Lack of foster families in Montreal forcing siblings apart

A lack of foster homes in Montreal is tearing siblings apart, according to those who work in the system.

"I'm not able to keep siblings together when I'm totally engorged like that," explains Marie-Pierre Ulysse with Batshaw Youth and Family Centres. "When I have a sibling group of three children...[they] will be split into three foster homes, three territories."

Ulysse, one of two managers in charge of foster care at Batshaw, says she worries about how separating siblings could affect them in the long term.

"We know that the siblings give each other a lot of support when they're coming into care," she tells CTV News. "What they have is, really, each other as a security. So it's really, really hard and difficult for the children."

• READ MORE: Want to become a foster parent in Montreal? Here's how it works

Ulysse says the system tries as hard as it can to reunite them as soon as possible -- but it's rarely quick enough.

"We don't have enough resources. We have the children on the list and we will try to reunite the siblings afterward if they are going to stay in care," she explains. "My system is not that fast. Usually, I won't have them reunited too quickly."

More families needed

Ulysse says that in an ideal world, she would like to be able to approve 25 more families for the "regular" foster program -- where children can be placed temporarily with the goal of returning to their birth parents.

"We have children coming in every day," she laments. "I have a lot of babies coming out of the hospital. I have lots of young children needing care."

Batshaw currently comprises about 330 homes in all fostering categories.

"Our clientele is very multicultural, and when we match children to foster homes, we try to match them to foster homes that are as similar as their homes of origin," Ulysse adds.

• READ MORE: 'Owning' vs raising a child: What it means to foster in Quebec

Unlike regular fostering, the wait list is long for those on the adoption track.

"These are people who want to have a lifetime project with a child, and so the clientele that we are matching with those families are children that technically will not be returning home [to their birth parents]," Ulysse explains.

She notes there is currently an over-representation of Indigenous, Black and Latin children in the system.

"I need as many foster homes as possible from all the communities because those children are your children, and they deserve the protection that all children have," Ulysse said.

Why foster?

For Bisma Ansari, becoming a foster parent came after years of trying to conceive.

"I was exploring how I could be a mother," she tells CTV News. "I'd heard about foster care, just kind of randomly on the radio, and again, awareness that there are kids right here that need that kind of support, and that's kind of what just drove me like, maybe this is how I would be a mom. And it's been amazing."

Ansari, who is also the co-president of the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres Foundation board of directors, says she was surprised to find out how many children are in need of a home.

"It's definitely hard to welcome new little personalities in your home, but also loving and rewarding," she said. "And also hard, obviously, when they leave because there's connections formed. But again, it's always for the benefit of the long term, and so it's emotionally difficult."

• READ MORE: Want to become a foster parent in Montreal? Here's how it works

It's been four years since she applied to be an emergency foster parent.

"We're here to provide a safe place, a happy place where a child can be a child and we can help provide the best opportunities that are available to us and teach them in the best way possible," she said.

To learn more about Batshaw Youth and Family Centres or embark on a foster journey, click here.