The shortage of foster homes is so critical in the Highline area that, occasionally, social workers have children in foster care sleep on couches in their offices.

On rare occasions, they take these children to a hotel to spend the night.

If you are interested in opening your home and your heart to a child, you are invited to a free informational class - Steps Towards Becoming a Foster Parent - on Wednesday, Dec. 12, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Burien Community Center, Southwest 146th Street and Fourth Avenue Southwest.

Foster-Adopt Parent Support groups will take place on Saturday, Dec. 8, and Saturday, Jan. 5, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Burien Community Center.

Marilynn Burton, a foster/adoptive parent liaison, will conduct both the class and the support groups.

Burton oversees foster parenting in Burien, White Center, West Seattle and Tukwila.

These communities, with only a handful of foster homes, have the worst need-to-resource ratio in King County, she notes.

Many children placed into foster care - victims of abuse, deprivation, neglect, illness and/or trauma, often with at least one parent addicted to drugs or alcohol - have to be taken out of the Highline/West Seattle area so they can find a home.

Approximately 50 children a week enter foster care, with an average 12 placed into local foster homes, Burton says. The other 38 children go out of King County.

Burton is concerned how this impacts the community. When children leave, the school enrollment drops and the districts where these children lived lose state education funds.

Losing 38 children a week can result in the loss of six teachers a month, she adds.

IMAGINE, FOR a moment, being a child who is suddenly uprooted from familiar surroundings such as home, school and friends.

Suddenly, you are transported far away. You may be travel to Spokane, Port Angeles or another unfamiliar location.

You know no one. You miss your mom and dad, and that friendly grocery clerk who often hands you a lollipop.

Burton is especially concerned about these distant placements.

"We're being forced to 'outsource' the most wounded children from our communities," she says. "This is truly a failure by our society to care for the most vulnerable members of our communities.

"Distant placements also make it almost impossible to keep the children connected to other siblings, and other local family members," Burton continues. "Siblings who are taken out of neglect have often been the only support for each other among the chaos in their homes. It is devastating for these children to leave behind their familiar things; school, teachers, streets and neighborhoods.

"Sometimes a kind teacher or an attentive school staff member has been the only adult involvement these children have had to look forward to on a daily basis. It is critical for their emotional health that they are retained in their own communities."

AT NEXT WEDNESDAY'S class, Burton will walk prospective foster parents through the process.

You may select the type of child you wish to bring into your family. You may have a two parent, single-parent or same-sex household. There is financial assistance and daycare is paid.

And you may offer a home for emergency, short- or long-term placements, depending on your preference.

Foster homes are needed for children in a variety of situations: those in age groups 0-5, 6-11 and 12-1, receiving and emergency placement, respite homes (watching the children for the foster parents), Native and minority, physically assaultive and sexually aggressive youth, children with developmental disabilities, those who are medical challenged, and Foster-Adopt.

According to Burton, the 12-18 age group can be the most difficult to place, not because they are harder to care for but because they tend to be the most forgotten.

One thing is certain. Any foster parent will tell you that these children have touched their hearts.

Burton is "passionate" about her job.

"Honestly, she says, "there isn't a single day that goes by that these children aren't in the forethought of my mind."

Burton enjoys being a foster parent and explains, "In short, foster parents are committing to a child at the worst time of their life. Many of these children are in need of a soft place to land."

In her own household she marvels because, "These children have brought such a depth to us."

She laughs and describes her family as "his, mine, ours and theirs." Being a foster parent "changes you forever."

Because foster homes are needed immediately, interested persons may call Burton before the informational class at 253-941-8298, or e-mail her at FosterLiaisonMarilynn@gmail.com.