ACI-Dungarvin Helps Children through Foster Care in North Carolina

Each year, a staggering number of children are in need of a home. The reasons why are as unique as each individual child. Foster care is one option. Foster care is a system in which a minor is placed into a home of a state-certified caregiver, commonly known as a “foster parent,” or with a family member approved of by the state.

Of course, children are never placed in foster care for anything that they did. While some minors enter the foster care system to be protected from neglect or abuse, oftentimes the situations are much more complex. Some families encounter hardships that ultimately prevent them from caring for and providing a safe home for their children.

In North Carolina, the situation has become a crisis. According to federal data, the number of licensed foster care homes in the state has dropped by 23 percent from 2021 to 2022. As a result, there are only roughly 5,500 foster homes for approximately 10,200 foster children in the state.

ACI-Dungarvin knows it can help. The agency is a licensed Child placement provider, meaning ACI-Dungarvin can place youth in foster homes across the state. In several counties, the organization could provide many more services if more qualified foster parents stepped up to help. “We have great foster parents across the state,” said Latoya Davis, Foster Care Director. “However, we do not have enough foster homes to meet the increasing need across our state. By becoming a licensed foster parent, you will be able to provide a loving, structured, and nurturing home for children in need.”

Consider the example of Trinette Brown. For more than 10 years, Brown has been a foster parent with ACI-Dungarvin, but in total, she has been a loving foster parent for more than 22 years. A positive individual, Brown knew she had more to give. “I was a group home program manager,” she shares. “I didn’t have my own biological kids but knew I could be there to help kids with their goals. I had a desire to nurture and care for them and knew becoming a foster parent was a way I could give back.”

Recently, Brown shared a pivotal moment in her experience fostering. “I was driving my car and had a foster child in the back seat, kicking my seat,” she remembers. “I patiently told him, ‘I don’t care what you do, I still love you.’ He looked and me and said: ‘Say that again.’ So, I repeated it. He then shared with me that ‘no one has ever told me that they love me before.’”

If you are a current resident of North Carolina, please contact us to find your local office and learn how you can make an impact in your community. Call 919-329-5671 or email NC-TherapeuticFosterCare@dungarvin.com. Thank you for choosing to make a difference.