'Children are a blessing': State Sen. Kristina Roegner and family on track to foster kids

New twin beds in an upstairs bedroom, fresh car seats in the downstairs living room and hotel-style fire escape routes taped to the walls hint that a change is coming to State Sen. Kristina Roegner's household.

After considerable time spent navigating the licensing process, her family is on the brink of welcoming foster children into the home.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson, overturning almost 50 years of constitutional protections to the right to an abortion in America. On the heels of the ruling, Roegner (R-Hudson) — a primary sponsor of 2019's so-called Heartbeat Bill — penned an op-ed for the Akron Beacon Journal announcing that her family had decided to begin fostering children.

"It would be irresponsible and hypocritical if we didn't take a comprehensive approach to the dignity of life," she wrote.

A year later, the Roegners are nearing the end of the process. They'll likely be accepting their first placement soon. Roegner said there are two reasons why she and her family — husband Eric, and daughters Kaitlyn, Kristine and Katherine — decided to foster children ages birth to 18.

"No. 1 is to provide a loving home to a child or two children in need of one. That's first and foremost a priority," Roegner said. "But secondly, as a state senator, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how could we improve the process."

While Kaitlyn and Katherine are grown and living out of the house, Kristine is residing at home as she finishes high school. She's looking forward to a new addition to the family, someone she could ride horses with or to join her in playing with the chickens.

"I'm the youngest, so I've never had a younger sibling," Kristine said. "I think that would be really cool because I'd love to share all of my experiences with someone, especially now that my older siblings are off to college."

The journey to become a foster family

Roegner said "it's been a journey" to becoming a foster family.

"The first thing we did was — well, we reached out to Summit County and signed up," she said.

Up next was an extensive series of state-mandated trainings followed by interviews of the family by a social worker, home inspections, background checks and more. Once they're licensed, the family will have to continue taking trainings to keep their license, said Beth Kinney, foster care supervisor for Summit County Children Services.

"All that stuff makes sense," Roegner said, "because you want to make sure that these kids that are coming from difficult situations are going to go into safe homes."

That focus on safety is evident in their home, with the fire escape routes on the walls and the fire extinguishers and new smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that Eric said they were required to obtain.

First attempts, blessings and excitement

"We've always had a heart for kids," Roegner said when asked about how the family came to the decision to foster children. It turns out that this isn't the first time they've been in a similar position.

Seven years ago, they found themselves on the cusp of adopting a child. In Pennsylvania, an unmarried Mennonite woman known to the Roegners through family friends was mulling an abortion.

"We reached out to her with another friend of ours here in Hudson and said, 'Listen, we just want to provide an option for you, and the option is you come here to Hudson and this other family will provide employment, and we would be happy to adopt that baby,'" Roegner said.

The woman took the family up on their offer, but a few days before giving birth she made the decision to keep the child.

"I was devastated when that adoption fell through, but at the end of the day I was also thankful that that child was alive," she said.

The process made Roegner realize how deeply one can love a child that's not biologically theirs, and the family is excited to accept its first placement.

"Children are a blessing from the Lord," Eric said, "and the more the merrier."

How to become a foster family

There are more than 900 children in agency custody, creating an urgent need for foster families. Those interested in fostering children should visit https://www.summitkids.org/child-services/foster-care/ or call the 24-Hour Foster Care & Adoption Inquiry Line at (330) 379-1990.

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Abortion opponent State Sen. Kristina Roegner to become foster parent