Emerson Family Center and MDCPS bring to light issues children face
With April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and May as Foster Care Awareness Month, the two successive months highlight harrowing issues in the state of Mississippi.
In Mississippi just three years ago (the last time data was collected), there were 10,002 victims of child maltreatment as reported by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, and as of September 30, 2018 there were 4,703 children in foster care and only 431 children were adopted in 2018.
Currently in 2021, there are 3,700 in foster care. A majority of the children in foster care are placed there due to maltreatment including neglect.
While this month the Emerson Family Center is raising awareness about child abuse by doing things like a pinwheel ceremony at the beginning of the month, a trike-a-thon today at Sudduth Elementary from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., informational sessions every Thursday, and reaching out to spiri
tual leaders for the end of the month, the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services has a program that is important, especially in May, called Rescue 100.
Rescue 100 started in Gulfport in 2016 by Tony Karnes, the pastor of Michael Memorial Baptist Church. The purpose of Rescue 100 is to help get reliable and trustworthy foster parents and support them throughout the state. The MDCPS works with churches and other faith-based organization of all denominations to help recruit, train and license families to be foster parents.
There are about 7500 churches in the state, and if one family from each church became licensed foster parents, it would help the children currently waiting for adoption tremendously.
To become a foster parent, you must be a legal Mississippi resident 21 years or older, legally married or legally single and other unrelated adults cannot live within the home, have no more than four children in the home, must pass a criminal background check, be financially stable, and can emotionally and physically support having children in the home.
The MDCPS really encourages anyone who fits to apply and stresses how
important foster care is. Children who have to be taken from their homes and cannot live with a relative are in desperate need of someone to care for them and give them the life they deserve.
It is a sad reality, but it is one Emerson Family Center and the Mississippi Department of Child Services are not turning a blind eye to and one they are actively seeking to help relieve. Join the Emerson Family Center for their activities this month, and reach out to rescue100@mdcps.ms.gov if you are interested in becoming a foster parent. From there you will attend a Zoom orientation, which is the first step to being able to make a difference in a child’s life.