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Child Crisis Arizona seeks foster parents

Posted at 7:56 AM, Jul 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-08 13:08:48-04

Child Crisis Arizona is a paid advertiser of Sonoran Living

There is always a great need for families willing to open their hearts and home to children in foster care but over the last two months the situation has become desperate.
Because of the emphasis on family preservation, the number of children in the state's foster care system has been decreasing since 2016 but the need for caring foster homes is always great. There are currently more than 13,000 children in the foster care system in Arizona.
"There has never been enough foster homes in Maricopa County to address the need," Taj said. "We need to do more to raise awareness that there are children in foster care who want and need a healthy family to care for them."
When there are no spaces available in other family member's homes (kinship) or licensed foster homes the Department of Child Safety sends children to emergency placement shelters/group homes like the one operated by Child Crisis Arizona.
The process to become licensed takes an average of 6 months and includes background checks, an interview, a home inspection and 30 hours of training. A licensing worker is there to help every step of the way.
"We really do our best to ensure our families they are not in this alone," Taj said. "Children are going through a lot when they come into foster care and we want our families to be prepared to love and support them so that the children aren't further traumatized."
Fostering has been a blessing for Allison Hurtado who has been caring for a teenager for almost three years.
“We decided to take in a teen because we knew a child of that age could have some independence but we could be that safe home base for them to come back to,” she said. “It’s been surprising how much love I have for a child whose life experience has been so different from mine. He knows I care about him and that makes all the difference.”
The first step to becoming a foster parent is attending an orientation. Child Crisis Arizona holds orientations twice a month—once in Phoenix and once in Mesa.
You can find the next orientation date on Child Crisis Arizona's website: childcrisisaz.org or by calling 480-834-9424.