Ensuring every child has a safe home has been a goal of our city, community and nation since its very inception. In order to bring additional awareness and resources to the needs of those in the Foster Care system, May has been recognized as National Foster Care Month since 1988. This year’s theme is “Foster Care as a Support to Families, Not a Substitute for Parents.”
North Carolina, like many states across the country, have seen an increased need for foster parents in order to answer the call of the over 11,000 children in the foster care system. The overall goal when children enter the Foster Care system is to remedy the source issue within the home that caused the child to come into care of public authorities and to reunify the family. When that is not possible, children are then eligible for Adoption.
The foster care system is made up of community members and professionals from various disciplines all coming together to create stability for some of our community’s most vulnerable members. Whether you are a foster parent, guardian ad litem (GAL) volunteer, attorney, or adoptive parent, you play a vital role in our foster care system and creating safety and stability for children. Despite the importance of this system, many community members do not have much information about the system or some of its key members.
The Foster Care system was primarily controlled by private and religious organizations in the early 1900s. Over the years practice standards were developed and the system shifted primarily to state governments. Today, the public Foster Care system is run by the state’s Department of Social Services. The most common reason children enter the Foster Care system is due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment within their home or family of origin. Once a child enters the Foster Care system, they are then assisted by a team of individuals who help in ensuring the child’s safety and stability ideally within their own community. While the child can focus on being a child, the team will attempt to rectify the issues that caused the child to come into the care of the system. The members of such a team include: foster parents, social workers, guardian ad litem, and adoptive parents.
The North Carolina GAL program is under the North Carolina Judicial Branch. It is comprised of trained community volunteers and attorneys who are appointed by judges to cases involving the abuse or neglect of children. A GAL volunteer is responsible for gathering information that will allow them to produce a report to the court about what is in the best interest of the child. They often interview the children and other individuals involved in the children’s lives for the duration of their involvement in the case.
The importance of foster parents increased significantly after the shift from institutional care environments to foster family environments in the 1920s. Foster parents are screened and trained through the Department of Social Services on how to best provide a family-like environment while involved in the Foster Care system. It is the goal to place children with foster parents within their community of origin in order to reduce disruption to the child’s daily life. The social workers work to identify and utilize appropriate community resources available to the children, the families, and the foster families in order to pursue the end goal of reunification and safety.
While reunification is always the goal, it is not always possible. This is when Adoptive parents are imperative in providing “forever families” to those children. If getting involved as a Foster parent, GAL, or Adoptive parent is something that interests you, reach out to your local Department of Social Services for more information.
Written by: Tiffany A. Byrd
Family is at the heart of everything I do, both personally and professionally. As a Family Law Attorney, I combine my passion for helping others with my unique journey—from growing up as the eldest child in a single-parent household to becoming the first attorney in my family. My experiences shaped my dedication to advocating for families in their most critical moments. Whether you’re building, protecting, or securing your family’s future, I’m here to help you find meaningful resolutions tailored to your needs.
