SEQUIM — Susan Baritelle bid farewell to summer by inviting a flock of children in for some free shopping.
Baritelle, owner of the Dungeness Kids Co., a new- and used-clothing and games store in the QFC center at 990 E. Washington St., issued 100 gift certificates to foster families across Clallam County this month.
Last Saturday was the day, she said, to come in and pick out a new outfit free of charge.
This was Baritelle’s way of clearing out her summer clothes — a considerable inventory — and of supporting local kids in foster care.
“I’d rather see foster kids get them” than try to sell them next year, she said, adding that the summer racks included some pieces, such as jackets, that will see the youngsters well into fall.
‘Best dressed’
“I believe kids in the foster care system should be the best-dressed. They already have the deck stacked against them,” said Colleen Robinson, Clallam County’s foster-parent recruitment and retention coordinator.
A new outfit or a new pair of shoes can go a long way toward making a child feel good, she added.
Foster parents may struggle to manage the expenses of caring for their kids because, Robinson said, Washington state reimburses parents for only 45 percent of those costs.
Baritelle’s gift certificates are “awesomely generous,” Robinson said. “I love a small town.”
Baritelle has also volunteered to help assemble school supplies in backpacks for Clallam foster kids. Since she still had a lot of summer clothes left after Saturday, she plans to give them to the North Olympic Foster Parent Association’s community closet.
Robinson said she is always seeking people to provide foster homes, so that more children can continue to live in their hometowns rather than being sent to Tacoma or another larger city for foster care.
Traditional long-term foster parents aren’t the only kind needed, Robinson said.
She said households willing to provide respite care for a week or a weekend are also sought.
Many foster children are not permitted to leave the state, she said, so when their long-term parents travel to other states or need respite care for other reasons, short-term foster caregivers serve as an important part of the local network.
In November, a pre-service training for foster or adoptive parents and kinship care providers will be offered at the Quileute Tribal Head Start Center in LaPush, and December will bring another training at the Department of Child and Family Services office in Port Angeles.
In LaPush, an orientation from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 12 will start the program. Sessions will then go from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 13, 14, 20 and 21.
Participants must attend all sessions to graduate.
The Port Angeles training includes an orientation from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 3, with all-day sessions Dec. 4, 5, 11 and 12. Information about either program is available by phoning Bill Todd at 360-565-2296 or by e-mailing towi300@dshs.wa.gov.
Robinson encourages people considering foster parenthood or otherwise supporting local foster children to phone her at 360-460-5560.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com
