Foster care creates meaningful connections for children in state custody and their families

Every day in Oklahoma, children enter the foster care system through no fault of their own. There are currently 6,546 children in state custody, including 43 children from right here in Grady County!  Each child needs the love and support that only a family can provide, as well as help to process the trauma they have experienced. Many children in foster care have developed survival skills that are an attempt to meet an unmet need, and they are in need of a foster family willing to meet them right where they are. This is where YOU can help!

Oklahoma Human Services knows that hope, healing and reunification can occur when communities work together to create supports and strengthen meaningful connections for children in state custody and their families. Foster families play a vital part in this process by becoming one of those connections for biological families, while also providing a safe, loving temporary home for the children in their care. For these reasons, Oklahoma Human Services asks the community to help us raise awareness about the many ways Oklahomans can support foster care, and to celebrate and support the individuals and families who have stepped forward to become foster parents. If a business or community organization with which you are associated would like to know how you can help, please contact us. 

The goal of foster care is to offer supports to strengthen families so they can reunify, whenever safely possible. In state fiscal year 2022, over 1,700 children were safely reunited with their families. This is the ultimate success, both for Oklahoma Human Services and for the families we served together with our community partners, because it means the families were able to use the services and tools they received to correct the conditions that led to the removal of their children. Reunification also ensures children maintain long-term connections to their kin, culture and community, which are the overall goals of Child Welfare Services.

All of us can support our neighbors and communities and help families before they come into crisis. To learn more about foster care contact Lourie Myers at 405-933-7346 or email at lourie.myers@okdhs.org or call 1-800-376-9729 or visit https://okfosters.org/.