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Summit County Children Services launches new effort in hopes of increasing number of foster homes

Posted at 7:54 PM, Feb 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-18 19:55:16-05

AKRON, Ohio — The Summit County Children Services is facing a crisis. The agency said they are taking in a record number of children into their foster care system.

Currently, more than 800 children are in the county's foster care. The problem though, there are only 150 licensed foster homes within Summit County.

"We're not seeing families foster like they used to," Ann Ream, Director of Public Relations, said. "We've hit a critical need for more homes."

Ream said each of the 150 homes is taking in an average of three children. While that's a great start, Ream said need more help.

Just recently, the agency launched a brand new campaign to help recruit for additional foster care homes. They hope to partner with a marketing company who can spread the word about the need for more families and homes.

"This is totally new, something we've never tried before," Ream said. "It's critical that we have that local support."

Ream said one factor for the rising number of children in their care is the opioid epidemic. They said more adults and parents are becoming victims of drug abuse and losing their children in the process.

For more information about the agency's new campaign efforts, click here.

If you'd like to learn more about become a foster parent, the next informational meeting will be held Monday, February 26 at 6 p.m.