NEW PHILADELPHIA Tuscarawas County Job and Family Services needs foster parents who can provide emergency and short-term care for children who have been removed from their home, according to Director David W. Haverfield. Making arrangements can be time-consuming and that leaves the child in limbo, which is not a pleasant situation especially after having just been removed from their home and biological family, he said in a prepared statement. These temporary caregivers would provide that safe space until the most appropriate placement can be arranged.
The agency will have training beginning in September for anyone interested in fostering or adopting a child.
The department now reports it has 100 children in foster care, compared to 64 in April 2020.
Haverfield said referrals to children s services began to rise in April 2020. By the end of 2020, there were 87 children in foster care. When the pandemic hit, things started changing, Haverfield said in a prepared statement. Parents were put into a situation where they had to balance an increased number of struggles and mostly on their own, due (to) the isolation caused by COVID.
Haverfield made the following points in a news release: In addition to the children in foster care, another 28 dren are under protective supervision, either living in their own homes or with a relative. Those children and their families get services meant to help keep the children out of foster care.