During National Foster Care Month Children's Home Society Builds Awareness Of Critical Need for Foster Parents

GREENSBORO, N.C., April 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Each May, Children's Home Society of NC (CHS) celebrates National Foster Care Month as an opportunity to create awareness of issues affecting foster care. This year, CHS is concentrating its efforts toward building awareness of the dire need for foster families by launching a multi-media campaign including a newly developed television commercial.

Today there are over 12,000 children in foster care in North Carolina. Sadly, these children must leave their homes due to difficult family situations, and they look to loving adults in our communities for the things their own families are unable to provide at the time. With a 23 percent decline in foster homes from 2021 to 2022, the need is great for foster families to support these children during the transition, while they await reunification, guardianship with relatives, or adoption.

The CHS marketing effort is designed to help the public understand the jarring number of children across the state who need transitional care and to give insight into the rewards of fostering, not only for the child, but for the foster parents. Mass media will include statewide billboards, print ads, and the commercial which will be airing on television and streaming platforms.

"Input from current CHS foster families strongly influenced our messaging around the theme that being a foster parent won't always be easy, but it's worth it, and inviting viewers to imagine the difference they can make by opening their hearts and homes to a child who needs them," said Shannon Enoch, CHS Executive Director of Programs.

For children who are going through an extremely unsettling transition, foster families:

• provide a safe and comfortable family environment.
• provide physical and emotional needs as they would for their own child.
• ensure that the child attends school and express appreciation for their accomplishments.
• provide recreational and enriching activities.
• provide appropriate clothing.
• attend to medical and dental needs.
• guide through the grieving and adjustment process that accompanies the transition.
• help maintain a realistic relationship with their families through visitation and active consideration of the child's feelings.
• assist in preparing the child to return to family or to be moved to a permanent adoptive home.

Because Children's Home Society's mission is founded in ensuring a permanent, safe, and loving family for every child, those considering providing foster care can be assured that CHS walks alongside our foster families every step of the way.

CHS joins in the national effort annually to recognize foster parents, family members, volunteers, mentors, policymakers, child welfare professionals, and other members of the community who help children and youth in foster care find permanent homes and connections. We use this time to renew our commitment to ensuring a bright future for the more than 391,000 children and youth in foster care nationally and celebrate those who make a meaningful difference in their lives.

For more information on Children's Home Society, becoming a foster or adoptive parent, volunteering, or providing financial support, please call 800-632-1400 or visit www.chsnc.org.

Children's Home Society is dedicated to providing top-quality, evidence-based programs and services to children and families throughout North Carolina. Our education and child welfare staff provided services to more than 20,000 individuals last year, educating and preserving families, supporting children and families through transitions, and creating new families.

About Children's Home Society of North Carolina

Children's Home Society offers a network of services and support throughout North Carolina to help establish and sustain healthy, loving relationships in every family. For 120 years, Children's Home Society has provided a broad spectrum of programs and services including adoption, foster care, parenting education, family preservation, and teen responsibility. Children's Home Society believes in the importance of family, not only in the life of a child but also in the foundation of a community. For more information, visit www.chsnc.org.

SOURCE Children’s Home Society of North Carolina

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