When her two adult daughters moved out, Karla Buechler suddenly found herself with a large home and empty bedrooms.
“I love the daily parenting tasks like packing lunch and helping with homework,” Buechler says. “My girls didn’t need that anymore.”
She reached out to
Stanford Youth Solutions six years ago and has since fostered two teenage girls. A single working mom, Buechler depends heavily on the support of Stanford Youth Solutions. Stanford provides services based on the needs of each child, and helps Buechler get her daughters to appointments. All health care is covered, including the necessary psychological treatment for healing.
“Many foster kids have low self-esteem and think they were abandoned because they’re bad,” Buechler says. “Of course, that isn’t true. These children were perfect when they were born.”
Buechler says anyone can become a resource parent with the proper support. She encourages those who want a family to do it.
“People think it’s expensive, but it’s not,” she says. “Most of the child’s care is paid for. You just get to love them.”
When asked why she chose to foster teens, Buechler says she feels like those kids have the greatest need. “Most of the kids in foster care are over the age of 8 and little ones get adopted pretty fast,” she says.
For more information about how to become a foster parent, visit
www.dhhs.saccounty.net/CPS or call Sacramento County Child Protective Services at (916) 875-5543.
