A local non-profit says the Upper Cumberland still faces a major shortage of foster parents, leaving many children in need of stable homes.
Youth Villages Foster Parent Recruiter Jennifer Wessel said in Putnam County alone, about 65 percent of the children who come to Youth Villages have to be relocated outside of the county due to not having enough foster homes. Wessel said the region does not have nearly as many foster parents as it did 10-20 years ago. Wessel said most of the decline is due to many foster parents aging and not being able to foster children anymore.
“So we are kind of getting into a different window of there still being a need for kids to have placement, but there are just not as many homes available right now,” Wessel said. “And it seems like, possibly, the economy might have an effect as well.”
Wessel said when children are displaced outside of the region, not only are they being displaced from their family, but they are being displaced from their friends and community. She also said it only takes one stable adult in a child’s life to make a difference.
“We see that happen time and time again that these families, if you have a heart for helping these children, that love and that care and that nurturing really makes a difference not only for the child but it really makes an impact on the family as well,” Wessel said. “It’s a beautiful relationship that we see between the families and the kids.”
Wessel said she is finding it harder and harder to recruit foster parents, as many parents have hesitancy becoming a foster parent. Wessel said Youth Villages tries to help address those concerns about what foster parenting would look like.
“Our agency does show families how to document things so that at the end of the month, they can be reimbursed for you know, different items that they provide for the child,” Wessel said.
Wessel said foster parents provide a stable and loving home that, in most cases, these children have never experienced before. Wessel said she encourages those on the fence about becoming a foster parent to reach out and ask questions before saying no.