6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 1-7, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com 831 Bob Vanderslice was a 35-yearold single man when he faced a Monterey County Superior Court judge in the early 1990s seeking a license to become a foster parent to a young boy. Despite having been thoroughly vetted, the judge was convinced there must be something untoward about the situation. “He was quite outspoken about it,” Vanderslice remembers. The judge, however, granted the license. The boy, Alphonso, was Vanderslice’s first official foster child, but Vanderslice was already a dad by that time to another boy named Danny, who became his first unofficial foster child a few years earlier through a family situation. When Danny’s parents gave up their parental rights, he became Vanderslice’s first adopted son. Vanderslice saw the foster system as a way to give Danny a brother. “He is just a great man,” says Alphonso Vanderslice, now 41, his father’s first of 33 foster children. “He changed my life.” Vanderslice adopted Alphonso at age 10. He is now on track to adopt his 11th son, currently living with him in foster care and about to enter high school. He never thought he would foster and adopt so many. “Especially now, I’m retired, I will be 67 this year and I have a new 13-year-old. My hair is growing gray, it’s not falling out, but it’ll keep me young. Keep me on my toes.” The journey to fatherhood began after Vanderslice came to Monterey in 1981 while in the Navy. He felt a drive to give back to his new community, so he volunteered for a local program similar to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Then a friend suggested he volunteer as a suicide prevention counselor, and Vanderslice spent five years counseling despondent teens over the phone. It was that background that made family members think of him when Danny needed a new home around 1988. Vanderslice had already left the Navy by then and was working as the lead software engineer for a Monterey computer consulting firm. It was a heavy load for a single parent, and the small firm didn’t offer benefits, so he applied for and was hired by the County of Monterey for an IT job. As Vanderslice attempted to add Danny as a dependent, he discovered he didn’t have any documentation to prove he was the boy’s guardian. He called what was then the county’s adoption unit. When a social worker learned that a single man had a young boy, essentially given to him, “all sorts of red flags went up in their minds,” he says. The next day social workers were at the house to investigate. They found a healthy 12-year-old boy well-bonded with his stand-in dad and were satisfied all was well, but, they said, because Danny had never been in the foster care system, Vanderslice would have to go through the state. He hired an adoption attorney. In the meantime, Vanderslice was encouraged by the head of the county’s adoption unit to consider becoming a foster parent. With a proven track record, officials began approaching Vanderslice with other boys. “It just kind of snowballed,” he says. Some of the boys asked Vanderslice to adopt them. He also became a community resource, including teaching parenting classes and serving as president of the local chapter of a foster parents’ association. Vanderslice credits his engineer’s mind—analyzing problems, shifting his thinking when necessary—to working through behavior issues. Keeping everything in a calendar was crucial to keeping everyone’s schedules straight. Having understanding supervisors and an ability to work remotely was also helpful. Now retired after more than 32 years with the county, Vanderslice spent July packing up the rental home he’s shared with his sons and foster children for a move to North Las Vegas, Nevada, where he purchased his first home and his retirement income will stretch farther. Vanderslice is heartened by the fact that today there are many single parents, including single fathers, who are welcomed as foster and adoptive parents. He advocates for others to at least consider following in their footsteps. “I encourage everyone to go to an orientation and find out, because you can always say no,” he says. Father of the Decades Fate made Bob Vanderslice an instant dad—he went on to adopt 11 sons and foster 33 boys. By Pam Marino Around 34 years ago, Bob Vanderslice said “yes” to bringing children in need of care into his home. Now, Vanderslice is an advocate for foster and adoptive parents. “It’ll keep me young. Keep me on my toes.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE DANIEL DREIFUSS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==