Why Not Become a Foster Parent?

The worst thought in a child's mind is not belonging anywhere. Foster care was an early 20th century solution to forgotten children in orphan institutions, and it has since become the primary vehicle for caring for children in need. Although it is not a perfect system, a family is still the best environment for a child.

Here in Florida, the need for foster parents is constant. The Florida Department of Children and Families hopes to recruit more than 1,200 foster parents this year to meet the needs of children in the system.

“Our need is to recruit foster homes for teens, infants, sibling groups, and of course we're always looking for homes for our adoptive children who are ten and older who are sometimes harder to adopt," Andrea Mertyris of the Safe Children Coalition told ABC News 7 in June.

MySuncoast.com ran an article in June highlighting the need for foster and adoptive parents in Florida.

Officials with the Department of Children and Families say finding foster parents isn't an easy task. It takes a very special person with a true calling to open their home to a child in need, but they say by raising awareness about fostering, maybe more people will realize they have what it takes.

Although hundreds of foster parents are recruited each year, DCF says that there are always more children in need than these homes can accomodate. Foster homes sometimes try to take in more children with a special waiver from the state, but that means we end up with a problem with few foster homes shouldering the burden of many children. The only thing that will solve this problem is more foster homes.

Why not become a foster parent?