Nevada is one of the many states nationwide dealing with a shortage of foster homes. Tawnya Robertson, a caseworker with the recruitment and training unit at Washoe County Health and Human Services, said that many local foster homes are at capacity.
“It’s a nationwide crisis right now,” Robertson said. “There’s articles that I have read where some places put kids in hotel rooms because there’s nowhere to put them.”
Nevada has been one of those places. Earlier this year, caseworkers in rural parts of the state temporarily housed foster children in hotels as a result of the shortage. States like Oregon and North Carolina have taken similar actions, using hotels, emergency rooms and jail cells as emergency shelters for foster children.
In Washoe County, around 600 children are in the foster care system with about 400 foster families—but the number of available homes is even lower. Some licensed foster homes are strictly for family caretakers, limited to only caring for relatives. Other licensed foster homes are reserved for children with elevated emotional and physical needs.
Foster care at its core is meant to be a temporary solution as the county works with the biological or primary family, the children and foster families to resolve the issues that caused the child’s removal. When reunifying is not possible, other permanent living arrangements, such as adoption,
In Nevada, 89% of cases that result in removal are due to neglect, which is higher than the national average of 64%, according to Child Trends.
“A lot of these parents simply don’t have the resources, they don’t have the skills, and they don’t have the proper supports,” Robertson said. “And by proper supports, what I mean are healthy supports where they’re receiving healthy guidance on how to parent a child successfully. A lot of these parents don’t realize the harm that they’re causing their children by doing some of the things that they’re doing.”
Washoe County caseworkers hope to reunite children with their primary family, and a key part of a successful reunification lies in the foster families’ willingness to provide support before, during and after the foster process.
The experience of being removed from home is traumatic for children, and although there are emergency shelters like the Kids Kottage in Reno, Emily Stevenson, a local foster parent, says a home environment may help in a time of turmoil.
“It’s just different to feel part of a family while you’re going through it,” Stevenson said. “It’s scary enough for the kiddos as it is when it happens.”
The number of available foster homes in Nevada has decreased in recent years, from 1,731 available homes in 2020 to 1,183 in 2022, according to The Imprint, a publication that covers child welfare.
Stevenson has been a foster parent for seven years, and she says she is still in contact with families that have successfully reunified.
”You remain in their life; they don’t go away,” Stevenson said. “So a lot of these kiddos, I still talk to the parent we reunified with. I still talk to the kids if they need something.”
On November 4, Have a Heart Washoe, a campaign managed by Washoe County Health and Human Services, will host an open house and invite the public to learn more about opportunities to foster, adopt and mentor foster children. There will be foster and adoptive parents around to answer any questions that community members may have.
In addition to supporting the foster kids’ daily needs, Robertson stresses the importance of approaching fostering with “an open mind and open heart.”
“When we’re looking for individuals in the community who are looking at or who are open to learning more about becoming a foster parent, some of the other ask is that they’re caring for these kids who have experienced trauma, who’ve experienced loss, and they recognize those children’s desire to get back home.”
