May is National Foster Care Month and Roanoke’s Social Services Department is using the opportunity to educate the community about foster care and the need for quality foster homes. The hope is that by shining a spotlight on these children and those who have given of their time, love, and attention to care for them, staff may be able to find additional loving homes for the children who are in need.
There are over 250 children in foster care in the City of Roanoke, and most of these children enter into the system due to abuse and neglect—through no fault of their own. During the month of May, National Foster Care Month will celebrate the promise of these children in care and the foster parents who demonstrate the depth and kindness of the human heart by opening their lives to these children and their families.
Social Services staff reports that quality foster homes are difficult to find and difficult to maintain, and that the commitment to working within a challenging and complex system can be daunting. Foster families contend with the intervention of social workers, counselors, teachers, mentors, the courts, and the biological families to assist in caring for these children until they can be reunited with their families or until another permanent goal can be reached.
For more information, please contact Treena Thornton, Senior Social Worker and Foster Parent Program Coordinator for the City of Roanoke Department of Social Services, at 853-2619 or by email at [email protected].
