Lighting a fire: Group looking for unified solution to foster home crisis

The numbers are discouraging, to say the least: 197 Burke County children in foster care; only 19 DSS licensed homes.

Those who work in child foster services in Burke are confronted with that depressing stat every day. These kids need help, and local agencies are banding together with the faith community in an effort to provide it.

Guardian ad Litem, the Burke County Department of Social Services, Big House Family Ministry, and Fostering Hope are hosting a public meeting dubbed “Sound of Hope: Our Story of Burke County” this Sunday at 6 p.m. at Mount Home Baptist Church (2272 Mt. Home Church Road, Morganton).

Although Mount Home is hosting the event, the group encourages other churches to attend. They see a concerted effort from local churches as a key to finding solutions to the crisis.

The meeting will feature a panel of representatives from local agencies who will provide information and answer questions. Afterward, there will be refreshments in the fellowship hall, and the various organizations will have tables set up to provide even more info.

“What we hope will happen is they’ll see that there is this need and be led to help,” said Kristi Marshall of Juvenile Justice. “There are plenty of programs like Guardian ad Litem, Big House Ministries, and Fostering Hope, and we’re hoping people will get involved somehow to help with the situation. We’d love to have more foster homes so kids can stay in their school, because every time they switch schools, they regress.”

Amy Kincaid, district supervisor for Guardian ad Litem, said children are routinely forced to spend the night at Burke DSS because there’s nowhere else for them to go. Others must leave the county in order to find a foster home or are placed in the homes of approved relatives and group homes.

 “Without foster homes, sometimes the children are at risk of sleeping at DSS. There is a designated office there with a couple of futons and cots, but it’s not an ideal place for a child to be sleeping,” Kincaid said.

Will Winters, program manager for Burke DSS, said surveys have revealed the same thing is happening in at least 23 counties every night across the state.

The idea for the collaboration came from a documentary called “Sound of Hope, the Story of Possum Trot,” about a small community in Texas that solved its foster care shortage by enlisting the aid of local churches.

The group wants to accomplish the same thing here.

“When you think about what The Bible says — 'what you do for the least you do for me,' — that should hopefully resonate within the churches in our community,” said Melinda Norman, Guardian ad Litem supervisor. “We hope that will spark them to live out what they believe.”

Mount Home Pastor Ethan Cromer and his family have fostered three children in the past, and he said he hopes churches will be inspired to help.

“My heart is heavy for this because the church has given a lot of God-given responsibilities outside the church,” Cromer said. “I believe the Lord gave the church the responsibility to care for orphans and widows. We haven’t done the best job of that. My prayer is that our people would get a fire under them and do what the Lord commanded them to do, which is care for people who can’t help themselves.” 

The group also wants to communicate the fact there are multiple ways folks can help without actually fostering full-time. 

Crystal Buchanan, who directs Foster Licensing and Recruitment for Burke DSS, said there’s often a two-year delay between the time a family decides it wants to foster a child and when it actually takes in a foster. 

In the meantime, though, there are other avenues by which folks can assist children in need.

Big House and Fostering Hope both conduct a “wrap-around” ministry with foster homes, performing tasks like bringing food, cutting the grass, and supplying car seats for foster families.

Winters said the DSS Respite program is another option. Volunteers take in kids for short periods of time like a weekend, giving foster family members a chance to take a break.

“You can get involved in many different ways, and I think that’s a great entry point,” Winters said.

Marshall said spreading the word about the ways in which people can help is the goal of Sunday’s meeting.

“Our hope is to convey to them that regardless of your age or your financial situation, there is something that everybody can do,” Marshall said. “I think a lot of people think if they can’t foster, then there’s nothing they can do.”

Buchanan agreed.

“Awareness is key,” she said, “planting the seed.”