Billboards Promote Need for Foster Families

September 30, 2019

 

Billboards are up around Richland County promoting the need for foster families.

The billboards are part of a recruitment campaign for foster families. Richland County has      a critical need for more foster homes, especially for teenagers.

“Richland County Children Services has a need for foster parents and we wanted to get the message out to our county. Our agency has seen an increase in the number of children placed in foster care due to the opioid epidemic with no increase in homes available to care for our children,” said Tim Harless, Director of Community Outreach and Programming. “The need is especially great for homes willing to foster teens. “

Ohio has nearly 16,000 children in the custody of county children’s services agencies. The number of kids in foster care has soared 28 percent in the last five years, in nearly all cases because of the opioid crisis. 

The state has a new foster care and adoption website that gives Ohioans information on requirements and responsibilities for would-be foster parents. 

RCCS has implemented the software program, Binti, for recruiting. The website helps potential families learn about foster care and adoption. The process can be completed online anywhere on any device. The goal of Binti is to increase the number of licensed foster homes in Richland County.

For more information about becoming a foster parent contact Amy Shenberger, Foster and Adoptive Licensing, at 419-774-4124.

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