The Department of Children’s Services is working to increase the number of Smith County foster families and desperately needs your help. There are approximately 57 children from Smith County currently in the foster care system. Sadly, when a child from Smith County enters foster care, they likely will be placed outside of their home community and away from everything they are familiar with due to the lack of families willing to open their hearts and homes to them. There are only 6 Smith County foster homes available to children at the present time. We need your help to increase that number to at least 25 families and are asking you to share this message with your friends and family.
Long-time foster parent, Kandi Ray, explains (in the interview above) the need for more foster parents in Smith County and the reason why she loves opening her home to foster children. Ray told Smith County Insider, “I’m so passionate about the children in our state who deserve loving families! Fostering has its challenges but the rewards far exceed those challenges. Not everyone can foster but everyone can support those who do”.
To begin the journey of foster parenting submit an inquiry online via https://bit.ly/FosteringTNInfo or call 1-877-DCS-KIDS (1-877-327-5437). Once the inquiry is completed a Harmony Family Center Inquiry Coordinator will contact you to start the pre-screening process. If you would like additional information or a flyer for your newsletter or bulletin please reach out to our Recruitment Manager, Talia Wisecarver at 423-393-3042 or by email talia@harmonyfamilycenter.org.
We also recognize that fostering is not for everyone, so we want to make you aware of additional ways in which you can become involved with supporting the Smith County families who make the decision to foster. Tennessee Kids Belong (TKB) is an organization that works closely with local churches. They have some wonderful ideas for congregations on how to wrap supports around foster families. Emily Graffius is the the point of contact for our area. We encourage you to reach out to her to learn more. Phone: 423-667-4952, Email: egraffius@tnkidsbelong.org, Website: www.tnkidsbelong.org.
