A boost for foster care
Oklahoma's foster care system has presented the state with major challenges for generations, driven primarily by the volume of children who need the state's services. According to the Department of Human Services, the number of children in state custody stands at roughly 8,000 today.
That's an improvement over four years ago, when the total was about 11,000. However, according to the website ChildTrends.org, 5.8 of every 1,000 U.S. children were in foster care in 2017 but in Oklahoma, the figure was 9.7 per 1,000, the seventh-highest rate in the nation.
As DHS strives to reduce the number of children in foster care, it also looks constantly for more people who may be willing to serve as foster parents. A local church is making it a priority to help in that area.
The Oklahoman's Carla Hinton wrote recently about Edmond-based Life.Church, which began a major foster care initiative in 2016 and last weekend began a new
initiative aimed at raising awareness about the need for more foster care families.
The church is working along with DHS, Oklahoma Fosters, Project 111 and other agencies.
Jon Mays, the church's director of local mission partnerships, says the chief goal is to partner with organizations that offer preventative services, to support at-risk families. The church also is urging its members to consider opening their homes to foster children.
“We believe local churches can and should make a difference in our communities …” Mays said. He is right about that — the state cannot, on its own, tackle such a monumental problem as foster care. Doing so requires the help of Oklahomans from border to border.
Life.Church has made a difference. In 2016, it helped launch an interactive system that helps DHS staffers inform churches about the needs of foster families and families trying to reunify with their children. The church also distributed information to its members explaining how to support the foster care system.
Deb Shropshire, director of child welfare services for DHS, said the agency subsequently saw a noticeable increase in families signing up to foster. “They are really trying to build on what they started in 2016,” she said.
Hinton highlighted a couple who became foster parents to an 8-month-old boy after learning about foster care through the church three years ago. For many, younger children come immediately to mind if the issue of foster care is broached, but older children need homes, too — Shropshire says about 80 children sleep in Oklahoma shelters on any given day, and at least 90% of them are 13 and older.
We offer kudos and thanks to Life.Church, and to all the churches and organizations in Oklahoma that are engaged in this important work. Anyone interested in becoming a foster parent or adopting can contact DHS at (800) 376-9729 or visit https://okfosters.org/.