Three youngsters in Patrick County have been looking for a foster home for more than a year, but so far have met not met with success, according to social worker Sharon Kimble.

“We have been looking for a year and a half, and we can’t find a home for them,” she said of the siblings aged 12, 13 and 15.

While Kimble said she does not “know why they keep getting turned down, it’s really hard to answer when they ask ‘Why doesn’t anybody want us?’”

Currently, the agency has only six families that are approved to provide foster care, according to Kimble, Susan Corbett and Missy Snow, all social workers with the Patrick County Department of Social Services, and all on a mission to recruit and train foster parents for the 20 youngsters in need.

Those not placed in a foster home are ferreted out of the county where they are housed in approved group homes and other facilities, Kimble said.

There are many requirements to become a foster family, according to Kimble. In addition to background checks and in-home assessments, training also is required.

The fall training soon will begin, and includes in-person and online learning opportunities, the social workers said.

All of the classes will be held at the Stuart site of Patrick Henry Community College. Classes include an Introduction to Modern Foster Care; Attachment and Trauma; Loss, Trauma and Resilience; Understanding Behavior/Discipline; and Supporting Children’s Relationships and others.

All sessions are required, and attendance by both parents is required in two-parent households, however, Corbett said single parents also are welcome to apply.

Regardless of which family type, fostering a child “does take a lot of time, training and patience,” Kimble said. She said most of youngsters ineligible for foster care were victims of abuse and/or neglect. Many also have suffered some sort of trauma. Because of that, some may have related behavioral issues.

Kimble said in those cases, the youngster receives therapy and or counseling. Any of those issues, she said, “are not of their own doing,” but rather caused by past circumstances.

The age of youngsters in need of foster homes ranges from 2 years old up to 18 years-old, Kimble said. The two who are 18 now are in a program called Foster Futures, which provides resources, contacts and other tools to help youngsters transition to and succeed at adulthood.

While foster placements can last up to three years, Kimble said the goal is for a placement to last one year. The child then returns home, lives with a relative or may be adopted.

Foster families also must work with birth families, and be willing to let go when it’s time for the child to return home, she said.

Social workers maintain close contact with foster families, with a goal of once per week, Corbett said.

The agency also needs people willing to fill other support positions, like respite care, Corbett said of people who provide temporary and short term housing to a youngster – for instance, if the agency gets a foster child in the middle of the night.

Given the requirements needed to be a foster family, there are many reasons to not get involved, and really only one reason to want such a challenging job, Kimble said.

“The people that are successful foster parents have a need to make a difference,” she said. “They know they have helped a child improve their life. There are a lot of children out there in need.”

Register for the fall training by Aug. 31.

For more information, call Kimble at (276) 693-2098 or email Sharon.Kimble@dss.virginia.gov. Call Corbett at (276) 693-2086, or email Susan.Corbett@dss.virginia.gov.