Foster Teen With A Passion For Painting Is Patiently Waiting For Someone To Adopt Her

Fostering kids can be a tough adjustment for families, and fostering children who have a disability can be even harder. But one foster mom in Kansas says although the journey has been rough at times, it has always been worth it.

Barbie Klinedinste-Shields has cared for nearly 400 children in her life, all of them unique in their own way.

One of those kids is 15-year-old Taniya, who has lived with Barbie for nearly eight years.

Taniya is very creative and enjoys painting. She often visits the Ceramic Cafe with Barbie, so the two of them can paint together.

While Barbie loves Taniya like she were her own daughter, her home is not her final stop. She hopes that Taniya will find a permanent home with someone who loves her as much as she does.

Since Taniya has developmental delays, behavioral challenges, and speaks softly, she will need constant supervision and care, as well as a lot of one-on-one attention.

Although she has special needs, she has a smile on her face all the time.

Barbie says she wishes that there was more support for children with disabilities in the foster care system, as well as the families who adopt them.

“It’s a lot to take on and it’s, me personally, I feel that we need to work with legislature to get changes to help kids have permanency with special needs children in the state of Kansas,” she told Fox 4 KC.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to adopt Taniya, please contact Jenna Brown, the Director of Adoption Services for KVC Kansas, at jennbrown@kvc.org or (913) 229-2288.

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