Foster Parents Needed in Your Community
June 9, 2020
Foundations Health & Wholeness is seeking families who are interested in becoming foster parents for children and teens in our community. Since the beginning of the year, and the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, Foundations has experienced a record number of children and teens in care, as well as a record number of child placement referrals from county child protective agencies. Simultaneously, Foundations and other child-placing organizations have seen a significant decline in inquiries from prospective foster parents, especially in Brown County and Northeast Wisconsin.
Foster Care by Foundations offers loving services for children who require temporary or permanent out-of-home placement. We match children and teens with families who can offer them stability, love, and hope until they are able to return to their families, are adopted, or transition to independent living. As a nonprofit organization, supporting foster families is a top priority for Foundations.
According to Collin Drews, Foundations’ Statewide Foster Care Recruiting Manager, “during the pandemic, we have been working with foster parents who are going through new parent training. The capabilities of our technology have allowed us to continue training new parents virtually, which is neat to see. Several of those newly-licensed parents already are provide loving and safe placements for children and teens.”
Drews continued, “Since the beginning of the Safer at Home orders, my phone hasn’t been ringing as much as I would like it to. As the recruiting manager, I’m the first step for prospective foster parents to learn more. The need is great, especially now. Our referral manager receives 25-30 referrals for placements every week. We are starting to have to say “no” more frequently to these referrals because families aren’t calling to become foster parents. We hope that people will see this call to action and pick up the phone to have a conversation about what foster parenting may look like for their family.”
To learn more about how you can change the life of a child or teen through foster care, visit Foster Care by Foundations: First Steps.