Foster parents needed

Staff


For those looking to make a difference in the lives of children, becoming a foster parent provides a rewarding opportunity to help a child in need. Youth Villages is currently in need of caring adults in the Woodbury-area to open their hearts and homes to children who have suffered abuse, neglect or abandonment. These children need families who will care for them until they can return to their birth families or an adoptive family is found for them.

Foster parents provide children with a safe, comfortable environment and monitor their emotional growth, school progress and physical health. They also serve as positive role models to children who may lack caring adults in their lives.

Youth Villages provides foster parents with 24-hour access to counselors, support groups and a monthly stipend to offset the cost of adding a child to the home. Foster parents also often have the first right to adopt if the child becomes available for adoption.

Foster parents should be over the age of 25 and residents of Tennessee. Foster parents should have viable income, reliable transportation and be able to pass a background check and home study.

Youth Villages offers free information sessions for those interested in learning more about becoming a foster parent. The next information session will be held Monday, Aug. 25 from 5:30-7 p.m.

Youth Villages also offers free training classes to teach new foster parents how to address a child’s emotional and behavioral problems, as well as parenting and discipline techniques. Free training classes will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-9 p.m., beginning Thursday, Sept. 11.

The information session and training classes will be held at the Youth Villages office, located at 448 Neal St., Cookeville, TN 38501.
To register for the upcoming information session or training classes or for more information about how you can change the life of a child, contact Chris Sanders, foster parent recruiter, at 931-525-6905 or christopher.sanders@youthvillages.org.