2INgage emphasizes community involvement in foster care system.
The future of foster care doesn’t rest on one family or agency; it takes a community. That was the message at today’s foster forum in Wilbarger County, hosted by 2INgage.
The foster forum brought together child welfare professionals, potential foster parents, and community members to talk about foster care needs.
“Today we’re discussing ways to engage in our work to support the kids, the families, the foster families that are navigating the child welfare system. We’ve switched to a community-based care of model in Texas for foster care, and it really depends on the community to step up and find a way to support our kids and our families,” Maggie Brennan, Community Engagement Manager for 2INgage, said.
Currently, Wilbarger has 21 kids in care and 10 foster homes. While that’s a good number of homes, it still doesn’t meet the needs for the number of kids in the area, meaning some kids may have to go to bigger cities.
“That is a really big transition for our kids to go from somewhere smaller to a bigger community,” Brennan said. “So, we put a lot of effort into making sure that we raise awareness for the need for capacity, the need for more homes, so we can keep those kids local, connected to their community, the things that are involved in and the people that they know.”
2INgage, which serves 30 counties from the big country to Texoma, says it’s about building a network of support that includes a wide variety of help.
“Oftentimes, people think, well, I can’t foster, or I can’t support, but you can. There are ways to directly support foster families. There are ways to join organizations that are already supporting our work, like the child welfare board or other nonprofits and agencies that donate things customized for our kids and our families,” Brennas said. “We’re also getting ready for Christmas. So, ways to sponsor a kiddo to ensure all those kids have Christmas.”
For those considering fostering, leaders recommend visiting foster families and attending forums to get as much information as possible. Forums like today’s strengthen connections and change the future for children in foster care.
Visit their website if anyone is interested in fostering or would like to have 2INgage come out to host a forum.
