There are more than 500,000 American children in foster care because their own families are unable to provide the care and nurture they need.

With that need comes another need, and that is the one for more people to serve as foster care families for those children requiring a safe and stable environment in which to live until they can either safely reunite with their parents, or establish other life-long family relationships.

May is National Foster Care Month. Nationwide, foster parent organizations, child welfare advocates and private and public officials will sponsor and hold special events to highlight the need for more resources and support for foster care.

While thousands are already serving as foster parents, relative caregivers, mentors, advocates, social workers and volunteers, officials at the Orangeburg County Department of Social Services say more help is needed.

"The need is very high. In a given day, maybe in a week, we have five kids come in. We may have two kids come in. But, if we don't have the homes to place them in, it becomes an issue," said Teresa Williams, a foster care licensing worker at the Orangeburg County DSS.

Williams said it has become particularly hard to find foster care families for teenagers and sibling groups.

Loressa Jenkins, a foster care licensing recruiter, said there has been a big push to try to recruit more white homes for foster care parenting. There were 82 foster care homes in Orangeburg County as of February 2007, only 10 of which were white. The rest were African-American homes.

"Most applicants want more of the smaller children. So far, we've sent out letters to churches to Orangeburg County and local businesses to try to recruit," Jenkins said.

Jenkins said a foster parent appreciation event is coming up as part of the Orangeburg County DSS's activities during National Foster Care Month.

While radio announcements have also been made, Williams said having existing foster parents get the message out through word-of-mouth has been the most successful recruitment method.

"We place special cases in group homes, children who have issues and behavior problems. We have homes available where we do place them; there's been no issue where they're put in a group home simply because we've had no place to put them," she said.

Williams said while teenagers are harder to place in homes, there are some foster homes that won't accept younger children. She said they've been very good at filling the void.

"We try to make arrangements to just place them in those homes. A lot of times, they do that for us temporarily. The homes that we have have been very good at taking care of our teenagers," she said.

While Jenkins said drug abuse among parents or a parent is the top reason why the county's children have landed in foster care in the first place, Williams said a child's frequent absence from school has been another cause which has resulted in many foster care placements.

"We're not as big as Lexington and Greenville, but we do have just as many homes. We have requests from those counties for slots as far as the homes are concerned. We work with Calhoun County as far as interchanging homes. They use our homes a lot," Williams said.

What support do foster parents get?

They receive a monthly board payment to help offset care costs; a quarterly allowance for the children's clothing expenses; an allowance for non-routine school expenses; summer camps for children; monthly visits from an agency caseworker, and training to meet licensing requirements.

"A stipend is paid, but they need to be able to support the child without that ... and just have a genuine love and care for the children. They're going to come with issues, and you need patience and understanding to handle all issues," Williams said. "They're not little perfect children. It's going to challenge you a little bit. It's not going to be as simple as saying, 'I want to take care of a child.'"

Williams said the Orangeburg County DSS is very appreciative of families who have taken on the responsibility to care for foster children.

"It does mean a lot. You have your good homes and not-so-good homes, but you have parents you can call at anytime regardless of the issues. You really want those homes that are coming with that understanding ... and try to work with these children regardless of the baggage that is coming with them," she said.

Williams continued, "Sometimes it's a discomfort to them, but they still do it. They take on more children sometimes. Some homes just change a child's thinking and heart about their situation and give hope. A child can get a feeling that they can do something and excel ... ."

The Orangeburg County DSS building is located at 2576 St. Matthews Road in Orangeburg. Anyone interested in becoming a foster parent can call Williams at 803-515-1831, Jenkins at 803-515-1780 or Rosa Verner at 803-515-1829.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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