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November 26, 2006
Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services launches recruiting campaign
Children are near and dear to Dianne and I, we've both spent many years working with children. From Space Camp and Upward Bound, to mentoring and teaching students in the classroom, to the good old baby sitting jobs we had as teenagers, we've spent most of our lives around children taking care and educating them. I personally get a big kick out of people that are baffled by how easily we handle kids. After a few decades of experience it sort of becomes second nature to you. Dianne's better at it than I am, but given that most men have never been alone in the same room with a child in their entire lives, I sort of get to shine anyway in comparison.
Which brings me to the problem here in Anne Arundel County. We've got a severe lack of foster parents in the County. Nearly two thirds of our foster kids are having to be placed outside the County because of the lack of foster parents. This is definitely a matter of great concern, because you want to keep kids a close to possible to their native environment to make transitions easier for them. Uprooting them completely puts a lot of the possible progress that they could be making in danger. If you can make room in your home and hearts for a kid that has suffered a bad break, you should definitely consider getting involved. If you don't have the time or the resources to take care of a child in your own home, there are many other ways you can help out the program. Here's the list they provide for Anne Arundel County.
* Become a respite parent for a foster child * Mentor a child in foster care * Hire a foster child to work for you and/or your company * Have your business or civic groups sponsor a special event or activity for foster/adoptive families * Donate goods and services for children in foster care, such as computers, or school supplies * Call our Volunteer Office at 410-269-4461 or 301-261-1756 ext. 4461 to get more information about being a mentor
The article also had an interesting discussion of how they are expanding their website to provide online support to foster parents and children in foster care. I had always assumed something like this already existed, because it's such an important tool for parents to work together to get over the tough spots with kids. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes on a problem will yield impressive results. So if you are already a foster parent in Anne Arundel County thanks for your hard work and now you will have another resource at your disposal.
Read more over at Baltimore Sun and Anne Arundel Foster Care.
Posted by Jamison at November 26, 2006 7:34 AM
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