Helping children in foster care

Kelly Pullen, MSSW, LCSW-S, Senior Vice President of the Childkind Center

As the number of children in foster care in Kentucky continues to rise, our work becomes more important than ever. With more than 8,000 children in out of home care, the Therapeutic Loving foster Care and Adoption (TLC) team at Home of the Innocents is busier than ever.

Where do these children go? What happens to them? Some of them come stay at Home of the Innocents. Many of them go to foster homes through the state. Some of them are placed in foster homes through our TLC program.

Many times, children have been removed by state child protection authorities as a result of abuse or neglect. Sometimes parents choose to place their children in foster care for a short treatment period. Usually, the first goal of foster care is to reunify the family.  This means that the birth family has to make some positive changes in order for the child to return home. If it is determined by the court that the child should not return home, then the child may remain in foster care while awaiting adoption.

As you can imagine, this can be a very challenging time for everyone, and it requires a period of adjustment. Foster parents play a key role by providing a safe, loving environment for the child. Foster parenting with TLC provides a temporary home for kids who cannot safely remain with their birth families. Our team trains adults to become Teaching Parents. Our Teaching Parents care for children until they can return to their parents or are permanently adopted.

Most children referred to TLC are in need of a therapeutic foster home. We specialize in training Teaching Parents to be a positive influence in these situations. Our experienced staff go the extra step to ensure that our Teaching Parents are prepared to implement the appropriate behavioral plans to help each child deal with the complexity of these circumstances.

You can help these children. You can become a foster parent with TLC. If you decide to become one of our TLC Teaching Parents, you’ll join an extended family of other parents and childcare professionals who provide a caring and knowledgeable network of support. For more information about how you can make a difference in a child’s life as a foster or adoptive parent, visit our web page or give us a call at your area’s number listed below.

Louisville: 502.596.1313

Elizabethtown: 270.300.7831

Lexington / Northern Kentucky: 859.669.9220

Don’t put it off any longer. Change a life!