Churches and Faith-Based Groups Respond to Growing Numbers of Foster Children
The Need for Foster Parents
“It’s the largest driver right now in the US for foster care,” says Chris Palusky, CEO for Grand Rapids-based Bethany Christian Services. “we’re seeing this opioid crisis just grow and it’s causing families to be separated and it’s also causing kids to be born into addiction.”
It’s why Bethany and other faith-based groups are racing to find new ways to recruit foster parents and care for these children.
Their hope lies in newly licensed foster parents like Matt and Liz Schulte who have cared for three children with special needs since they started three years ago. Both Matt and Liz work in health care and say that advocating for children with medical issues and developmental delays comes easily.
“It only takes us a few weeks with the kids before you feel solely responsible for them and feel like ‘I have to do everything I can for these kids’ because at the end of the day they’re sleeping in our home and they’re a part of our family for as long as they’re here and you know it’s so important that they have those parents that are going to fight for them,” Liz told CBN News…
