TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — In Hillsborough County alone, 1,300 children were in the foster care system last month.
Larry Cooper, Children's Home Network's Chief of Prevention and Intervention Services, said there's still a need for foster families.
"There's always a need. I think we probably have, I would imagine, close to 300 plus licensed homes," Cooper said.
That need is even more apparent as we enter Hurricane Season.
"As we've seen the last few years, it can be kind of, you know, a real challenge for us to make sure we have access to enough families that are either going through training or, you know, can be available in a crisis or an emergency. And so certainly during those bigger crises, families are relocating and evacuating to other areas," he added.
Sandy Murman knows firsthand how hard it is for foster families in the midst of a natural disaster. She remembers when multiple hurricanes hit in 2004.
"I was in the legislature there. And then we basically had to go out in teams and check on every single foster parent home to see if they're okay because there was no way to communicate with them," she said.
That's when she saw just how important it is to have other homes on standby.
"Certainly, during those bigger crises, families are relocating and evacuating to other areas, and there's always a need to make sure that there are even some families that can provide some respite. So even some short-term assistance, so that other foster families having to navigate if they live close to the water in our low-lying areas in the Tampa Bay area, which can be a lot and having to move out of area on a short term notice, how do we have some families who kind of ready to step up and provide that support," Cooper explained.
Cooper said studies show it takes a potential foster family a year to make the decision to attend an orientation or training.
Children's Home Network provides both. Right now, the greatest need is for people willing to take in children 10 and older. They're also looking for people with therapy training willing to take on children dealing with trauma.
"We know it's been a big disruption when a crisis has happened, and how do we get kids back to their family. So sometimes somebody might be fostering for a short period of time because these things happen in a crisis. So it might happen on a Saturday night or Sunday night, there's been domestic violence, or there's been an arrest, or there's been some kind of abuse that's been reported. So it's having families ready in an emergency to like, step in tomorrow, or tonight and have them available," said Cooper.
CHN offers Specialized Therapeutic Foster Training. Any parent who goes through the training is automatically linked with a psychiatrist and therapist through CHN to help them provide care for the child.
"Our biggest goal for kids is to get that initial support that they need, and then get how do we get them back to a family member or a relative that can really, you know, reduce that trauma and be with somebody that they know when trust when these kinds of things happen?" Cooper said.
Trainings are offered at night and weekends for prospective parents. There's also a one-hour-long Zoom information session every third Wednesday of the month.
