The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Foster mom wins award, seeks change
By Stephen Baxter
The job of every parent is hard, but Dawn Haddaway is doing some extra credit.
The Lakewood neighborhood resident has cared for 22 adopted and foster children in the last five years, and is working with state legislators to ensure more support for foster parents. On July 4, Sunnyvale Mayor Otto Lee will present her with an award as the Sunnyvale Distinguished Resident of the Year.
"She gives these kids the best life they could have," said Nancy Tivol, executive director of the nonprofit Sunnyvale Community Services, who nominated Haddaway.
"It's hard work and it's emotionally taxing as well, and she's done a wonderful job," Tivol added.
About a decade ago, Haddaway was working at a tech company when her 12-year-old nephew came to live with her. She said she watered her plants when she felt like it, and had no clue about parenting. But she was a quick study and raised him through high school graduation and on to college. And she turned a corner.
"I thought, I really like this parenting thing," Haddaway said.
She looked into adopting two more boys, which she did in late 2002. The boys' difficult background meant they had special needs, and within six months she faced a decision. She could give the boys up, probably to a group home, or she could quit her job to raise them full time. She now works from home as a consultant and is president of the Santa Clara County Foster and Adoptive Parent Association.
Many people mistakenly think parents adopt foster children as a moneymaking scheme. In California, state payments to foster parents average $494 a month. State Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, has noted that kenneling a dog costs an average of $620 a month.
In February, Beall introduced Assembly Bill 324 to raise foster caregiver rates by 5 percent and create a foster parent recruitment and retention program. Payments now range from roughly $375 for infants to $597 for teens.
The bill has stalled in committee, but it may be revived later. Some opponents of the bill have said they are trying to close a $6 billion budget gap and it would take money from other worthy programs. Haddaway, a registered Republican, said she hoped to sway more GOP lawmakers.
The cost of living in Sunnyvale and the county has caused the recent flight of many foster parents, to the point where newborns without placement families recently have stayed at shelters in San Jose.
For foster and adoptive parents, "It's always been a struggle money-wise," Haddaway said. But she said the bill would be a symbolic start.
Groups such as Sunnyvale Community Services and others have given more support to Sunnyvale parents than in some other cities, Haddaway said.
Many children who do not find foster homes reside in group homes, which cost more to run, budget analysts say. Beall's office has also said that children with more than one placement home also are more likely to have higher mental and medical costs than those from stable homes.
Haddaway has now lived in Sunnyvale for 10 years, and is focused on raising her three boys, aged 12, eight and five.
"I hope the things I do will bring more awareness to the families in Sunnyvale and have them step forward to do something," she said. "Because they really do belong to all of us."
For more information on foster and adoptive parenting, call Santa Clara County Foster Parent Recruitment at 408.299.KIDS (5437) or visit www.299-KIDS.org.
