Foster Parents Needed In Mecklenburg County
After teaching 7th grade for a year in a Title One school, I decided if I ever won the lottery, I’d adopt a lot of kids. Sadly, my salary barely covers my bills, so I know I don’t make enough to become a foster parent. But if you have the resources and a caring heart, many foster kids in our area need you.
According to WCNC, there is a great need for foster parents in Mecklenburg County. Right now, there are 452 children ages 0-17 in the foster care system. And as of May 29, there were only 91 licensed foster families, according to Mecklenburg County.
Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services senior social services manager Rekita L. McDuffie says that help is needed now. “We encourage our community to look at this as an issue, that is a community issue,” McDuffie said. It’s a community issue as the kids and teenagers in the foster care system are innocent victims.
Foster parents care for children for weeks or months or even a year. The goal is to eventually get them back to their family or transition them into an adoptive family.
It’s heartbreaking that so many children in our area are in foster care, due to no fault of their own. These kids deserve love and affection, and they need to know they are worthy. I wasn’t able to have children and it truly pisses me off when I see parents that harm or neglect children.
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, there are some requirements. You must be at least 21 years old and have no criminal record. There is also required training to become a foster parent, and that takes several weeks.
If you’re interested in finding out more, all the info is here.
“It’s no fault of these children's own that they’re in foster care, as a foster parent, we make sure they are safe and well taken care of,” Mecklenburg County foster parent Rosa Patterson told @LexiWCNC https://t.co/ZA0SKXJY7C
— WCNC Charlotte (@wcnc) June 17, 2022
