All in the family: Retired foster care program aide looks back

Retired senior foster care program aide Fran Johnson is pictured in 2019 with her husband Chuck, a dedicated Oakland Family Services volunteer. The Johnsons first joined Oakland Family Services as foster parents and adopted their son through the agency.

Fran Johnson landed at Oakland Family Services by chance. When her 35-year journey with the agency began, she and her husband, Chuck, had a 3-year-old daughter and had recently lost twins who passed away after a premature birth. Fran was watching TV when an advertisement came on for foster parents.

“I had never thought about it before, didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “We just went, ‘OK, well, my children didn’t make it, but I can help somebody else’s kids.’”

The Johnsons first became licensed foster parents through the county, but when that program ended in 1986, their case worker recommended they transfer to Oakland Family Services. Over the course of the next 13 years, more than 50 foster children from Oakland Family Services spent time in the Johnsons’ home. Many of them were babies who would stay with them for three or four months before being adopted by another family, but one stayed longer than the rest.

“I remember going into the hospital that day, and I had to pass by the nursery and looked in,” Fran said. “There was only one baby in there, and all the other babies were with their moms. I remember thinking, ‘OK, that’s probably the one I’m here to pick up. Doggone it, he’s in there all by himself.’”

Though adoption had never been in the Johnsons’ plan, when the opportunity arose, they adopted Brian in 1988 after 14 months of fostering him, then continued fostering other children in need.

In 1999, Oakland Family Services’ foster care department wanted to try something new: they invited Fran to become a foster care program aide. In order to join the staff, the Johnsons had to close their foster care license, but Fran saw the job as an opportunity to continue helping children in need.

Fran Johnson is recognized for 20 years as an Oakland Family Services staff member in 2019.

“It really defined my whole life to be involved in foster care,” she said.

As a program aide, Fran would supervise foster children’s visits with their birth families and often sat with children while they waited for their parents to arrive.

“A lot of times the kids are there, and the moms are late or they don’t show, so you’re trying to protect them from what’s going to happen,” she said. “Somebody is going to come in here and say, ‘Guess what, your mom’s not coming today.’”

She recalled a time when she was sitting with a boy whose mother never showed up for their visit and distracted him by suggesting they read a story together.

“He said, ‘OK! I’ll read to you,’” Fran remembered. “And every time he turned a page, he would say, ‘And then … and then …’ And he just got totally involved in that and forgot about the fact that his mom wasn’t there. And I remember thinking at the time, I really am filling a need that I don’t know where else I would have had that experience. … It was just an overall good feeling to help kids get through the rough time that they’re going through at that moment.”

Over her years at Oakland Family Services, Fran saw many changes to the foster care program, including steps to protect the safety of children, foster parents and staff.

When she was a foster parent, parental visits were held in the foster parents’ home, and the foster parents were also responsible for supervising the visits. Nowadays, visits take place at Oakland Family Services in dedicated visitation rooms that are set up with toys, books, a kitchen area and other furniture to make them feel homey. Program aides sit outside in the hallway and observe through glass windows to give parents more privacy while also making sure their interactions are safe.

“I was always very proud to hear from birth parents that — maybe the kids had been in foster care more than one time at a different agency — and if we ever talked about that, the primary thing they always mentioned was, ‘Your visit rooms are beautiful. I feel like I’m sitting in my own living room when I’m in your visit rooms.’” Fran said. “[… At other agencies,] sometimes there’s just a room with a couch and a chair and a few toys.”

Fran worked as a program aide until her retirement in January 2021. All the while, her husband Chuck was an active volunteer for Oakland Family Services. He became heavily involved in Adopt A Family, and supported the foster care program by collecting, transporting and helping to assemble or repair furniture donated to foster families. In 2018, he was recognized for 20 years of service to the agency. 

The Johnsons’ adopted son Brian is now 34, and Fran continues her life’s work of nurturing children by providing child care for her daughter Mary’s two young children.

“I just evolved into a grandma,” she laughed.

Click here to learn more about foster care at Oakland Family Services, or click here to read more staff memories collected for the agency’s 100th anniversary.