An areatask force has about six weeks left to try to find six people.

Six American Indian people who will sign up to become foster parents.

So far, no one has signed up, but two public forums are planned in June to try to find them.

There is only one licensed American Indian foster home for the Burleigh and Morton counties area - even though there are between 60 to 70 kids each year who need foster care, said Mike Mabin, owner of Agency MABU, the Bismarck marketing firm that organized the task force effort.

The one home is Dakota and Casey Goodhouse's, who have two children of their own and are taking a break from foster care because, among other factors, Casey Goodhouse is having a tough pregnancy and expecting any day.

Mabin said increasing the number of American Indian foster homes is important.

"Already they're going through a lot of stress and turmoil in going into another home," said Mabin, who is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Being placed with an American Indian family can help to "give them a sense of security and belonging," he said.

It's a place where they feel they fit in and where they may have opportunities to have similar cultural experiences.

"It's another level of comfort and security."

And Mabin gave examples of little things to make daily life less jarring for them - such as having foster parents who look similar to them, so when the foster parents drop the child off at school, classmates might just assume they are the child's parents. It doesn't raise the curiosity that might be raised if white parents dropped the child off, Mabin said.

There is a lack statewide of American Indian foster homes, and the hope is to find solutions to that. So more than a year ago, North Dakota Department of Human Services decided the best way to approach the problem was to have a yearlong pilot program to research the problem, come up with solutions and find families. And then those methods would be used statewide.

Burleigh County agree to take on the pilot project.

Mabin's marketing firm was given the task of conducting research and organizing the project. Research was conducted, a task force was formed that is about 50 percent to 60 percent American Indian, and a group of about a dozen "ambassadors," many of whom are American Indians, were recruited to get out the word to the general public about the need. And Mabin set a goal of trying to find six new foster families.

Local American Indian organizations, United Tribes Technical College, and American-Indian owned businesses, used their resources, mass e-mailings and such to get the word out. Also, public notices are currently running on area radio stations, and billboards have been designed.

So far, no takers.

But task force organizers have expressed a couple of reasons to be hopeful that people will step up and commit. The task force has, through various efforts, found some individuals who may be interested in becoming foster parents.

And another reason to stay hopeful: Barb Stegmiller, a task force member and social worker for Burleigh County Social Services, said at a recent task force meeting she has found that it usually takes about a year before a family can make that final decision to become a foster home. So, they're hoping people will ultimately step forward in the next year.

Mabin said their research on the issue indicates that to help solve the shortage, American Indian leaders need to come together to get the word out, rather than having the state and county talking about the need. If American Indian leaders take on the problem, he thinks that's how the American Indian community will start embracing the issue.

The perception needs to change from it being someone else's problem to "this is a need in Indian Country,"Mabin said.

He said the research also indicates people shy away from attempting to become a licensed foster home after finding out what that entails. There are many hours of training on top of having to go through a home study, a background check and other requirements.

"It takes a very unique person at the right time in life to be able to step forward at that level," Mabin said.

The training to just prepare an individual for the certification process takes 27 hours.

Dakota Goodhouse said Friday that his wife, who is is the social work field, developed an interest in foster care after, among things, hearing story after story about various kids' situations. He determined to do it after being asked to carry a staff in a past powwow that represented victims of domestic abuse and children of broken homes.

"It got me thinking … I felt an obligation to do it,"said Goodhouse, who is the interpretive director at On-the-Slant Village at Fort Lincoln State Park.

He said they have had about six or seven children, so far.

Goodhouse remembers one boy expressing surprise when finding out he was being placed in an American Indian home.

"It did feel gratifying, in a sense, to be a Native foster parent and show him that there are some positive families out there,"Goodhouse said.

Goodhouse said that with a 2-year-old boy they cared for, who was speaking a mixture of Lakota and English, Goodhouse was able to use some of the Lakota language to do such things as direct him to the supper table.

He said he hasn't taken kids to powwows or other types of American Indian events or spiritual opportunities. His focus has been on family.

"It's more important (for them)to see the family environment,"he said. "That's the basic philosophy of the Lakota frame of mind."

He said the word Lakota in its truest, most basic interpretation means "affection."

He recalls when they were caring for two girls, one 9 months old and the other about 2, and they had a huge Goodhouse family get-together.

"All of the aunties and sisters were holding the little girls,"he said.

Carrol Burchinal, 76, of Bismarck, is white and has been a foster parent with his wife, Darlene Burchinal, for 33 years.

He said it has been a good thing for him and his wife to care for American Indian children as they have learned a lot about the culture. But regarding what's good for the children, he said if a child has never lived with a non-Indian family, it might make them more comfortable to be placed with an Indian family.

"ANative American family would be able to relate to their needs better,"he said.

He said it has been challenging at times to meet their basic needs and feel like they're also doing enough to meet their cultural needs.

"As far as the love and care, it's the same no matter if they're Native or non-Native … but you have to take one more step and consider the cultural,"he said.

They have taken kids to powwows and other events and have their home decorated with American Indian paintings and talk positively about the American Indian culture, he said.

Task force members are Dakota Goodhouse, honorary chairman; Gayla Sherman and Gayle Klopp of Charles Hall Youth Services; Donna Beaulac, North Dakota Foster Parent Association; Kathy Watson and Maggie Hulberg of Adults Adopting Special Kids; Lawrin Hugh Baker, a New Town social worker; Theresa Snyder of the North Dakota Department of Human Services; Cheryl and Wes Long Feather, United Tribes Technical College; Vince Gillette, Sioux County Social Services; Janice Tishmack of PATH; Jodi Gillette, Native American Training Institute; Vicky Altringer, North Dakota Guardian Ad Litem Project at University of North Dakota; Shari Doe, Darlene Hill and Barb Stegmiller, Burleigh County Social Services (ad hoc); Mike Mabin and Tina Williams, Agency MABU (ad hoc); and Aimee Meier, a social work student, Minot State University.

Two public forums, which include a complementary lunch, are scheduled to inform people about the process of becoming a foster parent.

The first will be from noon to 1 p.m. June 13 at United Tribes Technical College. The second will be from noon to 1 p.m. June 20 at the Bismarck Public Library.

For more information, call 250-0728 or visit www.nativefostercare.com.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@;bismarcktribune.com)