SOUTH CHINA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is worried about a shortage of foster parents and adoptive homes.
Doreen Farrington of South China said she's fostered more than 600 children in the past 31 years and has adopted eight of them. She said Maine needs to step up to help nurture the state's future generations and that anyone can be a foster parent.
"I think a lot of parents are working and there is a lot going on in the homes that they can't be left in the homes anymore. And relatives, there's just not enough to take these children. We need the foster parents to pick up the slack and there's just not enough of them stepping up to the plate," Farrington said.
In Maine, there are 1,990 children in foster care and about 500 of those are seeking adoption, while the rest await to hopefully be reunited with their families. The state said there are more than 1,300 households licensed as foster homes, but some of them aren't able to take on foster children because they aren't close enough to the child in need.
DHHS is hoping to find upwards of 100 new foster homes.
If you would like to open your home and your heart to a foster child, you can find out more information by calling the Foster Family Program manager at 207-624-7964.
