OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — There’s a growing need for foster families in Oklahoma to give children a safe home and place to sleep. Now, Sunbeam Family Services is requesting families to step up and help.
“We hear from DHS that every night, there could be between five and 20 children sleeping in the office. And that really speaks to the need for having more foster families,” said Angie Doss, a spokesperson for Sunbeam Family Services.
Across Oklahoma, the Department of Human Services said there are about 6,000 kids seeking a foster family.
“That is a large and kind of overwhelming number. But it is also in the last decade, we dropped that down from where we were at, over 10,000 children in care,” said Andrea Weaver, a Child Welfare Specialist at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
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Sunbeam Family Services works to help foster children, specifically in Oklahoma County.
“If you think about it, many of the children in foster care might leave the home with just the clothes they have. They don’t have toys, and then they’ve experienced a lot of trauma,” said Doss.
Currently, Sunbeam is seeking 15 families to step up and bridge the gap. Their agency will help those families with 24/7 support from foster care experts, and other resources such as mental health care and childcare.
“That toddler is going to get priority placement in early head start and one of our early education centers,” said Doss.
DHS said it’s important for foster kids to find a safe home while their team works to correct safety hazards with their parents or caregivers.
The goal is always to first try and reunite them with family.
“Then, as those changes are being made, efforts are being made to have that child at home more frequently. So maybe visits start to happen more often, and overnight visits can start to happen when we’re getting closer to reunification,” said Weaver.
To learn more about how to get involved with Sunbeam Family Services or just learn more about becoming a foster family, click here.
For more information on foster care within DHS, click here.
