April 16, 2024

More than 400 of Mecklenburg’s children are in the state’s foster care system. Tuesday’s presenters focused on the way the system works, who it  serves, and the need for additional support for these children and the adults willing to give them shelter, protection and nurture.

Among Tuesday’s messages: Every resident can find a small or large way to support the community’s children in foster care. More adults are needed to foster children on a temporary basis. Many children never make it out of foster care. Some youth find themselves homeless on their 18th birthday when they age out of the state support system.

Presenters were Rekita McDuffie, senior social services manager with Mecklenburg County; Becky Santora, a former teacher and co-founder of Foster Village, a support group and clearinghouse of information for foster parents; and Donna Reed, founder of Home4Me, a group focused on teens foster care and on preparing those about the age out of the system.

The Q&A was cut short by the need to make way for a police candidate recruitment event overlapping in the same Belmont Center room.

Technical issues prevented display of McDuffie’s PowerPoint slides. They are below, and may be downloaded here as a PDF.