May is National Foster Care Month

April 30, 2021

Make A Difference in A Child’s Life and Become A Foster Parent!

May is National Foster Care Month and Richland County Children Services (RCCS) believes that every child deserves a loving home!

There are over 423,000 children and youth in foster care across the country, and many have been facing increased isolation over the past year.

It is more critical than ever for our communities to work together in identifying the right mix of supports to establish meaningful connections for children and youth in care.

This year, National Foster Care Month focuses on how to strengthen these connections and the role of family and youth engagement at every stage. We should ensure all families and youth have meaningful involvement.

Strengthening families and focusing on their well-being is the key to building strong communities. Whether it's promoting a collaborative relationship between birth parents and foster caregivers or providing parents with the right combination of supportive services to enable reunification, keeping families together is the primary goal in a successful child welfare system.

The goal of Richland County Children Services (RCCS) is always reunification. RCCS has on average 100 children in custody with close to 60 foster homes. Out of the 100 children, 30 percent of them are teenagers. Families are needed for all age children, but especially for older youth.

Foster care involves the temporary care of children ages newborn to age 18, all races, sibling groups, various religions, and children with special needs.

RCCS encourages all individuals to invest in the lives of children and to provide them with unconditional love, support, guidance, and every available resource to ensure their health and well-being.

RCCS believes every child needs a permanent home. Many of our foster parents adopt the children who are placed with them. Others help children prepare for placement with an adoptive family or relative.

We need more heroes to help make a difference in a child's life! We need foster parents for sibling groups, teenagers and African - American foster care families. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, contact Richland County Children Services Foster Care Recruiter Joetta McCruter – Polk at 614-264-6176 cell or 419-774-4100 or go to /foster-adoption/foster-adoption-2 

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