And Angels In Waiting Was Born

by Linda West

As a registered neonatal and pediatric intensive care nurse for over twenty years, I witnessed an alarming pattern in the number of medically fragile foster care preemies and infants who were becoming wards of the court A.K.A. Foster Children within hours of their birth.  Left alone in neonatal intensive care isolette for months, not knowing if they were going to be picked up to be fed, or picked up to be poked 5 times for an IV, existing alone- with out the touch of a loving parent.  They had nurses who tried to hold or comfort them; however with a demanding patient load and work schedule of nurses, holding and comforting a preemie is a rare luxury for today’s NICU Nurse!  I noted these preemies and infants were soon designated as “failure to thrive” usually with a magnitude of medical
complications.  I took notice as they’re affect changed and they became withdrawn, listless and were subsequently discharged to nursing institutions and group homes, only to be returned to our pediatric units. Their only relationships were transient ones as they were moved in and out of hospitals, nursing institutions and group homes and only returning to their same group home or institution if their bed was not replaced by another infant or child.  These infants were not going to nurturing home environments; they had no home to go to and were on the path becoming products of an ill-equipped systemic institution, not at all conducive to effective parenting.

When I inquired about their placements, no matter what county they came from, the story was always the same: they are special needs foster children and hard to place.  We do not have readily available foster homes that can meet their critical medical needs.  As a nurse, whose life and career is dedicated to improving the outcomes for others, I was determined to make a difference in this growing population of America’s Forgotten Children.  I started to inquire about and research available services. In this research, I came across a unique opportunity for nurses.  In California nurses can become independent providers for foster children, billing Medi-Cal directly for their inhome nursing hours.  Coupled with this, nurses can become licensed foster parents to have a child place in their homes.  This blend of nursing and foster parenting meets a child’s need for love and care found only in a home environment while offering nurses a unique way to serve the pediatric population.  This inspired me to create a network of nurses to expand the services to these children and Angels In Waiting was born in

AIW is a nonprofit tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) public charity.  AIW is dedicated to
recruiting qualified nurses to provide loving homes, nursing care, and other needed services
for Medically Fragile foster care infants and children.  We help facilitate the child's move
from hospitals, group homes and institutions into private residences under the care of
Registered Nurses and Licensed Vocational Nurses as their foster parents.  We provide
two essential ingredients for these children to heal – loving home environments and
individualized nursing care.