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Due to a rising need for foster homes in the county, Chambers County DHR will be hosting a booth at football home games in an effort to get the word out about fostering.

“We work really closely with our school systems — Chambers and Lanett — and we have gotten a lot of foster homes through those schools, which is one reason that going to to the sporting events at the schools and setting up tables will help us,” Flournoy said.

“We are always in need of foster home, because when children come into our care, our goal is either to get them back with family or to place them with relatives or an adoption process,” said Julia Ann Hyde, director of Chambers County Department of Human Resources (DHR). “And so basically, we’re constantly in need of foster parents.”

A true need for fosters

There are currently only about 12 homes that are open to new foster children. According to Angie Flournoy, director of Foster Care, the county used to have one of the highest number in the state with over 34 local foster homes.

“We wouldn’t have to place children out of the county, because we try really hard not to,” Flournoy said. “It makes it hard for the parents to be reunited with their children when they’re too far away. So the need for in-county foster parents is great for us right now. This is the lowest number that we’ve had in 15, 20 years.”

There are several reasons why the county’s foster home numbers are lower than usual. The county has a good problem, which is that there are a lot of great foster homes that have led to adoptions. On the downside, that takes away space for placing new fosters at that home.

“We can’t do what we do without foster parents,” Flournoy said.

“They are really good homes and homes in Chambers County usually close because they usually adopt and that takes up the space in the home,” she added.

Many foster homes are what’s known as kinship guardianship, which is when a child gets placed with a relative within four degrees of relation to the child. Though they still go through the same process as a regular foster parent, their home are not generally open to new foster children.

“In this county right now, we are really blessed with the amount of relatives that come forward,” Flournoy said.

Part of the lower foster home numbers may be the residual effects of the pandemic on recruiting. Trainings were on hold during the social distancing days of COVID-19.

“It did impact us, and I think that is what we’re feeling right now, is that we lost a year and a half where we really couldn’t recruit,” Flournoy said.

Though it made it harder to visit the children in their homes, Flournoy said the county’s foster homes stuck around through it and worked with the department well.

“Some of them had a lot of fear, like everybody else, but they really made the children available to us, and we could see them,” Flournoy said.

What does it take to become a foster parent?

The first step to becoming a foster parent is attending a 10 week training course. Foster parent trainings are held every three months. After that, they will need to have a home consultation to ensure the home is fit for a foster child.

Like with kinship subsidies, foster homes receive a subsidy based on the child’s age to help support them in the household. Still, foster parents are required to provide proof of income.

Though the state department aims for children not to be in foster care for longer than a year, many fosters need long term care.

“We need foster parents who are in it for the long haul,” said Takeshia Hudson, supervisor of Child Abuse and Neglect. “Sometimes we don’t always have a time frame.”

Anyone interested in applying to be a foster parent can reach Flournoy or Sharon Hawkins at the Chambers County DHR at 334-864-4000.

Resources for foster parents

“Our foster parents in this county are probably some of the best throughout the state,” Flournoy said.

Chambers County’s foster parent group meets once a month, where they talk about whatever their needs are. For every child they have in their home, they get 100 pounds of food a month through East Alabama Food Bank for a fee.

Chambers County DHR provides resources to support foster homes and keep children in good homes, for example, when placing multiple children in the same home.

“We make it work,” Flournoy said. “Sometimes if it means buying additional beds for those children to remain together in a home, that is what we do. We do everything we can to support our foster parents.”

One misconception about the DHR is that they only remove children from their parent’s home. However, the family preservation department gives parents access to resources to help with issues like domestic violence, counseling and substance abuse.

Hudson is one of the first points of contact for a family and helps determine an individualized plan for family reunification whenever possible.

DHR partners with several family counseling providers such as Circle of Care and Opelika Addiction Center in addition to the substance abuse program they provide in-house.

Though fostering may not be possible for everyone, there are plenty of ways to support the DHR’s efforts.

The department is always showered with attention during the holiday season by local law enforcement, attorneys, church groups and businesses like Wayne Davis Concrete and the Chambers County Board Education. Many organizations sponsor not one but several children for holiday gifts.

Still, Flournoy said there are needs all throughout the year that the community can help with from back-to-school shopping to school club fees to field trip needs.