Cobb County Foster & Adoptive Parents Association

You Can Change A Lifetime!

May is National Foster Care Month. It’s a time to raise public awareness of the need for more people who are willing to change a lifetime for children and youth in foster care by sharing their hearts, opening their homes and offering help. There are 518,000 reasons to get involved. There are 518,000 children in the US, 13,758 children in Georgia, and 500 children in Cobb County in foster care today because their own families are in crisis. All children deserve, and benefit from, the love of a family. It is our responsibility to ensure the safety, permanency and well being of America’s children.

Did you know?...the average age of children in foster care is 9…50% are male & 50% are female…50% are African American, 40% are Caucasian & 10% are other races…the average stay in foster care is 24 months…50% of the children are reunited with their parents or primary caregivers…approximately 75% of those not reunited are adopted by their non-relative foster parents.

Cobb County is in desperate need for more licensed foster families. There are currently close to 500 of our Cobb County Children in foster care and only 111 foster families. Some of these 111 families are full to capacity, and others are only accepting children who will be adoptable. The average foster home has 2-3 foster children in their care and most have birth children as well. Unfortunately more and more of our Cobb County children are being sent outside of the county for care. Take one look at Cobb County statistics and you know we can do better as a community. With a population of 668,057, who have an average age of 33, Cobb County is young and energetic. There are 249,062 households, with a median income of $65,649, and an average household family size of 3.14. There are over 41,000 businesses licensed in the county with 3 Fortune 500 companies headquartered here. We clearly have the resources to care for our own children. The greatest need is for school aged children, sibling groups who need to be kept together, special needs children and teenagers. Potential foster parents can be married, divorced, single.

Nearly every community across the nation is urgently seeking more foster parents to meet the needs of children and youth of all ages. Foster homes allow displaced youth to live together with their siblings, remain in their own neighborhoods and sometimes stay in their own school district. Foster care promotes the healing process by offering a stable and secure environment until the child can return home or has established an alternative lifelong relationship with a caring adult, often through adoption. We must address the pressing needs of foster care now or face the consequences for generations to come. Nearly 20,000 youth will age out of foster care nationally this year. Many are only 18 years old and still need support and services.

As a foster parent here in Cobb County, I have experienced first hand the tremendous satisfaction of opening up my home and heart to a child or young person. Being a foster parent has been one of the most important and fulfilling things I have ever done. I urge everyone in Cobb County to find out how you can make a difference in the life of a child in foster care. Foster parenting is a significant and rewarding opportunity that helps shape brighter futures. Everyday, people in your community are making a difference in the lives of our children from Cobb County. Foster parents, relative caregivers, social workers and other supporters are the unsung heroes of our society.

Now is the time for you to come forward for a child in any way you can. What you choose to do today will make a lasting impression in the life of a child tomorrow and into the future. There are a variety of other meaningful ways for individuals, organizations, and communities to get involved and make a lasting difference in the lives of young people in foster care. There are hundreds of ways to help. You can visit www.fostercaremonth.org. for ideas. Other websites include the National Foster Parent Association site at www.nfpainc.org; the Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Georgia site at www.afpag.org; the Cobb County Foster and Adoptive Parent Association site at www.cobbfapa.org.

-The Cobb County Foster and Adoptive Parents Association

Ready to start the process? Call 1-877-210-KIDS or 770-528-3420.

Change a Lifetime: Share Your Heart, Open Your Home, and Offer Help to a youth in foster care.

Forest E. Whitcraft once said:

“A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...

but that the world may be a different place because I was important in the life of a child”