Foster Families Needed in Pickens County

More foster parents are needed in Pickens County and the Upstate.

Betsy Manning, recruiter with the South Carolina Youth Advocate Program, was at the Safety Expo held by The Parenting Place at Rock Springs Baptist Church Saturday

The South Carolina Youth Advocate Program is a non-profit, private organization contracted by the Department of Social Services to “recruit, retain, support and license foster families,” she said.

“We’re today trying to reach out to parents in Pickens County to become foster families,” Manning said.

She’s eager to answer questions and “bust any myths” people may mistakenly believe about becoming a foster parent.

“‘Do I have to own my home?’ No. ‘Do I have to be married?’ No,” Manning said. “We try to tell people, ‘You can do this – let us help you.’” Our goal is to inform people and then stand beside them through the entire process and help them help children in our communities.” 

Those interested in becoming licensed foster parents can contact the SC YAP office at 1-803-779-5500. They’ll then be given an information packet that includes an application, Manning said.

“Once they complete that application and return it to our office, they’ll be assigned a license coordinator,” Manning said. “That person will come out to their home, do a face-to-face orientation. That actually starts the process.” 

The process takes about 90 days, Manning said.

“We try to get it done in 90 days, but there’s background checks, home inspections, we have to have a release from your medical doctor to make sure you’re in physical and emotional health to take care of children,”she said. “So there’s different checks that goes along with that.”

The need for foster families in this area is great.

“There’s the need for homes to take older children, there’s the need for homes to take sibling groups – we get a lot of sibling groups, and homes to take children from different ethnic backgrounds,” Manning said. “We’re always looking for homes so children in Pickens can stay in their county. That’s our goal, to keep kids in their county.”

Currently, there are 33 licensed homes in Pickens County.

“We have over 100 children in care here Pickens, so the need is great,” Manning said. “We don’t want to send children to other counties, but sometimes that’s what we have to do to meet their needs. So we really want in Pickens to take care of the children in their community.”

Children are traumatized when they’re removed from their homes, she said.

“So going to another county just increases that trauma,” Manning said. “Going to a home where they’ve never been – more trauma. So if we can keep kids close to those healthy connections, in their communities, attending their schools, they can be in touch with that friend, or see that friend in school, even though their home situation is not the best, that is the healthiest way to get children to heal from these traumas.”