The Windsor-Essex Children's Aid Society is marking National Foster Parent Appreciation Week at a time when there's a 'critical need' for more foster parents.
National Foster Parents Week is held every October in Ontario to recognize foster caregivers, foster families, and kinship parents and thank them for the crucial role they play in providing care and support to children and youth in the community who can't remain with their primary caregivers.
Foster Parent Recruiter with the Windsor-Essex CAS Joanne Jacobs says the role of a foster parent is very important.
"Often our kids and youth, they look to our foster parents to give them that support and compassionate care, as they need a place to stay temporarily until they are able to be reunited with their birth family or kin," she says.
Since 2020, there has been a 33.6 per cent decrease in the number of foster parents across the province, according to the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies.
Jacobs says they're actively working to recruit more foster parents and families.
"It's an urgent need in our community for siblings, groups, older children, infants, and complex needs," she says. "Our foster parents provide tangible support, and they provide our community with the youth in their homes. We work really hard to support them the best way that we can, but there is a critical need and a shortage."
Jacobs says the Windsor-Essex CAS currently has 80 foster homes.
"Our goal is to increase that by 10 per cent this year; that's what I'm actively working to try to do. We'd certainly welcome as many homes as we can get, but a realistic goal is to try to have an extra 10 per cent in our community so that we can do a great job matching our children to foster families," she says.
Click here to find more information on how to become a foster parent.