COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Friday, the South Carolina Department of Social Services reported more than four thousand kids in foster care. According to a report on the DSS foster care dashboard, there was an increase of 102 children in foster care from March to April of 2021.
One foster care manager said this increase does not mean more children are coming into social services.
"There’s not an increase in foster care," said Katheleen Beard, Foster Care Case Manager. "We just aren’t able to move them out of foster care as quickly as before."
Beard said the increase is due to the coronavirus pandemic and forcing courts to shut down.
"The courts are shut down, and with the delay of reopening, the courts are not able to move the children to permanency," Beard said. "In addition to that, we had Child Abuse Prevention Month last month, which brings awareness to the public, which can result into an increase, too."
According to the Foster Care Database, as of Friday, Greenville County lead the state with 640 kids in foster care. Richland County has the second highest amount with 509, and Charleston County is the third highest with 409 kids in foster care.
"Richland County does have a bigger population than some of the other counties," Beard said. "With that, comes with more foster homes and more recruitment. There are lots of providers that we work with privately to assess the families for foster care and kinship. I think right now the greatest need is to recruit more foster parents who are able to care for older kids, teens and siblings."
The president of the Richland County Foster Parent Association, Lee Fletcher has been a foster parent for four years. He said the kids have changed him and encourages people to become a foster parent if they can.
"If you're willing to take a chance, if you're willing to come with a big old bag of patience, if you've got the space, if you've got the love, I highly recommend taking a chance on being a foster parent," Fletcher said.
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