Children's Home Society Celebrates National Foster Care Month

GREENSBORO, N.C., April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Each May Children's Home Society of NC (CHS) recognizes National Foster Care Month. This month salutes the irreplaceable value that foster parents, child welfare professionals, and volunteers have for the nearly 428,000 children and youth who live in the foster care system on any given day in our country.

Today there are almost 12,000 children in foster care in North Carolina.  Sadly, these children must leave their homes due to crisis situations, and they look to loving adults in our communities for the things their own families are unable to provide.

With the COVID-19/coronavirus situation, families are experiencing more overwhelming stress, so the need is even greater for foster families to give these children a chance to transition to a permanent family, whether it be through reunification, guardianship with relatives or fictive kin, or adoption.

For children who are going through an unsettling transition, foster families:

• provide a safe and comfortable family environment.
• provide physical and emotional needs as they would for their own child.
• ensure that the child attends school and express appreciation for their accomplishments.
• provide recreational and enriching activities.
• provide appropriate clothing.
• attend to medical and dental needs.
• guide through the grieving and adjustment process that accompanies the transition.
• help maintain a realistic relationship with their families through visitation and active consideration of the child's feelings.
• assist in preparing the child to return home or to be moved to a permanent adoptive home.

However, these champions often go unnoticed. National Foster Care Month provides the occasion to raise awareness of foster care and to present opportunities for people in our communities to be informed, provide support, and consider becoming a foster parent.

Because our mission is founded on ensuring a permanent, safe, and loving family for every child, those considering providing foster care can rest assured that Children's Home Society is prepared to walk alongside foster families every step of the way.

For more information on Children's Home Society, becoming a foster or adoptive parent, volunteering, or providing financial support, please call 1-800-632-1400 or visit www.chsnc.org.

Last year Children's Home Society served more than 24,000 North Carolina children and families in its mission to promote the right of every child to a permanent, safe, and loving family. This included providing a safe haven for more than 1,000 children with foster care families, giving 214 children a permanent family to call their own through adoption, and providing educational services to more than 17,000 teens, parents, and professionals.

About Children's Home Society of North Carolina
Children's Home Society offers a network of services and support throughout North Carolina to help establish and sustain healthy, loving relationships in every family. For 118 years, Children's Home Society has provided a broad spectrum of programs and services including adoption, foster care, parenting education, family preservation, and teen pregnancy prevention. Children's Home Society believes in the importance of family, not only in the life of a child but also in the foundation of a community. For more information, visit www.chsnc.org.

SOURCE Children's Home Society of NC