The need to foster a teen in Yuma County

It seems like something so simple. Every child deserves a safe and loving home. But for many children and teens in Yuma County and all over our country that is not the case.

May is National Foster Care month. All week long we will be featuring different stories that highlight the need for foster families in Yuma County and personal stories from those that have gone through the foster care system.

Part one of our “Found Families” series looks at the need for foster families in Yuma County.

Yuma County has roughly 400 children in foster care. 130 of them are teenagers.

13 On Your Side sat down with Cori Rico, P rogram Director of Foster Care and Adoption at the Arizona’s Children Association.

“Often times it’s very hard for us to find foster parents that are willing to foster 12 and older so what we are seeing are these 12 and older children being moved to Phoenix, they’re being moved to Tucson and all over the state because there are no homes in Yuma that are willing to take them in,” Rico said.

She believes foster care is something that should be temporary for most children.

“The goal of foster care is to reunify with birth parents and so when a child or children are taken away from their family due to abuse or neglect we really hope that those families can work at rectifying those situations and issues and we can later in turn have those children reunify with them,” she said.

There are between 140 to 150 licensed foster homes in Yuma County. Unfortunately, there is still a great need for more loving families to take these children and teens in.

“Our biggest need right now is finding homes for those children that are older and being able to keep them in the community that they are comfortable in, the schools that they grew up in and love and keeping them close to the community and the culture that they know,” she said.

There are several other organizations like the Arizona Children’s Association that help out with adopting and foster care. In part two of our “Found Families” series we have an exclusive with a foster mom who shares what it is like to foster a teenager.