Foster Parent: Child Taken From Good Home

Thirteen-thousand children and teenagers living in Georgia are in foster care. That number comes from the state's Department of Human Resources. But one foster parent tells NEWS 3 the office is taking children out of good homes.

"I called you initially to prevent [something] because I had a 5 year old ADHD child in my home that I was fostering from DFCS," says foster parent Carolyn White.

She says while the child was at school – DFCS – or the Division of Family and Children Services – took the child away. Carolyn says this all happened because of something she thought wasn't a problem.

Carolyn's fostered nearly fifteen children in about ten years. When one moves on, she never forgets them – thanks to photo albums. "I love to love. And I love to take care of people," says Carolyn.

Carolyn started renting her house about two years ago and a case worker checked it out immediately. "She checked this house because you have to pass inspections in order to keep children," says Carolyn.

Since then, Carolyn's fostered two children. The most recent one arrived a little more than six weeks ago – a 5-year-old boy with ADHD.

The Bars

Everything seemed to be going well until the case worker came back to Carolyn's house – Carolyn says for 1 reason – to check out the bars on her windows. Something Carolyn says the case worker never mentioned before.

"She was so adamant about removing the bars. That's when I asked her if it was a policy for the bars to be removed. Because if this is a policy, why is this the first time I'm hearing about it?" questioned Carolyn. She says the case worker told her it was not a policy, but that DFCS was concerned about the child's safety. Within 24 hours – Carolyn tells us DFCS removed the child from her care and into something like a group home.

"It just bothers me and I think the child is the one that paid the penalty," says Carolyn.

She says she could just be quiet and not fight the decision, but can't. "I will stand up because children need someone to speak for them," says Carolyn.

What DFCS Says

For days we've been working on getting answers from the Division of Family and Children Services. They can’t tell us anything for right now. The spokeswoman says the Chatham County office is still figuring out how to deal with this. Until then, they can't tell us anything. Of course when they do we'll be sure to let everyone know.

Foster Care in Savannah/Chatham County

Finding foster care in Georgia is a struggle everyday. Georgia's Department of Human Resources tells us 415 foster kids live in Savannah. But there are only 90 foster parents in all of Chatham County.

The local Division of Family and Children Services is asking more people to step up and become foster parents. "We have very few resources for our children in our county, and many times we have to go outside of our county for placement for children.  We have a dire need for homes for teenagers and sibling groups and even infants.  You would be surprised at how difficult it is sometimes to find a place for an infant," says Aisha Caul, a DFCS social services director.

If you're interested in becoming a foster parent, call 1-877-210-KIDS.