FOSTER CARE AWARENESS
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LOCAL FOSTER CARE AWARENESS
LOVE WINS
WHEN YOU FOSTER A CHILD
There are 52 children in Warren County Foster Care, twice the rate of the STATE average.
54% of Children are under the age of 9 years old.
14% of children will spend 3-4 years in the Foster Care System.
Only 3 children put into the foster care system were able to placed with relatives.
The ballooning number of foster children in Warren County has reached the level of crisis. There are 52 children in foster care in Warren County nearly double 2021-2023. The rate of foster children in Warren County is two times higher than the state average. The increased number of children has far outpaced the number of foster parents. This forces the Department of Social Services to ship these children to Therapeutic Foster Care homes all over the state at nearly quadruple the cost (NVD). Having local children spread across the state creates multiple problems. It adds to an already traumatic experience for the child, removing them from their home, school, teams, friends and families. The added distance between children and their parents/caretakers also hinders the likelihood of reunification. It adds more burden on an already overburdened system with social workers having to follow up on and keep tabs on the welfare of these children who are spread across the state.
WE HAVE A LOCAL FOSTER CARE CRISIS
SOLUTIONS: Our Plan
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Create a task force with department and community leaders to help solve the problem.
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Join the Clarke, Frederick, and Winchester DSS Foster Care Training and Recruitment Program
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Collaboratively increasing awareness of the crisis through joint marketing
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Increase local foster care training opportunities
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Provide incentives for new foster family hosts
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Provide additional support and resources for foster children to help ease the burden on foster family hosts
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Provide mental health services to help heal the trauma endured by foster children which will increase fostering success rates.
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Create detailed assessment and plan of action for families that DSS has set the goal at reunification. Provide support and resources to expedite reunification based on that plan.
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Educate, provide support and resources to families who are on the verge of losing their children to foster care.
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Help find and provide transitional and permanent housing to those who are in need with children
Desired Outcomes
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Establish an ongoing taskforce to stay on top of foster care crisis
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Increase the number of foster parents keeping the children local
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Provide additional support and resources for foster children and parents
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Lower the number of foster children in Warren County
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Prevent children from entering the foster care system