We need the citizens of Baltimore County to help me help our children by becoming foster/adoptive parents. Increasing number of children in Baltimore County are not safe in their own homes. They depend on other families - foster families - to keep them safe from the violence of abuse and the harmful effects of neglect.
Over 1,100 children a year need this kind of protection in foster homes. Today there are 750 Baltimore County children in foster care. About half of the children are in institutional settings or group homes. However some of the children currently in group homes - pre-teens or teens - are there only because there is no foster home available for them. The teens will tell you themselves that they desperately want to live with a real family.
There are only 160 foster homes for Baltimore County children. These families care for about 400 children. More are needed so that the needs of each child or sibling group can be met. We make every effort to keep brothers and sisters together. We want to match cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Each year we lose foster families because they adopt the children they had been fostering or retire after years of service to our children. We need more.
So many people could be foster parents. All you really need is a little training and the support of social workers and other foster parents and financial support to provide for the children. Our goal is to provide permanent homes for children and if they cannot go back to their own families or be released for adoption, they must remain in foster care. Even so, many of these courageous kids have accomplished much, they have gone college, been successful in their chosen fields, built successful careers and gone on to be caring and productive members of our society. Many of their lives are truly inspirational, especially because had it not been for a foster parent, they could have gone the other way.
Our social workers provide support to foster children and foster families. These dedicated staff give their all to provide care and support. These social workers are doing a wonderful job despite their growing caseloads due to the state hiring freeze. I want to thank our staff for their extraordinary devotion to Baltimore County's children.
Revised January 11, 2005
Courthouse 