News Photo by Julie Riddle Amy Minton, foster mom and volunteer at the Foster Closet of Northern Michigan in Alpena, shows a rack of shoes to her 1-year-old foster child on Monday.

ALPENA — Northeast Michigan kids in need of a stable foster home had a good chance of getting what they needed — even during a pandemic.

While some potential parents were reluctant to take the leap into fostering and distancing regulations posed challenges to fostering recruitment and support in 2020, Alpena stepped up, opening its doors and showing support for foster kids, officials said.

When the pandemic struck, some potential foster families backed off, nervous about putting themselves or their family at risk, said Stephanie Dettloff, executive director of Child and Family Services of Northeast Michigan.

There are currently 42 licensed foster care homes in Alpena and Montmorency counties, according to said John Keller, director of the Department of Health and Human Services in Alpena. Numbers were not immediately available for Presque Isle and Alcona counties.

In Alpena County, 251 suspected child abuse/neglect cases were assigned for investigation in 2020, down by about 100 from the previous year, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

In Presque Isle County, 55 cases were assigned for investigation last year, with 51 in Montmorency County and 62 in Alcona County.

Reports of suspected abuse dropped by about a third in spring, when schools were not in session and children were less visible, but has increased to formal levels now that local schools are back in session, Keller said.

An investigation does not necessarily mean a child will be sent to foster care, and not all children in foster care are there because of abuse or neglect.

When there aren’t enough foster families, Dettloff said, a child may end up in residential placement, the trauma of being taken from their homes compounded by being in a potentially frightening environment.

The pandemic made it harder to recruit new foster parents, putting on hold informational sessions and trainings and limiting crucial relationship building, Keller said.

Support groups for potential and current foster families moved online, as did child visits with biological parents and most meetings between DHHS staff and foster families, Keller said.

Challenges notwithstanding, Alpena stepped up to care for its foster children during 2020, said Chad McDonald, who supervises foster care recruitment for Wellspring Lutheran Services in northern lower Michigan.

While many other communities have struggled to find and retain foster families, Alpena County — while not growing in its number of foster families — is at least holding steady during a difficult time for recruitment, according to McDonald.

“Northeast Michigan, and Alpena in particular, is filled with loving people,” McDonald said.

Still, the community could use 20 or 30 more foster families, he added.

Even if the city has one foster family for each child who needs such services, that isn’t enough, McDonald said.

As much as possible, children are kept in their school districts, near the support structure of teachers and friends. That means licenced foster families are needed in all parts of the city.

Too, not every foster home can take every foster child. Some homes can only take small children; others may not be equipped for a special needs placement.

Families open to fostering teens are especially in demand, said Stacy Bauer, foster care licensing worker for Wellspring.

To some, teenagers seem intimidating — but, said Bauer, foster parents also get the reward of helping teens make good choices and being their guide through a challenging time of life.

The need for foster families is always present, and it’s probably going to increase as families continue to encounter stresses in the coming year, Bauer thinks.

It takes six months to get through the licensing process. Families considering fostering “should start now,” she encouraged.

A clothing store without price tags is one way the community has supported its foster families, said Amy Minton of Alpena.

The Foster Closet of Northern Michigan, tucked into one end of the Thunder Bowl Lanes building in Alpena, is filled wall-to-wall with rows on colorful rows of children’s clothing. Donated toys, cribs, formula, and diapers are ready to be taken, for free, by any foster family who needs them.

Such donations have been a lifesaver for Minton, who has fostered two children, adopting one and in the process of adopting the second.

People sometimes say foster families are in it for the money they get from the state.

“What money, honey?” Minton said.

The stipend foster families receive can’t possibly cover the food, clothes, diapers, and other expenses of taking over care of someone else’s child, she said.

Still, “I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Minton said, a rambunctious almost-2-year-old clamoring for her attention between racks at the Foster Closet. “Even on my most stressful days.”