Abused and neglected children and teens have poured into the state’s foster care system in the wake of the region’s opioid epidemic.
In response, DePaul Community Resources started its “Fostering Everyday Love” campaign last November with the goal of recruiting, approving and matching 60 families with foster children in the central and western Virginia region.
“Virginia is ranked the worst in the nation for children and teens in the foster care system aging out before they can find permanent homes,” according to Voices for Virginia’s Children, an advocacy group for children in Virginia foster care, cited by DePaul in a recent announcement.
“Each year, some 500 children age out of foster care in Virginia without a permanent home, making Virginia dead last among states on its rate of achieving permanency for children in foster care,” Voices for Virginia’s Children said.
The nation’s runaway opioid epidemic has overburdened the already-rickety foster care system, leaving children and teens to fend for themselves as addicted parents are sent to rehabilitation or treatment centers, incarcerated, incapacitated, or even found dead, according to DePaul, the only nonprofit foster care organization with an office in the New River Valley.
The Virginia Department of Social Services tallies that, as of April 1 of this year, there were 5,294 children in Virginia’s foster care system: of those 155 are from Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles, Floyd, and Radford.
Bringing the nation-wide problem closer into NRV context, between January 1, 2018 and April 30, 2018, DePaul’s Christiansburg office received 33 referrals seeking to place children, but had to turn down 12 of those referrals because there weren’t enough foster homes.
“This gap illustrates the need for foster homes in the New River Valley in order to keep NRV children and teens placed in family homes in their community,” Jamie Snead, DePaul’s vice president of marketing and development said.
But since the beginning of its campaign, DePaul has recruited 30 homes that are now in the final stages of becoming certified foster parents.
“Our foster parents come from all walks of life—married or single, young, middle-aged, or retired,” Snead said. “Beyond that, we find that the best foster parents to be empathic and flexible – and have the ability to provide guidance, safety, and structure to the children and teens in their care.”
There are also an encouraging number of interested families in the initial application stages.
“The increased interest generated by the campaign continues to build and our regional recruiters are talking with potential foster parents almost every day,” Snead said. “But, while we are optimistic about our progress, we still need more safe, loving homes to help our foster children heal from neglect, abuse, or other trauma.”
The foster division of DePaul Community Resources specializes in recruiting foster homes and providing top-notch training to create safe places for local children and teens with specific needs to heal and grow according to the announcement.
In 2017, the organization connected 281 children with safe and healing foster family homes. Additionally, through DePaul’s adoption program, 96 children and teens were officially welcomed into permanent homes.
To learn more about DePaul Community Resources or becoming a foster parent, visit www.depaulcr.org. For more about Virginia’s foster care system visit Voices for Virginia’s Children: vakids.org
