Foster Care Parents Shortage in Philadelphia
Foster Care Shortage in Philadelphia On an evening in March, a director from Catholic Social Services answered eight calls at his home from the Department of Human Services. Earlier that week, he answered five calls from a county referral agency. All of the callers were looking for the same thing: a safe home for a vulnerable child. A child whose own home had become too unsafe or too unhealthy to live in, or a child who was suffering from abuse and neglect. Some of the calls resulted in placements. Most calls did not because of the shortage of available resource parents. The City of Philadelphia estimates that there are roughly 4,300 children in foster care at any given time. On a typical day, more than a dozen children are waiting to be placed. In Philadelphia, the demand for foster parents (also know as resource parents) has increased in recent years,