Local woman has fostered more than 150 children since 1991
LANCASTER − Debbie Sherrick certainly likes caring for children. So much so, that she's fostered more than 150 of them since 1991. She also has her own biological children and has adopted other children, including six sisters who currently live with her.
Sherrick has 11 people in her home, with the six sisters, three foster children, herself and her husband, Jeff.
Not only is today Mother's Day, but May is also National Foster Care Month and Sherrick is well-experienced in fostering.
Sherrick at first wanted to be a social worker, but that never happened for her. So a friend suggested fostering.
"You can help kids," she said. "You can stay home with your own children. And you do get paid some. That way, everything that I needed was right there. I could kind of be a social worker. I could stay home with my children. I could help other kids. Everything just kind of fit in. So I got my license and I started."
Sherrick said the licensing process to become a foster parent takes about three to six months. Applicants must undergo training and background checks. Sherrick said the training goes through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Foster children generally age out at 18 unless they have certain disabilities. In that case, they can stay with a foster family until age 21, she said.
"I started out just doing teenagers," she said. "Teenage boys, of all things. It was tough. I get a lot of kids that came out of prison. Just boys for a long time, and I still have relationships with some of them even after all this time. I did boys up until 2012."
It was then the adoption agency called Sherrick with a set of six girls who were siblings. The girls would have been separated had she not taken them, so she agreed to take them for about three months. However, that time frame radically changed.
"They're now my adopted daughters," Sherrick said. "All six of them. I adopted all six of them. So I have six adopted daughters and I have two adopted sons. The sons are older and they both left. But the six little girls came into our life and they're still here."
The six girls range in age from 12 to 17. They ranged from 1 to 7 years old when Sherrick took them in.
She said one of the benefits she and her husband receive from fostering is the relationships she forms with the children. Sherrick said having children around always keeps her busy and gives her a reason to get up every day.
"I'm 62, but I still feel like I'm 35," she said. "I have to get up. I can't lay around. Most of the kids that come into foster care are traumatized for whatever reason, so there's a lot of issues. So I always feel needed. I always feel like I'm helping somebody. It keeps me going every day. I don't have a choice. I have to be up and I have to move around. I have to get them to school. I have to cook and clean. That's my biggest benefit - it keeps me young."
On the other hand, one of the downsides of fostering comes when a foster parent has to give up a child after maybe having them for a year or two.
"It is heartbreaking," Sherrick said. "My husband and I both have gone through some pretty difficult...heartbreaking, crying. Because they're leaving and you don't know if they're going to be OK. You don't if who they're going back to is going to continue to do whatever they did when they lost their children. So, yeah, it is heartbreaking to lose them. But you have to realize that children are supposed to be with their family. That's where they should be."
To help ease the pain, Sherrick tries to meet the biological family.
"I try very hard to let them know that I'm not trying to keep your child," she said. "I just want you to do what you need to do so your child can get back to where they need to be. Becoming acquainted with the bio family is the best way to kind of soften that heartbreak because then they will let me know how the kids are doing. They'll keep in contact with you. But it's hard."
Sherrick has lost eight former foster children to death, including from suicide, overdoses and a car crash.
"It hurts," she said. "If I could have done something else. Could I have made a bigger difference? That's heartbreaking to hear that one has passed away."
Despite the heartaches that come with fostering, Sherrick said she's blessed to have adopted eight of her foster children.
"All eight of my adopted kids are absolutely wonderful," she said. "I just want people to know I'm truly blessed to have these adopted kids."
jbarron@gannett.com
740-681-4340
Twitter: @JeffDBarron
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Local woman has fostered more than 150 children since 1991
