BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – On this week’s Mom to Mom, Local 10’s Nicole Perez sat down with a foster care group that helps find families for children who have been victims of human trafficking.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist Gihan Omar oversees the foster care department at Citrus Health Network. She sees children as young as five and as old as 18 come and go, searching for their forever homes.
“We don’t just provide therapy, we advocate, we support, we continue to show them that we’re their cheerleaders and they need that,” said Omar.
At the time of the interview, there were more than 150 children in the network. Omar says there is always a great need for foster families.
“They’re resilient, they’re amazing, they’ll grow, they’ll change but there is this kind of instinctual need to protect them. We keep protecting our kids,” said Omar.
Freenette Williams has been a foster parent for more than 20 years and says she treats the children as if they are her own.
“I believe when you have much, you need to give much,” said Williams.
Williams told Nicole that the children follow the rules of the house which include washing their own dishes, making their own beds and no eating in their bedrooms.
Williams was once a therapeutic foster parent, but now fosters children from the Chance Program with the Citrus Health Network.
“It has had a tremendous impact in that it has really helped me not to be so self-centered to give to others and to really see the importance of investing in a child’s life”" said Williams.
The Chance Program at Citrus Health serves and supports children who are victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.
The U.S. Department of Education calls human trafficking a “form of modern slavery” and is a serious federal crime, with penalties of up to imprisonment for life.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. territories.
Williams says the biggest challenge for children in the program is that they run away, because the lifestyle is intoxicating to them.
One of the requirements for foster families is to have some kind of security cameras or alarms, so they can monitor the comings and goings of the youth.
“I see myself as having a lot to offer kids in terms of safety, in terms of life experiences, in terms of exposures to life, in terms of just being a role model. And one of the things I tell them for sure, I may not be the perfect foster parent, but your life will certainly be much better with me than without me,” said Williams.
Prospective foster parents would meet with a Licensed Psychologist and Clinical Supervisor like Dr. Ebony Coney. She is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week and reviews all of the applications of referrals that come into the program.
“I am looking for intention. Are you going to give them a different experience than what they already had? Are you able to look past the things that happen to them and not throw it up in their face?” said Coney.
In a 2024 report, a total of 1,912 persons were referred to U.S. Attorneys for human trafficking offenses in the year 2022. that is an increase of 26 percent from 2012.
For professionals, the most difficult thing about finding a foster parent is the stereotype that may surround it.
“Foster parents, and I think there is a stereotype. These are bad kids, or these are something very unusual. And it’s not like that at all. These are the same kind of kids that you see anywhere else,” said Omar.
Omar says the program asks families to work with only one child. To give them their undivided attention, to have patience and do not give up on them.
“The more loving, caring, patient families you have willing to do this, the less need we’ll have for kids in foster kids. Because it gives the kids so many more opportunities,” said Omar.
The message Omar wants to relay to people who may want to foster a child, is to find more information.
“I would say to that person who is on the fence to get off the fence, to reach out to us at the chance program and to think about who you are as a person, what you can offer these young people and to just know that these are just young people who are in need of help,” said Omar.
To find out more information about becoming a foster parent, you can visit the Citrus Chance pages on social media, the website citrushealth.org or contact the center directly at (305) 424-3072.
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