economist suntribune in our community thursday oct 24 2002 19 more than 200 foster families needed across york region from page 1 coming into our care he said our numbers are increasing dra matically in york region there are now 130 foster families car ing for children in the region the agency found 20 new families last year and is halfway to its goal of attracting 20 more this year but mr mcnamara said ideally more than 200 new families are needed to cope with the exploding caseload i dont think we will ever get to the number ideally we feel we need as the region increasingly attracts people from around the world mr mcnamara hopes families from differ ent cultures will consider fostering to help lessen the disruption on children removed from their families mr mcnamara knows many people are leery of opening their homes to chil dren taken into care but he hopes enough care parents will be willing to provide a safe haven for children that have just had their world turned upside down theyre very special people i dont say this in any form of exaggeration mr mcnamara said it involves people who have a huge capacity to give to others he stressed most children who need foster homes are typical kids caught in the middle of family crisis children who need more specialized care for issues such as anger manage ment are cared for by foster families with advanced training or placed in group homes or institutions a lot of the kids that do come into care are kids where there is a lot of stress and crisis going on at home the cases of troubled fostering sit uations that get coverage in the media are the extreme ends but that is not the majority mr mcnamara said a lot of the kids that do come into care are kids where there is a lot of stress and crisis going on at home we work to get that child back into the home after working with the parents to deal with the issues that led to the child being removed in the first place there are three degrees of fostering depending on the needs of the child and the experience of the foster parents reg ular specialized and treatment families providing regular care are paid 2571 daily for each child they take in they may be paid up to 6 a day more per child depending on their experience and training families providing specialized care are paid 3881 a day and those catego rized as treatment homes are paid 5424 daily foster parents who must complete training courses before taking in chil dren also earn 152 per child daily to pay for respite care when they need a break allowances are given for the chil drens clothes and gifts at least one adult in each home is expected to be a stayathome parent foster families can provide care for children for as little as one week to three months for up to a year or on a virtual ly permanent basis if the child has been made a crown ward families can make requests about the type of child or children they would like to foster including children from babies to six years old youngsters from seven to 12 and teenagers up to 17 for more information call homes for kids at 1877567kids 5437 from tuesday october 22 to sunday october 27 the corner house presents another lobsterfest fresh east coast lobster presented in four mouthwaterins ways k steamed with clarified butter baked with thermidor sauce brandy mustard broiled with our special spicy herb butter or bonne femme white wine mushrooms back by popular demand 6403 main street stouffville for reservations please call 9056408494 see our resular menus at wwwthecornemouseca our most popular special event by far dont miss it ttttmiitue jvrma ub drill entertainment headquarters 2h2 costumb party iftthurs oct 31 m 900 pm featuring chris giumore and the dirty dishes the bigchill great entertainment lots of prizes jfi sat oct 19th sat oct 26th thurs oct 31st sat sat sat sat sat sat sat sat sat nov 2nd nov 9th nov 16th nov 23rd nov 30th dec 7th dec 14th dec 21st dec 28th the barney adams blues band the bi6 chill chris 6illm0re and the dirty dishes hoose band for our hallowfflv costume party the swell heads pink cadillac 5 the dylan uflckens band east coast ni6ht featurime steffed in trawiwlr 1 the blfi chttie t unionvillfs own brian roman pink cadillac bluewmowv ivl steeped ffll tradition roan your- christmas or fyeio yewsparta at ike armsbom 189 main street unionville 905 4708831 pediculosis head lice education day information knowledge awareness your community pharmacy would like to invite your family and friends to our health education day a specially trained professional will assist your pharmacist to offer you a pediculosis had lice education day education on our registered nurse will teach you and your children what to look for and how to eliminate head lice learn how to detect lice how to treat head lice how to use a louse comb how to treat at home location guardian hillcroft pharmacy 5 hillcroft drive at steeles ave markham telephone 905 479 6161 date thursday october 24 2002 time 300 pm- 800 pm