The Monitor (Mabank, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 94, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 7, 2013 Page: 4 of 20
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Page 4A • The Monitor - Sunday, July 7, 2013
Casting a Lifeline to children in need
Monitor Photo/Pearl Cantrell
Ricky Walter (left) opens a new office to assist
Henderson County residents with the steps of
becoming foster parents at the Christian Life Center
Church, where Pastor Barry Boatright (right), a foster
dad who adopted two children, will walk prospective
foster or adopting parents through the process.
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
CORSICANA- A
foster care assessment
agency is marking 10
years ofhelping children
who are wards of the
state find their place
with new families, either
through foster care or
adoption. Lifeline Chil-
dren and Family Ser-
vices was started by
Ricky Walter, 50, its
executive director. Life-
line contracts with the
state to serve as a
bridge between those
who want and have the
ability to help but don’t
know how and children
in need of the help.
Sometimes, that in-
volves identifying pos-
sible candidates who
may not yet think of
themselves as capable
of becoming foster par-
ents
“The JOY you re-
ceive from imparting
into the life of a child and
aiding their success
through mentoring, nur-
turing, supporting and
providing their basic
needs is absolutely en-
riching! Observing their
growth and progress
and knowing you played
a role in their achieve-
ments is overwhelmingly
rewarding,” Walter said.
Walter, of Crowley,
just south of Fort Worth,
knows what foster and
adoptive parents need
because, he is one. In
addition to his three bio-
logical children, he and
his wife, Dorothy, have
adopted five children
and are currently pro-
viding care for three
relative placements. The
Walters recently cel-
ebrated their 28th wed-
ding anniversary. In fact,
he’s been so successful
in training and support-
ing adoptive and foster
parents that his own
grown children and their
spouses have each
adopted a child, as well.
“Our goal is to find as
many appropriate
homes as possible to form
successful and lasting fos-
ter relationships,” Walter
said.
The agency not only
screens and qualifies per-
spective foster and adop-
tive parents, it provides
training, pre-placement
planning and ongoing fol-
low-up services to insure
families are well equipped
to provide a higher level of
confident care for these
children. That’s why Life-
line focuses on serving the
foster parents, who are the
true agents of change in the
lives of children.
Lifeline helps match the
right child with the right
foster care parents. Pro-
spective foster care par-
ents may specify age, race
and sex of the child they
prefer and are entitled to
review the child’s history.
No one is obligated to
take a child who is not a
right match, Walter said.
Foster care parents re-
ceive financial reimburse-
ment from the state on a
set monthly basis, based on
the child’s needs. The
funding is to offset the
costs of food, clothing and
housing. In addition, many
children in need of a stable
home life have various
health issues, Walter ex-
plained.
Some of the support
Lifeline offers to foster care
parents is ongoing training,
special events, therapy,
counseling, crisis interven-
tion 24 hours per day, re-
spite and many other daily
support services.
It can take as little as
two months (typically three
months) to become li-
censed as a foster care
household, and your own
preferences determine
how long it takes to receive
a child matching them.
General requirements
for becoming a foster par-
ent include being a respon-
sible, healthy adult, 23
years or older with a high
school diploma or GED,
without a criminal record,
in possession of a valid
driver’s license and insur-
ance, owning reliable
transportation and suc-
cessfully completing 27
hours of training, which
Lifeline provides.
Those who do not meet
the general qualifications or
do not have the housing to
provide foster care, but
who would like to help can
do so through making do-
nations of goods, services
or money, volunteering, or
providing needed house-
hold items. Lifeline Chil-
dren and Family Services
can be reached by calling
toll free (866)885-1440
or on the Internet at
www.lifelinecfs.org.
Recently, Lifeline added
to its four regional offices
throughout the state serv-
ing about 23 counties. It
partnered with the Chris-
tian Life Center Church in
Gun Barrel City this month
to open a location in
Henderson County, the
first and only agency of its
kind in that county. The
church’s pastor, Barry
Boatright and his wife,
Tanyau, have success-
fully adopted children
and provided foster care,
all through Lifeline and
with Ricky Walter’s en-
couragement.
Lifeline was formed
through the support of
the church Walter pas-
tors. The 225 members
of the Lifeline Fellowship
Family Church, located
at 5301 W. State High-
way 31 in Corsicana,
“are very committed to
the work we do with chil-
dren and youth,” Walter
said. The church also
supports a Charter
School and private acad-
emy as a safety net for
children who academi-
cally might fall between
the cracks, he added.
Walter holds two
master’s degrees in coun-
seling and family studies
and is currently working
on a doctorate in social
psychology. He appreci-
ates the value of a good
education and the neces-
sity of skills training for
young people.
Lifeline also operates a
home in Corsicana to
support young men who
have aged out of the fos-
ter care system, but re-
quire support to reach
their educational or ca-
reer goals. These young
men are overseen by a
case worker and in
Walter’s words, “may
remain as long as they
follow the rules.”
Among Lifeline’s goals
is to open a similar home
for young women, create
a co-ed shelter and pos-
sibly a residential treat-
ment facility for hard-to-
place children to prepare
them for going into a fos-
ter care household, he
said.
Monitor Photo/Pearl Cantrell
Ricky Walter (center left), founder of Lifeline Children’s Family Services,
partners with Tanyau and Barry Boatright of the Christian Life Center to
introduce the foster and adoption agency to the Cedar Creek Lake Area in a
ribbon cutting with chamber of commerce members June 11. The agency
marks its 10th year of placing children in foster care homes or with adoptive
parents. The agency assisted the Boatrights with the adoption of their two
foster children, providing training and support to foster lifelong relationships.
For more information, call (866) 855-1440.
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Man gets life
for 2012 murder
Special to The News
ATHENS-Jackie
Martez Guthrie, 23, of
Frankstonwas sentenced
to Life in the Penitentiary
recently after pleading
guilty to the July 2012
shooting death of 18-year-
old Chantel Barrett of
Tyler.
Barrett was found dead
outside a Coffee City resi-
dence on July 19, 2012.
Police found her body
while responding to a call
about gunshots. Guthrie,
23, was quickly identified
as a suspect and a man-
hunt was initiated. Guthrie
was believed to have also
kidnapped 19-year-old
Tiffany Hurd, who was
eight months pregnant with
Guthrie’s child at the time.
Approximately 24 hours
later, Guthrie was spotted
by former classmates, va-
cationing in Galveston. He
was taken into custody
without incident. Guthrie
had in his possession what
prosecutors believed was
the weapon used to shoot
Barrett. Investigators from
the Henderson County
District Attorney’s Office
■Meet
and Sheriff’s Office trav-
eled to Galveston to inter-
view and transport Hurd
back to Henderson
County. A funeral service
was held for Barrett on July
23,2012 in Henderson.
Guthrie entered his plea
on the morning of June 17
in Judge Dan Moore’s
173rd Judicial District
Court. Family members
from both sides were in the
courtroom during the pro-
ceedings.
Prosecutors and inves-
tigators believe Barrett was
shot while trying to keep
Guthrie from nabbing the
8-month pregnant Hurd
during a scuffle between
Guthrie and Hurd. District
Attorney Scott McKee
and Assistant District At-
torney Justin Weiner pros-
ecuted the case. Investi-
gator John Long led the
investigation for Sheriff
Ray Nutt’s department.
“Chantel was a beauti-
ful young woman who had
her life senselessly taken
while trying to save her
friend. She is a true hero
who gave the ultimate sac-
rifice for someone she
cared for,” McKee said.
Continued from Page 1A
vival of the city. The pro-
posed bond sale, to be
handled by First South-
west Securities, is the only
way to achieve it.
“Kemp is progressing,
but it is taking a lot of time,”
Ciardo said. The merger is
a complicated process that
has required extensive re-
search and negotiation, he
said.
In other action June
24, utility board directors:
• appointed Wanda
Sanders, a longtime district
employee who is nearing
retirement, to a vacant seat
on the board of directors.
• approved a revision
to employees group
medical insurance that
will result in a $40,000
annual savings to the dis-
trict but increase the
employee’s out-of-
pocket expenses.
• learned that the new
■Burnt
tank installed for the To-
losa Plant expansion did
not meet with management
approval, and that the de-
sign problems would need
to be corrected before the
contractors get paid.
• received assurance
from management that
taste and odor problems
related to seasonal algae
growth has finished its nor-
mal annual cycle.
• noted Stage 3 drought
water conservation efforts
are now in effect.
• learned the district is
growing its own bacteria
and enzymes necessary to
eradication of grease in lift
stations rather than pur-
chasing it at a significant
savings to the district.
• learned the district has
upgraded its security sys-
tem as part of
management’s routine re-
view of safety standards.
Continued from Page 1A
fire appeared to have just started, however gusts of wind
and dry conditions quickly spread sparks and it became
a large scattered fire very quickly.
On Monday, the county was under a high fire danger
alert from the Texas Forest Service. The Keetch Byrum
Drought Index places Henderson County in the 500 to
600 range on an 800 point scale, denoting the driest
conditions. The KBDI indicates how much moisture is
in the land, ranging from zero, total saturation, to 800,
meaning no moisture whatsoever. The index shows the
Henderson County mostly within the 500-600 range.
However three counties bordering Henderson to the
west and south (Navarro, Freestone and Anderson) are
averaging in the 600-700 range. Navarro and Freestone
have already issued bum bans.
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Cantrell, Pearl. The Monitor (Mabank, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 94, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 7, 2013, newspaper, July 7, 2013; Mabank, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth629862/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed May 31, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .