Let's help these kids in foster care
Every county in the United States has a social service agency that has identified and certified caring individuals who have decided to become foster parents.
Those who have joined the ranks of becoming foster parents have learned the joys and sorrows as to what that job entails.
May is National Foster Care Month, a time to come together on behalf of the more than 400,000 American children who are in foster care because their own families are in a crisis and unable to provide for their essential well-being.
As I write this letter, there are over 80 children in the foster care system in Delaware County, and there is always a need for more foster homes.
On May 18, the department held its annual foster parent recognition dinner as a small gesture of our appreciation for all that they do.
Foster children have an extraordinary capacity to overcome many challenges _ but only if they have the support of caring adults in their lives. Oftentimes, foster parents have been pivotal people in the future success of their foster children.
Without permanent, nurturing relationships with adults, foster youth are far more likely than their peers in the general population to endure homelessness, poverty, compromised health, unemployment, incarceration and other adversities after they leave the foster care system.
No matter how much time you have to give, you have the power to do something positive that will change a young person's life in foster care.
Please contact your local Social Services for more information or visit www.fostercaremonth.org. Also, feel free to call the Delaware County Department of Social Services Foster Home finding unit at 832-5300 to find out about the many different ways to get involved.
Susan D. Aikens
Bloomville
