Paid Foster Parent Leave for families in Morgantown, West Virginia
One Less Challenge for WV Foster Families
There are many challenges that come with being a foster parent, but now for city of Morgantown employees there is one less as the state rallies against a spike in foster care cases and …
“We need more families,” she said, adding that in October, there were almost 7,000 kids in foster or out-of-home care and only about 2,000 certified foster families, citing statistics from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
At a forum earlier this year, Davis said families reported that the application and approval process was grueling and needed to be simplified, which would be a state-level change, but there were other struggles on the more local level.
“Foster parents also need the community around them to understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it,” she said. “For foster parents to feel more supported, there needs to be more education.”
Paid foster parent leave in the city of Morgantown is “amazing,” according to Davis, who said giving parents and children that time to get acclimated to this new environment and dynamic can be crucial to having a positive experience.
