La Plata County commissioners proclaimed May as Foster Care Month, in line with the national designation.
It is meant to bring awareness to the more than 365,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, honor foster parents, family members and professionals who provide stability while highlighting the need for increased support.
La Plata County has a shortage of foster parents, said Charmaine Summers, foster care and adoption supervisor with La Plata County Foster Care and Adoption Services, during the commissioner’s meeting.
“We are always in desperate need of foster families,” she said.
Become a foster parent
Those interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent can call La Plata County Department of Human Services at 382-6150 or visit tinyurl.com/yck7y975.
Currently, La Plata County has 10 foster families, not enough to meet the demand. The foster program also includes San Juan County. Having more families would help prevent long-distance travel to move children around.
Foster care serves an incredibly valuable service, Summers said.
Rebecca Crouch, a longtime foster mother, spoke before commissioners while holding two young children on her lap.
“From my perspective, the need that I’ve seen here in La Plata County is, for whatever reason, children find themselves in a family where there’s a crisis, and they need a safe place to go, and human services is just the most amazing resource we have to provide that,” Crouch said.
The counties foster care and adoption staff members are fantastic – a far cry above those she encountered in other counties, she said.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
