SALISBURY — Numbers don’t lie, especially when it comes to foster care in North Carolina.

Federal data shows the number of foster care homes in the state dropped 23 percent from 2021 to 2022. With that drop, there are fewer than 5,500 foster homes for roughly 10,200 foster children in the state.

Rowan County is not an exception to the foster care emergency in North Carolina.

Shawn Squirewell, director of foster care and adoption services at Nazareth Child & Family Connection, described the situation as dire.

“The number of foster homes we have available to us is the lowest it has been in the 17 years I’ve worked at Nazareth,” Squirewell said. “We get referrals (for child placement) from agencies all the time that we have to turn down.

“The children are the ones who are hurt the most by this shortage.”

Nazareth and Squirewell are doing their part to help reverse the trend. The nonprofit will offer foster care classes beginning Sept. 7 and running for 10 consecutive weeks at Nazareth’s Salisbury office located at 165 Mahaley Ave.

There is no charge for the classes, but interested parties must RSVP by Sept. 5 by calling 704-279-5556 Ext. 1111 or emailing ssquirewell@nazcfc.org.

The classes are required to be licensed as a foster parent in North Carolina and are designed to inform prospective foster parents about the child welfare system, the role of foster and adoptive parents, develop skills to become successful foster or adoptive parents and assess families to determine if foster or adopting is the best fit for their family.

“There is not a specific type of family we are looking for,” Squirewell said. “We have single-parent homes. We have families with no biological children. We have blended families. We have families with multiple children. Anyone is a candidate who is prepared to come and do the work and learn.”

According to Squirewell, much misunderstanding exists about who may qualify to become a foster parent. For examples, home ownership is not a requirement, nor is income level. Pets in the household are fine and many times helpful. Foster care providers also don’t have to be a stay-at-home parent. Many people become foster parents after their own children have grown up.

Each week of the 10-week course covers various topics associated with fostering children.

“It walks you through a foster care experience,” Squirewell said. “We are not a typical adoption agency. We talk about losses and gains and becoming a loss expert for the families we serve.
The program entails helping children learn healthy behavior through positive discipline techniques.

“When we are caring for children in the custody of DSS, we have to be mindful of the discipline techniques because of the legal aspect one but the trauma aspect as well,” Squirewell said.

Many kids in the foster care system have already been exposed to some trauma, whether it was a family member’s deteriorating mental or physical health or exposure to substance abuse.

Those challenges facing children in the system are not new, but the foster care family support shortages are.

Stirewell explained that, ultimately, the goal is reunification with family.

“Foster care, in and of itself, is meant to be temporary,” Squirewell said. “It’s meant to stabilize children while families do the work to get them home.”

When that doesn’t happen, the system will seek long-term solutions.

Taking the course does not lock someone into becoming a foster family, but it can be helpful to illuminate what that decision would be like.

“Sometimes, families can go back and forth about whether they want to make this commitment,” Squirewell said. “If they have any type of inkling that they are interested in serving children as a foster parent, they should reach out.”

Given her organization’s mission to serve children with unstable housing situations, Stirewell feels like her organization is in a prime position to deliver critical instruction.

“We serve children and families at multiple levels at our agency through our residential setting, foster care and outpatient services,” Squirewell said. “We have an understanding of what they need. I think that gives us a boost.”

The schedule for the fall training is as follows:

• Sept. 7 — Meeting 1: Welcome to the Group Preparation and Selection Program
• Sept. 14 — Meeting 2: Where the MAPP Leads: A Foster Care & Adoption Experience
• Sept. 21 — Meeting 3: Losses and Gains: The Need to be a Loss Expert
• Sept. 28 — Meeting 4: Helping Children with Attachments
• Oct. 5 — Meeting 5: Helping Children Learn Healthy Behaviors
• Oct. 12 — Meeting 6: Helping Children with Birth Family Connections
• Oct. 19 — Meeting 7: Gains and Losses: Helping Children Leave Foster Care
• Oct. 26 — Meeting 8: Understanding the Impact of Fostering or Adopting
• Nov. 2 — Meeting 9: Perspectives in Adoptive Parenting and Foster Parenting
• Nov. 9 — Meeting 10: Endings and Beginnings