Dear Community Members,
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is currently looking for community members who are interested in becoming a foster home. We urgently need enrolled members and families to open their hearts and their homes to give our children in foster care a safe and loving home. The children range from infancy to age 18 and like all children, they need loving parents to believe in them and give them a chance to reach their full potential.
Foster Care is a temporary arrangement where the parents provide for the children who birth parents are unable to care for them. The goal for the children is usually reunification with the parents, but it may be changed to adoption. You can become a foster parent if you are 21 years old. You can be single or married, own or rent your home, and already have your own children. You can have pets and work full-time. EBCI Public Health and Human Services is looking for at least 25 foster families who are interested in becoming a licensed foster home.
There are benefits to foster families including: free training, monthly assistance, and child care assistance. Families will also receive assistance through the licensing process such as: 40 hours of training, First Aid/CPR, Lifebook Training, application, background check/fingerprinting, and In-Home Assessment.
It takes all of us, the entire community, to protect our children, to give them the possibility of a life without abuse and neglect. If you feel called to make a difference by becoming a foster parent or providing respite care, please contact Sunshine Parker or Betty Gibson at Public Health and Human Services 359-6180.
Signed,
Betty Gibson, Family Safety social worker; Sunshine Parker, Foster Care licensure and appeals manager; Jenny Bean, Family Safety social worker supervisor; and J.T. Garrett, Human Services director
