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Gaston uses free 'Instant Family' tickets to recruit foster parents

Gaston Gazette - 11/16/2018

Nov. 15--Gaston County needs more foster families. Social workers here are hoping free tickets to a Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne-led comedy this Saturday can help draw out some prospective parents.

At 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, the county Department of Health and Human Services will hold a free screening of "Instant Family" at Regal Franklin Square Cinemas 14. Folks who attend also get free popcorn and drinks for the film, which focuses on two parents who adopt three children through a foster program. Foster-care staff will be on hand to answer questions, as will adult teenagers who've gone through the program here.

As of mid-November, there were 355 youth in county care with only 39 foster homes available, said Tiyania Shands, foster program coordinator for Health and Human Services.

"We want people to come out to our event," Shands said. "We really need foster parents. It's a definite need in our community."

Part of the reason there's a shortage in homes is actually because so many people who offer homes choose to adopt.

"We've had a lot more adoptions of children in care, and typically the homes that are fostering the children will adopt those children," said Julie Murphy, a licensing supervisor with Health and Human Services. "We've had a significant number of foster homes close because they've reached the capacity of how many children they can have in their homes through adoption."

Shands attributes much of the increase in children needing foster care to drug addiction in family members.

The county tries to place children in homes that cause the least amount of stress as possible -- for example, trying not to take them too far away from their biological parents or school. But right now, because of low local foster-home inventory, some children have to be placed outside of the county -- some even as far away as the coast.

"They're already going through some type of trauma," Murphy said. "Any time a child is removed from their base or stability or what they know, it's traumatic for them. They're going into a home where they don't know the people, and that's difficult."

The county provides free training for foster parents, but the training process can take four to six months, depending on applicants' pace. Applicants need to pass a criminal background check and go through assessments to make sure they're capable of providing adequate care.

The county already purchased tickets. To obtain one or learn more about fostering in Gaston County, call Julie Murphy at 704-862-6750 or email julie.murphy@gastongov.com.

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(c)2018 Gaston Gazette, Gastonia, N.C.

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