Family ties

Foster care | Foster parents in Washington state are joining the organized labor force | Mark Bergin

Steve Baxter and his wife Daniele have housed foster children for two decades in Washington state, and they currently care for six teenagers. That life-consuming commitment began 20 years ago with a needy girl in Mr. Baxter's youth ministry, but today it has turned into a drive to unionize the state's foster parents, in what would be a national first.

Spearheaded by the Foster Parent Association of Washington State (FPAWS), for which Mr. and Mrs. Baxter share the seat of president, the unionization effort is a result of complaints by foster parents of inadequate reimbursements and too little say in decisions regarding the children they serve.

In an official letter last month to Cheryl Stephani, the state's assistant secretary of children's administration, the FPAWS board of directors decried that department's failure to retain committed foster homes. Despite heavily funded recruiting efforts, a steady exodus from the system has produced a net loss of 400 homes from a year ago. The letter characterized the situation as "in crisis" and "not sustainable."