Post by Okwes on Dec 28, 2007 12:42:02 GMT -5
Native American Foster Homes
Brandi Powell
6/13/2007
Across the state kids need homes. This includes Native American children. Statewide, about 30% of foster children are Native American. The Native American Foster Care Recruitment Task Force is working to get more Native foster families in part by holding information sessions.
It hopes a year-long study in Burleigh and Morton counties will provide information and models that can be used statewide. Every child deserves the chance to grow up in a good environment. That`s what the Native American Foster Care Recruitment Task Force, that`s working to find more Native American foster parents for Native children, is trying to achieve.
"It`s a big step in someone`s life and it has to be the right time and place to make that happen because it`s a big commitment," says Task Force Project Coordinator Mike Mabin.
A commitment Joshua Logg says he`s interested in making. The opportunity to open his home to a Native child in need is something he says would help keep the Native languages and cultures alive.
"That tells us who we are and where we come from," says Joshua Logg, who lives on the United Tribes Technical College campus and would like to become a foster parent. "In our culture they always say the children come first."
Across the state of North Dakota any given month, about 300 Native American children are in need of foster care while the task force project coordinator says it`s not just a numbers game. He says any additional families will help.
"We`re not talking about big numbers," says Mabin. "We`re just talking about people that are interested in coming forward."
The task force hopes the study, and information sessions like this one, will bump up the number of licensed Native American foster homes in Burleigh and Morton counties, and provide some tools to get more Native homes to open all across the state.
If you missed today`s information session, another one will be held at the Bismarck Public Library on Wednesday, June 20th from noon to 1:00 p.m. In the meantime, if you want more information call the Native American Recruitment Task Force 250-0728 or go to nativefostercare.com.
Brandi Powell
6/13/2007
Across the state kids need homes. This includes Native American children. Statewide, about 30% of foster children are Native American. The Native American Foster Care Recruitment Task Force is working to get more Native foster families in part by holding information sessions.
It hopes a year-long study in Burleigh and Morton counties will provide information and models that can be used statewide. Every child deserves the chance to grow up in a good environment. That`s what the Native American Foster Care Recruitment Task Force, that`s working to find more Native American foster parents for Native children, is trying to achieve.
"It`s a big step in someone`s life and it has to be the right time and place to make that happen because it`s a big commitment," says Task Force Project Coordinator Mike Mabin.
A commitment Joshua Logg says he`s interested in making. The opportunity to open his home to a Native child in need is something he says would help keep the Native languages and cultures alive.
"That tells us who we are and where we come from," says Joshua Logg, who lives on the United Tribes Technical College campus and would like to become a foster parent. "In our culture they always say the children come first."
Across the state of North Dakota any given month, about 300 Native American children are in need of foster care while the task force project coordinator says it`s not just a numbers game. He says any additional families will help.
"We`re not talking about big numbers," says Mabin. "We`re just talking about people that are interested in coming forward."
The task force hopes the study, and information sessions like this one, will bump up the number of licensed Native American foster homes in Burleigh and Morton counties, and provide some tools to get more Native homes to open all across the state.
If you missed today`s information session, another one will be held at the Bismarck Public Library on Wednesday, June 20th from noon to 1:00 p.m. In the meantime, if you want more information call the Native American Recruitment Task Force 250-0728 or go to nativefostercare.com.