A foster child having a hard time being placed in a home has found he has about a dozen foster parents at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
For the last several weeks, the 8-year old boy we’ll call “Jodi” has been spending much of the day in a tiny room at the Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services office, while case workers try to place him in a home.
Well, deputies working on the midnight shift got wind of Jodi’s situation and went into action.
“Once they brought it to the attention of the rest of our team, our shift, we all just started pooling money together and the next morning we went shopping," said Sgt. Jennifer Harris. "We didn't even go home and go to bed. We went straight shopping.”
They’ve filled the room with video games, a TV and a computer for Jodi to occupy his time. But more importantly, they’re each spending time with him when they can, playing games and talking about his day.
“There’s enough negativity towards law enforcement right now, and he had that same outlook when we walked in," said deputy Brian Kesler. "It’s nice to know that we’ve changed his outlook on that.”
Case workers say they have more than 400 foster kids with special needs in Polk County alone who are still waiting to be placed in homes. But they applaud the efforts of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, saying that it’s making a difference in a child’s life.