Interested in helping local children in need? Please consider becoming a foster parent
By Nikki Harless
May 16, 2012
Loving foster homes are as necessary and as essential in Richland County as ever before.
The trend in child welfare is to keep children safely in their own homes as much as possible. If that is not possible, Kinship care is the next alternative, with grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. offering a safe home for a child or sibling group.
In May, during National Foster Care Month, 54 local children were living in Richland County foster homes. That number is well down from the 250 children in agency custody one decade ago.
The numbers down slightly in July. But this county still needs loving and safe foster homes for children. If not for the 63 licensed foster care homes working with Richland County Children Services, it’s not certain where these local children would be living.
Richland County Children Services has an urgent need for citizens from every walk of life to get involved – as foster or adoptive parents, volunteers, mentors, employers or in other ways.
Richland County Children Services is blessed with good foster homes. The average local foster family has been welcoming children into their homes for five years. We have one foster home that has been serving for 34 years. We have another that’s only in its second month. Together our homes have cared for children for more than 300 years.
But we need more of them. With the help of these dedicated people, many abused or neglected children will either reunite safely with their own parents, be cared for by relatives or be adopted by loving families.
The need for help doesn’t end when a child becomes a “legal adult.” Every year, approximately 30,000 young people in the United States leave the foster care system without lifelong families – most at age 18. On their own, these young adults must navigate a weakened economy offering fewer jobs and less support for vital services such as housing. They need – and deserve – caring adults who love and support them.
Imagine your own child graduating from high school at age 18. Is he or she ready to be successful on their own in life? Or do you continue to support them in so many ways as they go off to college or seek local employment?
All children — including the 408,000 American children in foster care — deserve a safe, happy life. Young people in foster care especially need nurturing adults on their side because their own families are in crisis and unable to care for them.
We urge you to get involved in helping these young people in need. If you would like more information, including how you can become a foster parent, please call Richland County Children Services at 419-774-4100 or visit the agency Web site at www.richlandcountychildrenservices.org.
(The preceding was written by Nikki Harless, MSW-LISW, interim executive director for Richland County Children Services.)
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