INDIANAPOLIS — Karen Young took a year’s leave from her attorney practice when she and her husband, Weston, received licenses as foster parents.
They became foster parents of then-4-year-old A.J. After a year, the Youngs adopted him.
“Children need family that love them, care for them, to give them good education so that they can get a job and have a good life. That’s what my parents did for me,” said A.J., now 11 and a sixth-grader at Indianapolis Public School 56.
On Tuesday, the Youngs stood together in the Statehouse as Indiana House leaders announced they would focus their annual philanthropic campaign on the foster home shortage.
In Indiana, nearly twice as many children are in the foster care system than there are available foster homes, according to the Indiana Department of Child Services. Currently, 150 children in Indiana are waiting for foster care, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said.
Bosma announced the project with House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City.
The number of children in out-of-home care grew to 17,214 this year from 13,811 in September 2015, the DCS reports.
“We need more foster families for children of all ages, abilities, special needs and various cultures,” said Cathy Graham, executive director of the Indiana Association of Resources and Child Advocacy.
The House campaign is also to urge support of Hoosiers who become foster parents.
“We understand, not everyone is able today or tomorrow to be a foster or adoptive parent, but every one of us can support those folks that are stepping forward,” said Sharon Pierce, president and CEO of The Villages, a foster care and adoption service.
The House will collect donations, including diapers, clothes, blankets and gift cards.