Save the children

David Lopez found out he had two cousins at Clark County's emergency shelter for abused and neglected children when his parents were contacted by child welfare workers earlier this year.

Nineteen-year-old Lopez and his girlfriend, Laurena Dowdell, stepped up to take them in.

"I heard about it, and the next day we went and got fingerprinted," said Lopez, who graduated from Chaparral High School two years ago. "The next day after that, we got them out. Now they're living with us."

Brett and Michelle Chumley became the primary caregivers for their daughter's best friend after the girl's parents spiraled into substance abuse. The Chumleys called Clark County Family Services after finding out that the girl hadn't been fed for three days.

"Her mother took a turn for the worst and we knew we had to do something," Michelle Chumley said.

That was two years ago. The Chumleys agreed to foster her and have never regretted the decision.

"Honestly, it's like she's ours," said Brett Chumley, the executive chef at Becker's Steakhouse.

Both couples are considered kinship caregivers: Lopez is an actual relative; Dowdell and the Chumleys are fictive kin, people close enough to the child to be counted as relatives.

None of them had any experience navigating the child welfare system's maze of paperwork, deadlines and regulations. Their good intentions might have been blocked by any one of those hurdles without the help they received from the county's kinship care liaisons who showed them the way.

Vanessa Lindsey assisted the Chumleys.

"She even called us to tell us things we didn't even know we had to ask," Brett Chumley said.

Tammie Blackwell is still working with Lopez and Dowdell.

"She gave us her cell phone number to call," Dowdell said. "If she hadn't helped us with that packet (of applications), I don't even know if it would have been turned in."

Clark County Family Services has four kinship care liaisons who act as guides for would-be relative caregivers. At a time when foster care is in short supply, identifying relatives or family friends willing to take in abused and neglected children has become increasingly important, Family Services Director Tom Morton said.

"I think all things being equal, placement with a relative is in the best interest of a child because it maintains the continuity of the family and the identity of a child," Morton said. "It's a familiar setting. These are people with whom the child has had contact."

Morton said that roughly one-third of the children in local foster care are placed with relatives. Those placements need to be supported, Morton said. Not everyone who comes forward to take a nephew or a cousin has experience raising children. And because they are family members, they may be reluctant or embarrassed to ask for any help, especially if they think that it may jeopardize their standing, Morton said.

Tiffany Hesser, who manages the kinship care program, agreed. Grandparents may not know how to register children for school. Aunts or uncles may not know their way around the Family Court system. Single caregivers may not know how to find recreational activities for young children.

Just recently, Blackwell took Lopez and Dowdell to get the tuberculosis shots they're required to have as licensed caregivers.

"I'm just available for them, for whatever need," Blackwell said. "They have me on speed dial."

Blackwell, like all the kinship care liaisons, is a kinship care provider herself. She understands what the families are going through as they try to mesh with their newest members. Blackwell said she wants all her families to succeed, but Lopez and Dowdell are a special case.

The two boys in their home have a troubled history. Previous foster home placements have not been successful. This one is working though, Blackwell said, and the boys, ages 11 and 13, are adapting well. Their grades have gone from failing to good. They haven't run away once. They're involved in doing chores at home. They listen to Lopez and Dowdell.

Lopez may be 19, Blackwell said, but he's a role model for his cousins as is Dowdell, who's a social work major at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Both of them come from strong two-parent families and want to make this arrangement with the boys successful.

"You look for that dedication to the child," Blackwell said. "When you see them working hard, you want to work as hard to get them the things they need."

Lopez's 13-year-old cousin is happy to be where he is now. He didn't feel like he belonged in other foster homes. It's better to be with family, he said.

"You can't trust anyone else," the boy said.

Kinship caregivers aren't required to be licensed foster parents.

However, kinship caregivers who obtain a foster care license are eligible for monthly stipends to help pay for the added cost of new family members. The stipend varies, depending on the age and needs of the individual child.

The liaisons work with families interested in qualifying for the financial support. They can also direct relative caregivers to other resources, such as counseling and support groups.

"You really just want to make sure they have the best outcome, so that they're not overwhelmed or overstressed," Lindsey said.

The county is looking at creating 10 part-time positions for liaisons who would act as a bridge between regular foster parents and the Department of Family Services, said spokeswoman Christine Skorupski

"We hope to duplicate the success of this program with our foster parent liaisons who will serve our general foster parent population in a similar capacity," Skorupski said.

Contact reporter Lisa Kim Bach at lbach@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0287.