SMITH COUNTY, Texas — Getting to celebrate his first Father’s Day this year following his and his wife's adoption of five siblings was a big milestone for Tim Fauss after years of fostering and helping children in need.
“This is permanent now,” he said. “They have our last names so it feels more real.”
Fauss, a probation/supervision officer for Smith County Juvenile Services, teaches an array of life skills, including helping to certify the kids in food handling licenses and teaching cooking classes for the H.O.P.E. Academy (a residential program for male juvenile offenders), according to Smith County.
Fauss and his wife Erica started fostering in 2020. They always considered fostering before getting married, but they planned to have their own kids first, Smith County said in a press release.
“But God had a different plan,” he said. “He told us that families can get started in different ways, so we felt that it was our calling as a couple to care for children in need and started the process to become foster parents.”
Erica Fauss said time slowing down during the early days of quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic helped them consider fostering sooner.
"I like to think our lives slowed down enough for us to hear God’s calling to open our home to children in need," she said.
She knew her husband would provide structure and be a good role model because of his experience working with children. Tim Fauss said he loves working with kids because he can make a difference and help break generational cycles.
As a child, Tim Fauss was in the Royal Rangers, a religious organization for boys, and in college, he helped lead a group of middle school-aged boys. He hopes to get involved again now that he has sons of his own.
Erica Fauss said her mother gave her a foundation of discipline, good values and a serving heart. She works in human resources, knew people who fostered or adopted children and it was something she wanted to do.
“So in the midst of the stay-at-home orders, we anxiously prepared for the new chapter in our lives, by completing several training courses in the evenings and had all sorts of people digging into our family history, backgrounds and personal lives,” she said. “Looking back, that was the easy part.”
After getting licensed in November 2020, they received calls about several siblings who needed foster parents.
“We wanted to offer siblings the chance to stay together and have each other to not feel alone in a new place,” she said.
Soon, they fostered a 2 ½ year-old girl and an 11-month-old boy for 13 months and they learned a lot about the children and themselves.
“When they were reunified with their parents, Erica and I thought long and hard about our desire to foster to adopt rather than traditional foster care,” Tim Fauss said. “We were longing for something more permanent so we reached out to our foster care licensing agency and inquired about adopting.”
In May 2022, they were told about the five siblings (three boys and two girls, ages 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8) who they began fostering in August 2022 and would adopt officially a year later.
“After praying about it, talking about it, and discussing it with friends and family, we decided to proceed,” he said.
He said the kids had been separated from each other since October 2020, and by coming to the Fauss family it was their last shot to find a forever home they could all share.
“Having a strong relationship with each other and knowing we would have tough times, but nothing we couldn't handle together -- that is what helped us make a decision to adopt,” Erica Fauss said. “We are always told that we make a great team.”
He said having five kids at home keeps things interesting, and the kids are adjusting to living under the same roof. But as mom and dad, Tim and Erica Fauss remind the children they will have brothers and sisters by their side.
Tim Fauss said he uses the methods from working at Juvenile Services to understand the effects that trauma can have on a child. He also knows the importance of using more positive wording to redirect bad behavior and tuning out negative, attention-seeking behavior.
In celebration of the adoption, the family took a vacation in South Padre.
“It feels like we’re a true family” now that the adoption is final, she said. “Now they’re our kids and we have a complete say on how we raise them … It’s a really good feeling to have that confirmation that we are your mom and dad.”