Oklahoma DHS looking for more families to foster children across the state

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services said they’re working to recruit hundreds more foster parents this year as officials said they’ve seen fewer Oklahomans signing up.

Their goal for 2025 is to recruit 400 new foster homes to put every child in a safe and stable environment.

Each day, there are more than 5,800 children in the foster care system in Oklahoma, a number DHS said is lower than in years past.

But another number that has dropped is the number of foster parents.

“Who knows whether it’s the economy, who knows whether it’s just an up and down swing,” said Lourie Myers, foster care supervisor for Child Welfare Services.

According to DHS, they need 736 families for 2025.

“They have an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on the lives of a family,” Myers said. “Our goal is to have enough foster homes so that when a child enters custody, we’re able to place them in the right home.”

“It’s a critical need whenever we get that phone call that there’s a child in need of a foster family,” said Angie Doss, chief development and marketing officer for Sunbeam Family Services.

Sunbeam Family Services is a foster care agency that’s been around since the 1930s.

Officials with the organization said it’s about a 3-month process to become foster certified.

“In order to be a foster parent, you have to care deeply about children and lot of the on boarding process you learn the rules, you are getting training and how to be a great foster parent,” Doss said.

To become a foster parent, you can be single, married or divorced. You have to be at least 21 years old, pass all background checks and have a stable income to support the child.

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