ERADICO
PEST CONTROL CO.
AND
LAWN CARE CO.
PROFESSIONAL
QUALITY
SERVICE
FOR
HOMES
APARTMENTS
AND INDUSTRY
CALL The Residential Specialist
1030 WOODWARD HTS., FERNDALE
546-6200
NISSAN
NOW
Back In
Birmingham
Enjoy Our
Special Savings &
Get Reacquainted!
JEAN
CLAIRE
Rome • Paris
Vienna • New York
FOCUS
Fostering Religion?
Continued from preceding page
products are hypoal-
lergenic and sold only
in Jean Claire Salons.
JEAN CLAIRE OF BIRMINGHAM
"A Unique Complete
Personal Care
Salon And European
Boutique For Men & Women"
540-3444
369 E. Maple • Birmingham
ALSO SEE OUR HUGE
SELECTION OF USED
NISSAN
QUALITY IMPORT &
DOMESTIC CARS AT
SAME LOCATION
TRUCK
ALSO VISIT
MICHIGAN'S #1
IMPORT TRUCK CENTER
AT 28001 GRAND RIVER
Youth observes creche outside Old St. Mary's Church in
Greektown.
L. A. NISSAN—ISUZU TRUCK
METRO DETROIT'S NEWEST
NISSAN AND ISUZU TRUCK DEALERSHIP
SALES, LEASING, PARTS & SERVICE
28200 W. EIGHT MILE ROAD
FARMINGTON, MI 48024
(313) 471-5353
BUS. HOURS 7:30 AM THRU 9 PM MON., THURS.: 7:30 AM THRU 8 PM TUES., WED., FRI.
B'nai B'rith Wants
Insurance Brokers
Who Want To Be
Very Successful!
B'nai B'rittfs Member Insurance Program has a new compre-
hensive Major Medical insurance plan with Semi-Private Room
and Maternity benefits, that will help you to:
■ Quickly generate new clients
■ Become an effective mass marketer without taking time away
from regular business
Your success can start today with a phone call to me:
CALL
Lewis Katz
"'fhb
B'nai
B'rith
COLLECT
Regional
Director
,
1
V
IL1
Members' Insurance (312) 676 0040
.
-
42
Friday, February 27, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Rabbi Bergstein, however,
feels that in the Jewish com-
munity, surrounded by love
and compassion, Stacy and
Lisa could combine both needs.
The question of religion is not
something additional, some-
thing added on, he argued.
"Jewish people see it as a part
of their life. It is a question of
the survival of our people and
of the children, and I believe
that for the children to be in a
Jewish environment, the same
as that in which their parents
grew up, will aid their mental
health.
Eugene Thompson, chief of
adoption and foster care for
Oakland County Probate
Court, said that in the 10 years
he has been with the court he
has not had more than two re-
quests to place a Jewish child
in a Jewish foster home, nor
more than half-a-dozen re-
quests for any other religious
placement. Wherever possible,
these requests are honored,
especially if the child or parent
specifically requests it.
Children taken into custody
by Protective Services, as were
Stacy and Lisa; become tem-
porary wards of the court, and
as such may be placed in a fos-
ter home by the court or may be
assigned to the state's De-
partment of Social Services
(DSS).
Donald Bachman, services
program specialist for Oakland
County DSS, stated that less
than one percent of the foster
children coming through the
system are Jewish, but that
when religion is a concern, it is
up to the parent or child to
make it known.
Officials at Oakland DSS
said that there are many times
when parents do not inform the
agency of religious preference,
nor are they able to find out
about a child's religious or cul-
tural background. DSS offi-
cials emphasized that when a
foster parents' religion differs
from that of the child, the fos-
ter parents must be notified of
this difference.
State of Michigan guidelines
require foster parents to com-
ply with the religious needs of
their charge, according to the
wishes of the natural parents
or the agency responsible for
the child's care.
According to Jeanne Walter,
a section manager for Oakland
County DSS, the agency does
have a couple of Jewish foster
homes, but could always use
more. She explained that foster
families licensed by DSS have
the option of stating the kind of
children they want and
whether they will take chil-
dren of a particular religion, or
of any religion.
If DSS finds that it does not
have a foster home available to
meet the special needs of a par-
ticular child, Walter contin-
ued, it has a contract with
other private agencies, such as
the Orchards, to place foster
children in their homes. The
Orchards, a non-sectarian
agency sponsored by the Na-
tional Council of Jewish
Women, places both Jewish
and non-Jewish children in
residential and foster homes.
Miriam Berenstein, pro-
gram supervisor of the licens-
ing department for the Or-
chards, concurs with DSS offi-
cials that there are very few
Jewish children in the foster
care system. She feels that this
is because the Jewish commu-
nity takes care of its own.
"Kids who are unable to live
at home either go to live with
relatives or the families have
other resources available to
them," she explained.
Berenstein said there are no
Jewish children in the agency's
foster care system at this time
"because we haven't been
asked," but added that there
are Jewish kids in its three
residential homes.
"Kids come to us by contract
either through the Oakland
County DSS, the Oakland
County Probate Court, the
Wayne County DSS or the