporated in 1984, and began adding group homes.  We now have 6 group homes, a foster family agency, a non-public school, (a school for children removed from public school for difficult behavior), a thrift store and a donated auto program.


We are soon moving into our new office, and will add a charter school which will serve children through a distance-learning program.  Each child will receive a computer, and will do the bulk of their work at home.  We will have tutors and support services at the office site. 


We are very excited about working towards opening an adoption agency in the very new future.  Almost every one of our long-time foster parents have adopted at least one child, and we would like to help people have the positive and successful outcomes we have had.


We will also be opening a behavior health clinic which will serve children and their families.  We are very excited about these expanded services.


Originally all of our groups were run by house parents with support staff.  We only have one of the original families left.  As laws changed, emphasis on the family model fell on disfavor  with licensing, and our family model changed to a social work-administrator-house manager-staff model.   We have been able to keep the family feel to our homes, and our staff have built good teams that work really hard to make good relationships with the children.


To complete the whole picture, we have 103 employees at this time.  We are very thankful for all the support we have received from employees, family and friends.


Finally, Jim and I have parented over 200 children over the years.  We now have 73 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, with more of both on the way!  People often ask, "How do your children turn out?"  I always answer, "I don't know, they aren't all dead yet".


What we started out to do is give the children whatever family they want, and to give them the same opportunities as any other child by the time they turn 18.

Something about me

Whenever I meet someone new the first thing they want to know is the why and how I got started in this very full life I lead.  I would like to share that with you, because I would also like to know how other people got started in foster care, and why.


I was what was called "back in the day", a precocious child.  Actually, children were to be seen and not heard, but what I learned was that girls weren't even to be seen.  My mother said I was born with an opinion, so this never set well with me.  I was reading way before I went to school, and  by age 6, I read 2 newspapers a day.  I especially loved Eleanor Roosevelt, and looked for what she said and did , as the first thing when I opened the newspaper.  One day I read that she was in a foreign country where they sacrificed little girls to the temple gods.  I was incensed!  I was going there and rescue those little girls.  That was the beginning, way back in 1948-49.


Not only did I want to work with children, I wanted to serve the Lord.  I very much felt called to serve.  What would I be doing?  How could I help?  I decided I needed to be a teacher, so I went to college to become a teacher.  That was definitely not the right path.  I blew up the chemistry lab, shorted out the physics lab, the music teacher said I had one note, and it was off....you get the point.  I was good at English, History, and Shakespeare.  I was very interested and did very well in psychology and anthropology.  That is the direction I went. 


I graduated with 13 kids, 3 dogs, 2 cats and 4 birds - but I graduated.


More tomorrow about how I started.

Welcome

My name is Carla and this is a blog for foster parents and group homes. We will discuss laws, new and old. We will share ideas and we together, we will work to make the lives of children a little better.

Thank you.
Carla