Pasco: As family expands, so does need to provide

As family expands, so does need to provide

Three children find a home with relatives, but Christmas gifts will be hard to come by.

By KENT FISCHER, Times Staff Writer

NEW PORT RICHEY -- Fred Hinrichs didn't count on having to provide a hefty Christmas. Just he and his wife, and maybe something for his eldest son, Robert.

But that was before state social workers called. Now Hinrichs, a 43-year-old landscaper, is trying to cobble together a Christmas for his family, which has suddenly grown by three children.

Just before Thanksgiving, the Hinrichses were suddenly granted guardianship of three children. The youngest, Violet, 8, is Fred Hinrichs' daughter from a previous relationship. The other two children are Violet's brother, James, 12, and sister, Tiffany, 14.

The state was about to put all three children into foster care when social workers asked Hinrichs if he would take in Violet, whom he had previously cared for. Absolutely, he said. Then he offered to take Violet's brother and sister, as well.

"We couldn't let them be split up," Hinrichs said. "We're doing this because they just need a hug. They need somebody."

The newfound family is piled high into Hinrichs' two-bedroom mobile home in Moon Lake. Space is tight; Fred and wife Jessie now sleep in the living room. But the kids go to school during the day, and there are hot meals on the table at night.

What there aren't, though, are gifts for under the Christmas tree.

Since taking custody of the children last month, the Hinrichses have concentrated mostly on getting the kids medical care (James is nearly deaf), and on attending the many court hearings necessary to become "nonrelative caregivers," as the state calls the Hinrichses.

"We're just trying to survive, to be honest with you," he said.

Christmas, he admits, snuck up on him.

Hinrichs said he has called local charities seeking help, but discovered that his efforts are too late. He found groups willing to donate food and used clothes to his new family, but James wants a bike and Tiffany wants clothes like the other kids wear at River Ridge Middle School.

"I was late," he said of contacting the charities. "You have to get on their lists before Thanksgiving."

James and Tiffany said they really like their new family. She and James are supervised and well fed, Tiffany said.

"They love us," she said.

Fred Hinrichs said the family receives no state aid other than Medicaid for James' doctor bills. Because they're not official foster parents, they do not qualify for the stipends granted to foster families, typically a few hundred dollars per month per child.

Fred Hinrichs said he hopes somebody in the community might yet help him give the children a real Christmas.

"When they came here, they had nothing," Jessie Hinrichs said. "The clothes they got now, they got from churches."

-- Kent Fischer can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. His e-mail address is kfischer@sptimes.com .