National Foster Care Month has been recognized since 1988 and serves as a time to thank all foster parents for opening their hearts and their homes to provide temporary care to children when they cannot be with family.

We are taking this time to encourage adults in our community to consider becoming foster parents especially for teens.

Teens make up about one half of the children in foster care. Teens are like any other children in need of a safe home who does not have a relative to take them in. They still need love, support and someone to care for them. There are many rewards to foster a teen.

Nationally, only 58 percent of teens in the foster care system live with families compared to 95 percent of children 12 and under, according to a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

In Ohio, 40 percent of teens in foster care were placed in group homes in 2017, an increase of 10 percent since 2007. The 2017 statistic is higher than the national average of 34 percent, according to the report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

When Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine took office more than three years ago, he committed to increasing funding to recruit foster homes and supporting kin providers. A year later, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The pandemic came on the heels of the opioid epidemic which peaked in 2016 but still continues to be a major factor in child welfare cases. Children, including teens, enter foster care with more complex needs and are staying longer, according to the Ohio Children’s Defense Fund.

In 2020. there were 3,104 children in Ohio waiting to be adopted. Of that number, 1,007 aged out of care in Ohio, according to the Public Children Services Organization of Ohio.

Anyone interested in becoming a foster parent can call our agency at 419-227-8590.