GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A new program in Kent County is working to give foster parents the resources and knowledge they need to support kids.
The West Michigan Partnership for Children, a first-of-its-kind Michigan Department of Health and Human Services pilot project, is rolling out its Enhanced Foster Care program as National Foster Care Month is underway.
The program's main goal is to give foster parents the tools needed to meet the emotional needs of foster children.
"What that could look like is a behavioral specialist and a clinical case manager in the home with a foster parent a few nights a week," WMPC CEO Kristyn Peck explained, "really helping coach them and build their skills that are necessary to parent children who have experienced trauma."
Peck told 24 Hour News 8 that many foster children have been abandoned, neglected or abused, which is why there are often behavioral and or emotional needs foster parents have to navigate. The new program is helping prepare more foster care parents so children aren't sent to youth homes.
Full story: WOOD TV8