We are constantly on the search for new foster families, as well as adoptive families.

The two work hand in hand. About 70 percent of our adoptions are by foster families. These are people who have come to know and love the children in their care, and they want to make it

a permanent arrangement once the court decides the child cannot be safely returned home. The best way to keep our adoption pipeline full is to have plenty of foster parents.

We need foster parents for other reasons, too. We like to keep sibling sets together whenever possible. That means we need foster homes willing to take multiple children, even 7 or more at a time. We also want to keep our children local, so they can maintain the same neighborhood, school, friends, etc. To do this, we need local foster families.

A local agency we contract with for foster parent services, Child Focus, is organizing an effort to raise awareness about foster parenting and to increase the pool of local foster parents. Working with Cincinnati City Councilman Charlie Winburn, the organization plans to unite other agencies to participate in the awareness campaign. We, too, are happy to join.