The Department of Human Resources will partner with Grace Fellowship Church on Fourth Avenue in Clanton for the site of the next round of foster/adoptive parent training classes that will begin on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.

The classes, which meet weekly, include 10 different sessions with the last class meeting on April 16.

“The agency has partnered with other churches in the past to hold the training classes – it is an excellent way to take the agency out into the community,” Trayce Cain, DHR’s licensing worker, said in a release.
“Several foster parents attend Grace Fellowship, but persons of all faiths or churches are welcome to attend the classes there.”

According to Marilyn Colson, director of Chilton DHR, there are now close to 80 children in foster care.

“The number of foster children in the county is constantly changing since some children are able to return home after their families resolve threats to the children’s safety,” she said in a release. “Others are provided long-term homes by relatives, and then a number of children are adopted either by their foster families or through state adoptions.”

Colson also said that adoptions in the county reached all ages.

“It is heartwarming to see how the foster parents of Chilton County have provided ‘forever’ homes to so many foster children through adoption in Chilton County,” Colson said. “In 2014, 10 children were adopted by their foster parents. Since 2009, 84 children have been adopted by their foster families. The adopted children range in ages from infants to teens.”

Foster homes are also needed for children for the short term while the parents get their lives straightened out.

Other foster parents make the decision to make a difference in children’s lives by being available to provide short-term respite care such as a weekend or for a few days if there is an emergency in another foster home.

Cain, the foster/adoptive licensing worker, said the department is constantly looking to enlarge the pool of available foster homes.

“We like to have enough foster homes so that good matches can be made between children who need care and the foster homes available,” Cain said. “A good match could involve the age of the child, a child’s special needs or even what school the child has been attending.Foster parents are always able to decline when asked if they are ready for a child to be placed in their home.”

Anyone interested in getting more information about fostering children can contact Cain at 280-2000, or email trayce.cain@dhr.alabama.gov.

Foster and adoptive parents must complete preparation classes once a week for 10 weeks. Criminal history checks and home studies are also required to ensure compliance with the minimum standards for foster homes.