This news item expired on Friday, November 30, 2018 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
Buncombe County Health and Human Services (BCHHS) would like to recognize those adoptive parents in our community who have provided a permanent home for children in foster care. There are 353 children and 31 young adults in foster care, and, 62 were adopted from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 in Buncombe County.
There are hundreds of children in the foster care system right here in Buncombe County in court sanctioned kinship homes and licensed foster homes. BCHHS social workers strive for permanency for all children in the foster care system through reunification efforts, custody or guardianship options, as well as adoption when aligned with the court plan.
“It might take years to find the right placement for a child and it takes an entire team to ensure that a permanent placement is the right fit for a child,” says BCHHS Social Work Director, Rebecca Smith. “We work with the foster child or teen, birth family, foster and adoptive families to create and enact a permanency plan that works best for the child. It is amazing to witness the commitment and love that these adoptive parents bring to the table. We are grateful to them for their positive impact in our community.”
There are steps all of us can take to connect with and provide for young people in foster care. That may look like buying extra Christmas gifts for kids in foster care, participating as a Community Resource Volunteer, volunteering as a Guardian Ad Litem, donating to a college fund for foster youth, or maybe even becoming foster or adoptive parent. To learn more about how to support children in foster care right here in Buncombe County, visit www.buncombecounty.org/socialwork.