This May will celebrate Foster Care Month - both in North
Carolina and across the country.
There are over 500,000 children in foster care in the US
today. Of these, approximately half will return to their
homes. And while approximately 250,000 kids are
projected to enter foster care this year, another 20,000 youth
will age out of the foster care system without a permanent
home. In North Carolina alone there are over 3,000
children whose plan is adoption - and almost 11,000 children
in foster care.
Foster care is clouded by myths. People often
believe that they are too young or too old, not rich enough,
not educated enough, worried that they aren't married or don't
own their own home..but in reality, foster parents come from
all different walks of life, just like the kids do! As
long as the prospective parent is over 21, able to pass safety
and other criminal background checks, and has a heart for
helping children and their families, then they are a good
candidate to become a foster parent.
There are plenty of myths about the children as well -
and rarely are they complimentary. In reality however,
these children (ages 0 through 17) are just as unique as we
are. They have their own interests, hobbies, likes,
dislikes, and so on. But all of them are struggling to
make sense of a world where the adults that they loved and
trusted are taken away from them because these adults could
not keep them safe. These kids need foster parents who
can understand, listen, and love them through this very
difficult time in their lives.
In Buncombe County, a collaborative of foster parent
licensing agencies has been working together over the past
year to help increase community education and to dispel some
of people's fears about fostering. These agencies all
offer "Family Foster Care" although there are also many
agencies in the area that offer therapeutic level foster care
as well. Included in the collaborative currently
are: Buncombe County DSS, Caring for Children,
Grandfather Home for Children, Eliada, and Professional
Parenting / Adopt Plus.
Please contact 2-1-1 if you would like to learn
more about foster care, the Buncombe County foster care
collaborative, or about foster care resources in
general.
Another good place to
start is your local Department of Social
Services:
Buncombe County DSS: (828) 250-5500
Henderson County DSS: (828) 697-5500
Madison
County DSS: (828) 649-2711
Transylvania County DSS: (828) 884-3174
