A friend recently posted an article on Facebook about a new requirement for foster parents in the state of Washington. Effective January 11th, foster families are required to receive pertussis and influenza vaccinations if they plan to care of a child 2 years of age and younger. Now, dozens of families are saying they will allow their license to lapse because they do not agree with the decision.
I've been sitting here thinking about this for awhile now, and I just don't know how I feel about it. I can honestly say that I see both sides of the argument.
I totally understand why foster parents are frustrated. We already have a laundry list of requirements that we meet in order to care for these children. This feels like one more hoop to jump through. In addition, there are many people who choose not to vaccinate for a variety of reasons.
On the other hand, the health and safety of the children should be at the forefront of all that we do as foster parents. Children 2 and under are definitely high risk and need the added protection from pertussis and the flu.
I'm wondering if other states will follow suit. To be honest, I'm surprised we haven't seen this more, given how bad flu season has been the past couple of years.
The sad fact is that the children in the system will probably be the ones impacted the most. As it is, there are not enough foster homes. To see that number decrease even more will mean that current foster families will potentially be placed with more children. The state of Washington will have their work cut out for them in recruiting more families.
Here is the article, if you are interested: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/foster-parents-to-forgo-licenses-over-forced-flu-shots/
What do you think?
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