Foster Care

Mecklenburg County says it’s assigning staff to help ensure youth in foster care receive required 90-day case reviews. The move comes after local advocates raised concerns the meetings were not happening consistently.

A Mecklenburg County advocacy group says required 90-day reviews meant to move foster children toward permanent homes aren’t happening consistently. The county says it’s making changes.

Since the pandemic, fewer families have been signing up to become foster parents. In North Carolina, the number of licensed foster homes dropped by 23% in 2022. In Jackson County and others across the state, children are sleeping at department of social services offices with nowhere else to go. Advocates say a combination of new policies and additional funding are needed to help families.

Mecklenburg County is trying new strategies to recruit more foster parents. The push comes after many foster parents opted out during the pandemic, and the county has struggled to replace them.

More children are entering Mecklenburg County’s foster care system, and the county says it needs more foster families to care for them.

The Anchor Hope home serves as a place where children who have been removed from their homes can stay while waiting for placement into a foster home.

According to Mecklenburg Youth and Family Services officials, there are about 600 children in foster care in the county, 11,000 in North Carolina.…

In Charlotte, there are nearly 500 children in foster care. The city has more children in foster care than there are foster families to support them.…

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