Foster homes desperately needed for Burmese refugee youth

Twenty more foster homes for refugee youth are needed immediately.

“We have received more referrals of refugee minors,” said Diane Baird, refugee foster care program manager for Lutheran Social Services of Michigan in Lansing. “Our search for foster homes is being expanded in the hope of finding more people to open their hearts and homes to these teens.”

Back in their homeland of Myanmar, formerly Burma, their lives were in danger from a military dictatorship that brutally violates human rights. Particularly at risk have been those who are Christians or are identified as being sympathetic to the call for a democratic government.

These 14- to 17-year-old teen-agers were able to flee to Thailand and Malaysia. Now thousands of them sit in refugee camps, without parents, waiting for a country to take them in, to give them a chance at growing up in freedom and safety. This means that they will also need host foster parents.

“We have been getting calls from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service requesting us to find placements for more of these youth,” Baird said. “That’s why we are trying to get out the word that we need more refugee foster homes, not only here in Lansing, but in Kalamazoo and in Battle Creek, where a large Burmese community offers opportunities for helping them stay connected culturally. We are also receiving youth from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where horrible atrocities are occurring. With only about 15 foster care sites in the entire country who can assist refugee children, we all have to get ready to receive kids.”

Will you help? To get more information and learn how to license your home for refugee foster care, contact Lutheran Social Services of Michigan at 1-800-896-9850 or by email dbaird@lssm.org.