On any given day there are 100 South Lake Tahoe kids living away from their parents

The phone rings late one evening. The person at the other end of the line asks if there is a foster family available for one child for the night.

The person who answered the phone is Megan Ciampa, Regional Manager for Sierra Child & Family Services who is based in their South Lake Tahoe office. She says the hardest part of her job is to say "no" to phone calls like that. Just this week she's had to say "no" to three children and it was only Tuesday night when we talked. "Nothing hurts me more than to say no."

"On any given day there are 100 South Lake Tahoe kids removed from their families," Megan says.

Children are removed from their family for two reasons: abuse and neglect. Once Children Protective Services (CPS) sees one of these two things happening, the kids will be removed.

Megan says they see domestic violence, alcohol and drugs as the reasons kids are neglected and abused which leads to removal. Alcohol, drugs and violence go hand in hand. "Once the parent fixes the problem," she said, "the kids can go home which can be anywhere from six to 18 months."

When their agency started a big effort to get new foster families on the South Shore 18 months ago there were only six certified homes in town. The effort is called "Project 44" since that is their goal: 44 foster families.

Some kids end up in group homes or live with relatives but there are about 44 kids in need of a home to go to locally almost every day. Since South Lake Tahoe had only six foster families, that meant 38 kids had to be sent to other communities where there was room, most a two or three hour drive away. One teen from the area is at a foster home in Southern California, others in Sacramento and Amador County.

Since "Project 44" started there have been seven new families certified to foster the displaced kids, the newest one just came on board Friday, April 10.

As has been the case since she took the job nine years ago, the phone call came in over the past weekend and a foster family was needed. The newly certified family came home from vacation on Sunday and had a new member of their family Monday.

In the quest to find another 31 foster families, Sierra Child & Family Services is holding a seven week training course for interested community members beginning next week. The course is based on a series of 21 sessions developed by a team of foster families who took their expertise and developed a model for groups such as Sierra.

The classes are all from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. All materials are free as well as free childcare available during the evening. After completion of the course the families fill out an application packet that includes a background check, a physical. After that is completed, Megan goes to their home to make sure it meets California Safety Standards. The foster parents also need to be financially stable. "I want to make sure the kids will be safe and well cared for," she added.

The process all starts with a call to Megan. She'll meet with families, answer questions, explain the process and what it takes to be a foster parent. She learns about the family's interests and dynamics so children can be placed with the right family.

"After this first meeting the families can tell if it's right for them," Megan added.

Once a family is approved as a foster family they have a network of other foster families to lean on. "We have a phenomenal network of support with our Tahoe foster parents," said Megan. "There is a real sense of community here which is unique to Tahoe."

Sierra Child & Family Services started in South Lake Tahoe 30 years ago as Foster Family Service. The name then changed to Foster Family & Adoptions which then merged with Sierra Child & Family Services. It is the only agency around the lake and Truckee that has a foster family program. They are also the only adoption agency.

If any South Lake Tahoe area family (California only) would like to learn more about fostering youth, call Megan Ciampa at 530-544-2111 or by email at meganc@fosterfamilyservice.org.

"My dream is to not need 44 families," Ciampa summed up.