Splintered Families Regroup In Rockville

Foster Children Visit Parents in Special Home

A family visitation home has opened in Rockville for children in foster care to spend time with their biological parents, a project intended to make the reunification process easier for divided families.

Since mid-May, 45 children, in a total of 25 families, have used the house, stocked with toys, teddy bears and teen games. More than 70 visits have taken place so far, Montgomery County officials said.

One mom brought fried chicken and beans, creating a big family sit-down dinner, and several have hosted birthday parties for their children. Games of dodge ball have been played in the back yard, and family members have spent time together chasing soap bubbles or drawing pictures with sidewalk chalk.

The homelike atmosphere makes a difference, said social worker Christina Brown, who supervises visits at the house.

"It keeps them connected," she said. "It's really powerful to see a family with four or five kids and two parents sitting there praying and then eating something they have made together and talking about their week."

Before the house opened, such visits took place in county government offices.

The white-sided house on Monroe Street has been a joint project of county officials and an array of volunteers who painted rooms, donated toys and brought in furniture.

The idea took hold in June of last year, after Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Katherine D. Savage and other members of a children's action team heard about and visited a similar project in Anne Arundel County, called Harmony House. By summer's end, the idea was a go in Montgomery.

"We were so impressed with that, and we thought, 'We're going to have that. We're going to do that,' " Savage said.

Montgomery's Housing and Community Affairs Department found a county-owned property that could be used for the first year. The project will ultimately be relocated to a permanent location.

The only costs associated with the project come from utilities and amount to several thousand dollars a year, officials said. Expenses are covered by state funds.

"This is a huge collaborative effort," Savage said.