Department News - This month we are featuring the Resource Department.
By Amy Chismar, Chief Supervisor

The Resource Department is responsible for overseeing the foster and adoption programs at Mahoning County Children Services. The Resource Department includes two Resource Units, and the agency’s Training Unit. It also houses the agency’s Independent Living Program, the Community Education Specialist, and the Continuous Quality Improvement Department.

The unsung heroes of any child placing agency and the community in general are the foster caregivers who serve the agency and the children. . Foster caregiving is a very difficult job - we ask foster parents to love and nurture children as their own, but be able to let them go when it is time for the children to return to their family. At the present time there are 96 foster homes licensed by Mahoning County Children Services. There are 178 children in foster care placement. We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all those families who serve the children of Mahoning County by being foster caregivers.

While foster caregivers serve children temporarily, adoptive parents make children a permanent part of their home through the legal process of adoption. Right now in Mahoning County there are 58 children in the permanent custody of the agency. Of those children, 28 are in adoptive placement waiting for court legalization, 11 have identified placement families, and we are looking for families for 18 of the children. Since January 2009 there have been 15 adoptions finalized, and 9 more are scheduled before the end of the year. The children who need adoptive placement are featured on the agency’s website at www.mahoningkids.com/adoption_and_foster/adoption/children/.

With the numbers presented above, it should come as no surprise that Mahoning County Children Services is always looking to increase the number of available foster and adoptive parents. We are especially in need of foster and adoptive parents for sibling groups and teens. The month of November is National Adoption Awareness month, and the Resource Department is planning a recruitment event through the One Church One Child program. For further information please see the One Church One Child section of this newsletter.