National Foster Care Month may be coming to a close this week, but local child welfare officials are hoping residents will keep the urgent need for more foster homes in mind year-round.
Catoosa has 174 children in need of state care, but only 22 foster families available, said Jonathan Sloan, director of Catoosa County Division of Family and Children Services.
Walker County is in similar shape with 162 foster children and 26 foster homes, said Natasha Christian, resource developer for the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.
Ideally, each county should have at least two foster homes per child in foster care, according to DFCS recommendations.
If there aren't enough homes within the county, children often have to be placed outside their county of residence, which can make the process of reuniting them with their birth parents more difficult, said DFCS resource development case manager Joy Dodd.
The goal of foster care is usually to provide a temporary home for children while their parents get help resolving the issues that made their home environment unsafe. Once the children are placed outside their county, however, complications like arranging transportation between visits and court dates can slow down progress.
Dodd said displacing the children can also be detrimental to their mental well-being, as tearing them away from their schools, friends and community can add to the trauma they may already be experiencing.
"The goal is to try to keep the kids in the community as much as possible because they can at least have that consistency in their lives, whereas if we move them, everything is changing for them," Dodd explained.
Only 69 of Catoosa's foster children are currently in homes within the county, said Sloan, and only 61 of Walker's children have been placed in homes within their county, Christian added.
Child welfare workers have been striving to recruit more foster parents, but the biggest deterrent Dodd said they hear from potential candidates is fear of heartbreak.
"They're just afraid of getting attached and then having the children leave their home," said Dodd. "They're afraid of getting hurt."
The risk provides all the more reason to celebrate foster parents who answer the call, which National Foster Care Month aims to do while working to add new foster families to the ranks.
This year's festivities involved movie nights for foster parents from 11 counties and the children in their care. Dodd said she would love to see local churches and businesses take up the charge and host a banquet or some other event to show their appreciation for foster parents next year.
She also encourages residents to support the cause by spreading awareness through statistics, volunteering at their local DFCS county office or kickstarting the process to become foster parents themselves.
"We cannot do this work alone," Sloan said. "We want to ensure that the needs of every child are being met through strong families and support systems."
Those interested in becoming a foster or adoptive caregiver can visit fostergeorgia.com or stop by their local DFCS office for informational meetings.