LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Thousands of children are in the foster care system in Clark County, and the need for foster parents is never-ending. The county has put out several pleas for people to register to foster.
A child has no control over their home life, so when they are taken away, one of the places they often stay in are hospitals until they find a home.
You could have what it takes to give that to them.
11-month-old Jordyn now has a home and a parent to call mom. Nicole Farley brought her home at 5 weeks old as a foster.
“Basically, my job was to love on her and to do all the day in and day out stuff,” Farley said.
Farley had already fostered and adopted Kallie and Reyna, both under 5 years old, when Jordyn came into the picture.
“I had no idea that I was going to adopt one, let alone three. You fall in love with the kids,” Farley continued.
Farley said she started fostering two years ago, not knowing what she was getting herself into but knowing she needed to do it.
“Once you’re kind of in the system on this side of it and you see what the need is, it’s really hard to step away knowing there are so many kids that need help,” she said.
Farley is wheelchair bound, but that won’t stop her from her mom duties.
“I have the capacity to love more than I thought,” Farley said. “If you have love to give, then that’s all they really need.”
Groups like Foster Change work with Clark County to train and support foster parents like Farley.
“There’s nothing that really discriminates you from providing care,” Program Manager of Foster Change Cindy Tarrant said. “A lot of the training is getting to know about yourself.”
Parents go through a 9-week training period.
Clark County has just over 680 foster homes for children and teenagers, according to the county. They would like to have at least 1,000 homes at any given time for the 3,000 children that are in the foster care system.
If you would like to sign up and open your home, visit this link. Click on “Sign up for a virtual information session” and register for a meeting, where you will learn about the requirements and responsibilities of a foster parent and see an overview of the process.