CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There is an urgent need for more foster parents in the Coastal Bend and arms wide adoption services in stepping in to fill the gap.
Arms Wide Adoption services use to only provide just adoption services, but now they offer foster care and foster to adopt services in South Texas with a focus specifically on Corpus Christi.
In Nueces County, 65% of foster children are placed outside the county in which they have been removed and 22% are placed outside the region.
“Not only are we uprooting these children and moving them to different homes. Sometimes in the middle of the night we are also moving them from a different city or county and that is a huge culture shock for a lot of children,” said Nancy Torres Recruiter Home Developer
Arms Wide Adoption Services works with Texas Department of Family Protective Services to increase fostering capacity and keep children in their local municipalities.
“CPS reached out to all of the providers in Texas encouraging them to help them meet the needs for more foster homes in the areas,” said Arianne Riebel Director of Adoption and Foster Care.
While a need for foster homes in the Coastal Bend is great, the greatest need is for children ages 0 to 6. They need temporary homes as families work to regain custody, arms wide recruiter home developer Nancy Torres says.
“These are very young children, and if you are considering things like the pandemic or you’re considering things like life in general that is very difficult especially int he first 3 years of life where development is still important,” said Torres.
One of the biggest fears they hear from families wanting to foster kids that they are afraid of getting too attached.
“If you can provide that kind of love that they need that you feel so strongly about then I think that you would be the perfect foster parent,” said Torres.
Laura Josephsen fostered three children and said the experience was life changing.
“It is definitely worth it. And it really is amazing to see how much impact you can have on children and how much impact they can have on you,” said Josephsen, who adopted through the agency.
