Facing an urgent need to recruit more foster parents to provide safe and loving homes for children and youth, the Vermont Dept. for Children and Families (DCF) is expanding its recruitment efforts by partnering with the Pride Center of Vermont and RaiseAChild, the nationwide leader in the recruitment and support of LGBTQ+ and all prospective parents interested in building safe and loving families for children and youth in foster care.
“To support placement stability and overall wellbeing, recruitment, retention, and support of more foster families will help ensure that children and youth who experience abuse, neglect, or abandonment can remain in, or near, their own communities and schools,” stated Aryka Radke, deputy commissioner of DCF, Tuesday, May 31.
Currently, in Vermont, there are 1,077 children and youth in the state’s custody. The best-case scenario if a child cannot remain safely within their home is to be placed with kinship or close connections. If that is not possible, DCF works hard to match a foster family to a child.
Foster parents can be single adults, straight or LGBTQ+ couples, children’s relatives, family friends and other approved caregivers. For more info visit RaiseAChild.org.