As Gov. Gina Raimondo asked him to come to the microphone to talk about recruiting local teachers to foster local needy children, Capellan whispered into the governor’s ear to stay close as he spoke.
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — Rhode Island may need one less foster family today.
And it has Central Falls school Supt. Victor Capellan and his wife, Diana, to thank.
News conferences are often choreographed affairs where speakers speak, reporters scribble, the cameras roll and surprises are few. But Thursday morning’s gathering in the Central Falls High School auditorium was going to be different. You could see it in Victor Capellan’s glistening eyes.
As Gov. Gina Raimondo asked him to come to the microphone to talk about recruiting local teachers to foster local needy children, Capellan whispered into the governor’s ear to stay close as he spoke.
They faced a scattering of teachers, local politicians and child welfare supporters, including Trista Piccola, director of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, who for months has led a statewide campaign to attract more families to take in needy children in their communities as a healthier alternative to group home placements elsewhere.
The state needs new foster families for about 250 children, and for a second time in a month Raimondo was publicly promoting a state-sponsored weekend training retreat for interested applicants.
The retreat will take place from March 9-11 at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Supported by the Rhode Island Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, it will provide up to 20 hours of the 30 hours of necessary training to become a licensed foster parent.
Normally, such training takes place over 10 weeks, a duration that dissuades many applicants.
At the microphone, Capellan carried with him a red folder.
Turning to the governor by his side, he said, ”“Before you go, I want to let you know that I’ve actually discussed this with my wife, and we actually want to submit our application” to become foster parents.
The announcement brought an eruption of cheers and whistles and a hug from a surprised Raimondo, who declared: “That is unbelievable.”
“This is a personal commitment for me and my wife,” said Capellan, who served on the search committee that nominated Piccola to become the new DCYF director a year ago.
Working in Central Falls is a privilege, Capellan said, still, “We find our students need just a little extra help and support.” And what would be better, he said, than if a local educator could take in a troubled child and spare that child from being torn away from his school, his friends, and his community.
“Imagine if we can have all the educators across the state say, ‘Yes, I am open to taking a child into my home.’ We can really make sure they stay in their community.”
Afterward, Capellan, who is 47, said he approached his wife, who is 35, months ago about fostering a Central Falls child after a discussion with Piccola about how many local children who enter state care are placed in other communities, either in foster homes or group homes.
“I said to her, ‘Why don’t we take them in? Meaning the community, and then I realized that ‘we’ meant me. That really tipped it for me. So I went back to my wife and she said, ‘I told you yes already.’ So we’re on.”
Capellan was hired as the director of school improvement in the Fall River school district in 2008. He was elevated to assistant superintendent in Feb. 2009 and left the district for Central Falls in June 2010.
The Capellans have been married four years and have no children. In March they will be at the weekend retreat for foster parent applicants. They hope to be foster parents by the summer.
“We want to be part of the solution.”