As part of National Adoption Month in November, the Colorado Department of Human Services is honoring five families around the state, including one in Bayfield, that are providing homes for children needing a safe place to live.
Jimmy and Beth Cundiff of Bayfield became foster parents, then adoptive parents of five boys, almost by accident 10 years ago.
On the web
November is National Adoption Month. To learn more about fostering and adopting Colorado children, visit www.co4kids.org.
Information about children waiting for families is at www.COheartgallery.org.
Foster parents must be 21 or older and have annual training. A home study and background checks also are required.
While visiting family in the Denver area, they met two brothers who were in the care of Beth’s sister, who was a foster parent.
“We just fell in love,” Beth said. “We knew they were ours.”
She and her husband became foster parents to the two boys, then adopted them.
This is typical, because most foster children who are adopted in Colorado are adopted by their foster parents, said Minna Castillo Cohen, director of the Office of Children, Youth and Families for the Colorado Department of Human Services.
On Sunday, the Cundiffs will be honored in a virtual ceremony, highlighting the contributions that Colorado families are making for children in the state. The other adoptive families who will be featured are in Grand Junction, Greeley, Colorado Springs and Elizabeth.
This year, 473 Colorado children and youths in foster care have been adopted. Currently, there are 391 Colorado children and youths who are waiting for a family.
The Cundiffs thought their family was complete with two boys, then Beth’s sister called again, asking if they could help her pick up twin boys who needed emergency foster care.
They went with her, “and they were the sweetest kids,” Beth said. “We thought we would just be fosters for them.” Soon, Aiden and Anthony were adopted, as well.
So with a family of four boys, the Cundiffs then got a call that a boy in one of their son’s classes needed a home.
Three years later, Jordan was adopted.
They have had a foster daughter, who is 16, living with them for the past three months in what started as an emergency placement for the weekend.
“Our home is pretty full,” Beth joked, with six children now living with them in a four-bedroom house.
But what she wants all of the children to know is that this is their home for as long as they need it. Each child gets to decorate the initial of their first name, and it hangs on the family wall.
Jimmy Cundiff is active in coaching football, so their children go to lots of games, along with wrestling and basketball.
They also enjoy participating in outdoor activities together, including hiking, paddleboarding, hunting and fishing.
Their home is still open for emergency placement for local children because there is a shortage of local foster families. There are only about 15 in La Plata County right now, and at least another five are needed, Cohen said. So far this year, 37 children in the county have been temporarily separated from their families and needed foster homes.
“We want to make sure we have enough families to foster, so we can keep them in the community,” Cohen said.
Sometimes, children in Bayfield and Ignacio have had to move to Durango for foster care, and switching schools, on top of being removed from their family, can add another level of stress to a difficult time.
Cohen says there are a wide variety of foster families who help children throughout the state, including single parents, retirees and members of the LGBTQ community. Some are experienced parents, some have never had children.
“You don’t have to be a super person to make a positive difference,” she said. “You need a place in your heart and a desire to make a difference in the life of a child.”
Cundiff said she talks to potential foster parents who are afraid to take in teenagers, or they want to foster one child, not siblings.
Teens are great because they’re pretty self-sufficient, she said. And the good thing about having siblings in your home is that the children have someone to share their experience with.
Fostering older children does require more patience, as many have come from some tough family situations.
“They know that here with us, they’re safe,” Cundiff said. Just letting a child come into the home and giving them time to watch and observe the family for a while is key.
Even after 10 years of raising children, the Cundiffs said they are learning new things every day.
Yelling doesn’t work with one of the boys, while one son needs fairly strict responsibilities and discipline. One of their children has a learning disability.
Beth Cundiff said there is a local foster-adoption support group that meets monthly, alternating meetings between Bayfield and Durango, and it has been a lifesaver when it comes to discussing the challenges and rewards of opening your home.
The family attends Grace Church in Durango, which provides another network of support for their kids.
Foster and adoptive children receive Medicaid in Colorado, and the families are eligible for discounts at camps and other activities so they can afford to take their children to experience new activities.
These children also can attend several Colorado colleges on scholarship, she said, so they are encouraging their kids to look at that possibility when the time comes. There is state support for foster families, but Cundiff noted that other than food and clothes, having one – or two – more kids in the house isn’t that much more expensive than their current family. Foster families can also receive monthly donations from the Methodist Thrift Shop in Durango.
Beth Cundiff said she and her husband get a lot from their children, as well.
“You make it work,” she said, because in the end, the reward of giving a child a new opportunity – even if it’s just for a few hours or a day or a week – is worth it.
When a foster child moves on, she says they always refer to them as family.
“All adoption is – is a piece of paper,” she tells their kids. “You’re our family.”
