Month in Review: March 2024
Last month, we received 116 referrals for foster care from our six contracted counties (Berks, Bucks, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Northampton). We were able to place 4 of these children, all of whom only stayed for a short while. The nature of foster care is unpredictable, but one of the unique privileges of foster parents is the ability to provide a safe and loving place for children to land, even if it’s only for a few days!
Here is a further breakdown of the stats:
Sibling Groups:
- 49 single children
- 10 siblings groups of 2
- 6 sibling groups of 3
- 2 sibling groups of 4
- 5 sibling groups of 2
- 1 group of parent/child (teens in foster care needing placement with their babies)
Age Breakdown:
- 0-2: 14 children
- 3-5: 15 children
- 6-8: 13 children
- 9-11: 21 children
- 12-14: 24 children
- 15-17: 23 children
- 18+: 4 children
Current Needs:
Our region is currently experiencing a critical shortage of foster homes. We are receiving phone calls from across the state for children of all ages with varying levels of need. These agencies have exhausted all local possibilities and are expanding their search for homes outside of their local area. If children are placed far away from home, this creates many challenges as well as barriers to reunification. It makes visitation with their birth families very difficult, if not impossible, and is very scary for children as they have to be removed not only from their homes and parents, but from their communities and schools as well.
Therefore, this month we are highlighting the need for homes in all different communities. In particular, some of the specific communities we have noticed a concentrated need for foster homes include:
- Allentown (especially within the Allentown School District)
- Pottstown and surrounding areas
- Norristown and surrounding areas
- Lower Bucks County
- Reading
- Bethlehem
- Easton
If you live in one of these communities, you are especially needed – but we truly need families from every community within our service area of one hour from our Allentown, PA office. Can you help to keep children experiencing foster care within their community? Learn more here.
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