June 19, 2025 The Beacon • 11
Coshocton part of treatment foster home pilot program
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By Josie Sellers Beacon Editor
Tacy Bates is doing her part to make sure all foster children have a loving home in a community as near as possible to where they’ ve been living.
Bates is the treatment foster home pilot program director for the east central region covering Guernsey, Holmes, Wayne and Coshocton counties.
“ I will recruit and train licensed treatment foster home parents,” she said.“ These families could get placements from any one of the counties I serve.”
Bates said the governor created an initiative to combat the growing number of children in foster care being placed outside of their home counties due to a lack of foster homes able to meet their higher level of needs.
“ My goal is to find loving, caring homes that want to step up and become a beacon for the children who are innocent victims of abuse and neglect,” she said.“ Unfortunately, many are placed far from their home, their primary family, their friends, their neighbors, their
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Coshocton County is part of a new treatment foster home pilot program.
school, their church and their community. They start over somewhere new, uncertain of the outcome but fully aware how far they are from the place they called home.”
During her career with Guernsey County Children Services, Bates has traveled quite far to see children under the agency’ s care.
“ I’ d travel so far to see kids in placements that I’ d get an oil change a month,” she said.“ I’ ve seen kids go to all four corners of Ohio and then some. There are just not enough foster parents locally, especially for kids with higher needs.”
The day children are taken into foster care is often seen by them as the worst day of their lives.
“ They could be coming from a house full of drug and alcohol abuse or violence, but they don’ t always realize that’ s wrong,” Bates said.“ For them life has always been like that. They don’ t know structure. We tell them to get their
stuff, and it usually goes in trash bags or Walmart bags. Then we take them from their mom, their dad, their neighbors, their school and their friends. In Guernsey County we have more than 100 kids in foster care but only have 30 foster homes. They usually end up having to go out of network.”
Those children are angry and sometimes destructive. They may cuss out their foster parents or even damage their homes. Then people may refuse to take those kids, and their only option is a residential facility. Bates said once that happens, it may become even harder to find them a home, and children can start to feel even more defeated in a facility.
“ The governor recognized this and realized we need treatment level foster parents,” Bates said.“ I’ m on call 24 / 7 and able to help families think of different interventions. We need to give them grace and understanding and if we are able to do reunification foster parents can continue to support the parents and kids. They can be their cheerleaders and role models for the parents.”
As the program takes shape, Bates will be recruiting and sharing information on the program, events and trainings that are targeted toward treatment-level foster parents.
“ If we can keep the kids closer to home, we can keep them plugged in with their teachers, teams, doctors, and not have to switch up so much,” Bates said.
Foster parents in this program will learn more about how to handle trauma, manage conflict and understand communication styles. After the 30-hour training taught by Bates, they will be able to apply to become a foster parent
in the program. All licenses will go through Guernsey County, where Bates is based out of. She will have to do background checks and home studies on those interested in fostering. They also will have to take continuing education courses.“ Anyone interested in becoming a foster parent in this program really needs to understand the level of commitment this is,” Bates said.“ We are not giving up on these children. It can be tough, but I’ m on call 24 / 7 to help. You have to understand that this isn’ t personal either. These kids are mad, hurt and angry. The kids need to feel safe, understood and heard. The consequences can come later. You also will have a treatment team to work with.”
For more information on become a treatment-level foster parent, call Bates at 740-801-2537.
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