The Chilton County Department of Human Resources will host foster/adoptive training classes beginning March 4.

There will be 10 different sessions with the last class meeting on May 6.

According to Marilyn Colson, director of Chilton DHR, there are nearly 100 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,” Colson said in a press 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. 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.”

In 2013, 10 children were adopted by their foster parents, the release said. Since 2009, 74 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.

Trayce Cain, the foster/adoptive licensing worker, says that 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.”

For more information about fostering children, contact Cain at (205) 280-2025 or 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 insure compliance with the minimum standards for foster homes.