Jan 22 The Need for Foster Parents: A Growing Crisis

Jan 22h in Bold Voices by

(January 22, 2024)

This Bold Voices blog post was written by one of Allies for Children’s partners about a subject that is relevant to their work as well as ours.
Today’s blog was written by:
Tara Skibiel, Program Director at Cayuga Centers.

Let’s be honest. The United States foster care system is overwhelmed.

As communities grapple with issues such as substance abuse, domestic violence, and economic instability, the demand for foster parents has surged as the number of homes has waned. As we move on from the pandemic, we are still losing foster parents. The United States lost more than 12% of its licensed homes from 2021-2023. Pennsylvania lost over 350 homes.

This has created a crisis in America. There are approximately 390,000 children in the foster care system and not enough homes for them to go to. Allegheny County is home to about 10% of Pennsylvania’s 13,000 children in foster care.

To help solve the problem on a local level, Cayuga Centers began offering Treatment Family Foster Care services to the Allegheny County area in 2022. Since 1852, Cayuga Centers has been helping children and families and is one of five providers in the City of Pittsburgh that offer these services.

Cayuga Centers provides a wraparound, individualized approach for foster parents and children in foster care, including access to 24-hour support, and a treatment team who works with children and their families (foster and biological). Our treatment team that wraps around each youth is designed to set a youth in foster care up for success – and doesn’t leave foster parents on their own to navigate and find supports for the youth in their care. The treatment team is made up of a Behavioral Case Planner, Youth Skills Coach, Clinician, Recruiters and Licensors and leadership that:

  • Works with youth and their foster families to build strong relationships, speaks with foster parents daily, and actively participates on the treatment team.
  • Meets with the foster youth once a week or as needed to provide age-appropriate life skills training and facilitate biological/permanency resource visitation and family time.
  • Works with families to assess needs, provide therapeutic interventions to youth, create treatment plans, and provide support for youth to make positive changes.
  • Supports other team members to provide vital services to the youth in foster care and their biological and foster families.
  • Runs a regular foster parent support group so our parents can talk through situations with their peers

All foster parents go through training to prepare them for caring for youth in their homes. This training is ongoing, so foster parents will always feel prepared to handle new situations that can arise. Our Allegheny County team also individualizes the licensing process and helps each family prepare for their home study.

We understand that each family and each child is different, therefore, the process and timeline might look a little different to everyone. Our team is hands-on and is willing to help wherever needed to make every experience comfortable and successful.

So, what can you do to help? The first answer is obvious: become a foster parent. The qualifications are simple. You must be over 21, have a regular source of income, have a room for a child, pass background checks, and be willing to complete trauma-informed training. That’s it. You don’t need to own a home – or even a car – to be a foster parent.

We know that not everyone can be a foster parent, and that’s okay. But everyone knows someone who could be. If you’re looking to help in another way, share the need for foster parents on your social media, or in conversations with friends. You could even become an ambassador for Cayuga Centers and children in foster care.

We encourage you to take the time to learn more about becoming a foster parent, or how you can help the children in the foster care system in Allegheny County. One act of kindness can change the trajectory of a child’s life.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent in Allegheny County through Cayuga Centers, visit cayugacenters.org/pittsburgh, email Tara Skibiel at tara.skibiel@cayugacenters.org or L’Tesha Gamble-Pettis at ltesha.gamblepettis@cayugacenters.org. You can also call us at 412-308-9585.