Ready to make a real difference in the lives of America’s future leaders?
Local children need the community’s help, and that’s why Fannin County’s Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) has stressed the need for local foster parents.
Fannin’s DFCS currently has 38 children in custody with 22 of them being housed outside the county.
Additionally, there are nine foster homes in the county.
“One of the thoughts too of trying to get local foster parents is so that they don’t have to be placed outside of the county,” Fannin DFCS Board of Directors Chairman James Jones said. “They’re already being removed from what they know, being moved then to another family hopefully within the county that they really might not know who those people are, but if they’re moved plum out of the county, you know, then they’ve got a whole new county to deal with, a whole new family to deal with, a whole new school to deal with.”
Renee Bell, president of the Foster Parents Association, explained that if a child is in the county, often times, the child’s current school will allow them to continue there even if they’re outside the jurisdiction.
“The transportation people will come and get them,” Bell said. “I’ve had them to go to Blue Ridge, and I’ve had them to bring the bus straight to the house, get them and bring them back.”
Fannin DFCS Director Mark Knowles added that keeping a child in one school can be detrimental for academic success as the more they’re moved, the further behind they tend to fall.
Having local foster parents also enables a child’s biological family to visit with them, Knowles said.
The journey to becoming a foster parent is no easy feat, Bell said, but it’s worth it in the long run.
Bell has opened her home to many local children from ages zero all the way to 22.
“Your love is necessary,” Bell said of what it takes to be a foster parent. “Most of them don’t even know what it is.”
Adding to that thought, Jones said, “It is a lot of training. Getting folks that have had a different sort of ... all families are different, then you’ve got to be able to fit them into your family, and just create that new dynamic. It does take a lot of love, lot of patience.”
Bell added that a child doesn’t always transition well with a new family for a variety of reasons.
Touching on Bell’s having kept children until the age of 22, Knowles said, “That’s something that I think people don’t know in the community. They think kids come into custody, then they go home at 18 or do whatever they want to after 18, but we have a lot of children that stay in care, decide to remain in care, and then get their schooling paid for by the state, and that could be vocational school or regular college.”
Bell agreed saying she’s had children attend both Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia, and Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia.
Knowles explained that foster parents are not given children and left to their own devices, rather the state offers many resources to help both the children and their new families adjust to their new home and maintain a healthy life.
The resources Knowles mentioned, on top of college tuition assistance, include trauma assessment, which helps determine what services are needed, psychological treatment, behavioral aid, parent aid services, substance abuse counseling and more.
“Ultimately, whatever’s needed, we provide,” Knowles said. “We are basically the parent to these kids, and we have to met their needs as we would our own kids.”
To become a foster parent an information session, home study, IMPACT training and background check are required.
Parents must be 21 years or older and undergo a two hour orientation, medical exam and fingerprinting.
Additional steps are also required.
Interested in sharing a home and some love?
Call Knowles at 706-632-1174 or visit fostergeorgia.com.
Please keep in mind that Fannin’s DFCS Office is still currently closed to the public.