Every child deserves a loving home.
Most people would agree with that, but there are many children who live in unstable homes in Lenoir and Greene counties, according to social workers.
Betsie Allen, a resident of Farmville in Greene County, has been a foster parent of a number of children and adopted two of them — an 8-month-old boy, now 9 years old, and a 7-year-old daughter, now 13.
“One, mainly because I love children,” Allen said, “and two, my heart was calling it.”
Allen said she saw so many children in the schools who needed to know what a family is.
“It’s rewarding for me and it’s very hard,” she said.
It’s rewarding for both her and the children to feel they are needed, Allen said. But it’s difficult to let them go when it’s time for them to return home or to a family member’s home.
The primary concern of the Department of Social Services is to attempt to return the children to their home by helping educate the parent(s) to stabilize their home environment.
In the meantime, the children need a safe environment to live until that can take place. That’s where foster parents can help.
But both Lenoir and Greene have a shortage of foster homes available. In May, National Foster Care Month creates a calling for people who meet the foster parent criteria to open up their hearts and homes to care for displaced children.
There are many ways people can help children ages birth to 17 who are needing foster care, said Ashley Andrews, adoption social worker at Lenoir DSS.
“It’s not just about foster parents,” she said about Foster Care Month. In fact, people can also help by volunteering as a mentor or employing an older foster child.
In Lenoir County, there are nine foster homes, but some have already adopted children and none of them are available for all ages of children. There are 38 children placed in foster homes.
In Greene County, there are five foster homes, and they are full, Christy Nash, Greene DSS director, said. There are 40 children in foster care homes — including children placed out-of-county and by private vendors.
“But we still do all the monitoring and visits with the children,” Nash said.
Both agencies are actively recruiting foster parents. The maximum number of children that can live in a foster home is five, including the parents’ own children.
“We are in a desperate need for foster homes,” Andrews said, “based on the lack of currently available foster homes.”
Children taken from their biological parents have been removed because of physical, sexual or emotional abuse; or neglect or dependency — where the parents are no longer in the home because they are deceased, incarcerated or some other reason.
It’s especially difficult to place older children or those with behavioral problems, as babies and toddlers are the most sought-after, said Sharon Bryant-Willoughby, a Lenoir licensing social worker.
“The ones who do need special care,” Andrews said, “have to be placed in therapeutic foster homes.”
Counties vary on how they set up foster parent training. Lenoir provides 30 hours of training. Greene offers one-on-one, two-week and specified hourly training.
Foster parents must be in good health and have a high school diploma or GED, qualifying income, references, qualifying home and an available bedroom for the child. Social workers look at the home environment and neighborhood and have a criminal background check performed.
They also discuss the potential new child with the children living in the home, Willoughby said.
Reunification with the parent(s) or other family member(s) is always the first choice. A judicial review is done a year after placing and at six-month intervals following.
“About half of our foster parents end up adopting,” Andrews said.
Allen said her two adopted children act like brother and sister and her 22-year-old biological son is like a big brother to them.
The goal is to provide lifelong connections for children to grow up feeling needed and loved.
For information about becoming a foster parent, contact 252-559-6210 in Lenoir County and 252-747-5939 in Greene County.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
In LenoirCountyin 2012:
Foster care:
- 33 children were in agency custody
- 269 judicial review attended
- 90 case review by permanency planning action team
Adoptions in 2012:
- Two orders for agency adoptions
- Six children whose plan is adoption — three of them are in placement
- 88 adoption assistance cases
To qualify as a foster parent:
- Be at least 21 years old
- Have a stable home and income
- Be fingerprinted and undergo a criminal records check (no felonies)
- Complete all required training
- Be licensed by the state of North Carolina
Source: Lenoir County Department of Social Services
For information in Lenoir County, call 252-559-6210, ask about foster care
For information in GreeneCounty, call 252-747-5939, ask for foster care licensing specialist