NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Although New Hanover County ranks sixth in the state for families and parents caring for children in need of foster care, the number of available homes still has not returned to pre-pandemic numbers.
Prior to the pandemic, the county had 115 licensed foster homes. By July 2023, it decreased 33%, with 77 licensed foster families available to take in children. Today, the county has less than 70.
New Hanover County spokesperson Alex Riley told Port City Daily the county “held steady at around 70 families” over the past year.
But more homes are needed still to help the 250 children currently in foster care. The amount of children in need fluctuates but has not increased for roughly two years, due partly to the county’s efforts to keep families together by placing foster children with other relatives. The county strives for children to exit foster care within 12 months.
Families who participate in foster care must first be certified and take a 30-hour pre-service trauma-informed training course, as well as 10 hours of in-service training each year following their initial license.
The trauma-informed class is offered four times per year and runs for five weeks. The total licensing process, including background checks, a home safety inspection, medical clearances and a foster home licensing application submitted to the state, can take between three and five months to complete.
“We were kind of on hold [in] how we could teach that trauma-informed class, so that stopped the pipeline of new foster parents coming in,” said Jennifer Warren, a licensing and placement social worker at New Hanover County Health and Human Services. “I think we’re seeing the effects of that now.”
During the pandemic, Warren associated decreases to limited availability of the trauma information class, which teaches potential parents about how to handle foster child behaviors in response to trauma, and what to expect having a foster child in their home.
While the 30-hour class was offered only through in-person sessions prior to the pandemic, it is now available only virtually. It still follows a five-week schedule, but allows families to get their licenses in a more convenient way.
Warren said that changing family circumstances or continuing economic impacts of the pandemic, such as rising costs of everyday needs due to inflation, could be contributing to the loss of foster parents across the state.
Foster-care funding is a combination of federal, state and county contributions, though each case may require different needs. For example, foster children may also be placed with other family members, though they receive half of the stipend that non-related families are provided.
Last year, lawmakers boosted the monthly stipends statewide for foster families by more than 15%. New Hanover County provides stipends to families above the state board rate, the minimum that counties must provide foster families.
- Children 0-5: kinship rate is $351, state rate is $702, NHC rate is $762
- Children 6-12: kinship rate is $371, state rate is $742, NHC rate is $827
- Children 13 and above: kinship rate is $405, state rate is $810, NHC rate is $1,000
Leigh Thomas, who has been a foster parent for almost three years, said while less children require care, the limited availability of homes means children are placed farther away from their communities and support systems. Children are only placed in surrounding counties if there are no relative providers available and if there are no foster homes that meet the needs of the child.
“It makes it even harder for them to maintain those relationships with their friends and their family in the school or anything,” Thomas said. “That is really, really hard.”
She learned an important exercise taught in the trauma-informed class that requires the foster parent to write down various sources of support on sticky notes and individually take them away. This symbolically represents turbulent changes a foster child may experience and helped Thomas better understand the strain of being placed far away from one’s community.
Over the past three years, Thomas has taken care of four children. She prefers to foster teenagers, and enjoys walking through life milestones with them such as applying for colleges, going to prom and figuring out their next life steps. Thomas focuses on teaching real life skills — budgeting, opening checking accounts and finding jobs.
“Teenagers in particular, there’s a really high need for homes,” Thomas said.
Lee Rochelle, board chair of the Foster Pantry, a nonprofit which provides support and resources for foster children and families, said she has observed many foster families who only participate for one year.
“I think there’s some people [that] think they want to be foster parents, and then realize what the commitment really looks like or realize that they don’t have the support system,” Rochelle said.
In New Hanover County, 55% of DSS families have been licensed for more than two years, with some in good standing for 10 to 15 years.
Rochelle added foster families may be afraid to ask for help, and some may consider seeking support as “taboo.” As for Thomas, she said her support system has helped continue to provide a safe and stable home that every child deserves.
“It has helped me really better connect with the community and I feel like I’m actually making a measurable difference,” she said, “Not just in the lives of these kids, but also just in the community at large.”
Throughout May — Foster Care Awareness Month — the county is offering various outreach events to inform interested parties about the certification process of becoming a foster parent. They include certified information sessions held May 18, 10 a.m. to noon, at Cape Fear Museum Park (814 Market St.) and on May 22, 4 to 7 p.m. at Health and Human Services (1650 Greenfield Street).
The Foster Pantry also is offering a foster parents’ support group and will host events throughout Foster Care Awareness Month. See the schedule here.
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