A Columbus-based foster care agency is reaching out to Brown County and other area communities due to the dire need for foster homes for teenagers.

“We are seeing countless referrals for youth coming in who need placements, and we just do not have enough foster homes willing to take in teenage youth,” said Clarissa Hunnicutt, licensing coordinator for National Youth Advocate Program Inc. “Our biggest need is homes for teen placements and larger sibling groups. No one wants to be separated from their brothers and sisters after losing their home and parents.”

The NYAP office is located at 2525 California St., Suite E, Columbus.

Abigail Romine, regional manager of NYAP, said they are a not-for-profit organization that partners with the Department of Child Services to meet the needs of families and children involved in the child welfare process.

“We do this through offering safe, supportive foster homes for children who are placed out of their homes, services to families whose children are involved with the Department of Child Services and foster families who are looking to provide safe homes for youth who are in out-of-home care,” Romine said.

The NYAP agency is located in multiple states and has multiple locations across Indiana. The Columbus office serves Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Shelby, Bartholomew, Brown and Monroe counties.

Romine said 1,152 youth were placed in foster homes through NYAP in 2021.

The biggest need now is for foster families for teens and siblings because they are seeing multiple referrals a day for teens and sibling groups of three or more, she said.

”These are children from our own communities who probably go to school with our own children, most of which we cannot place because we simply do not have enough homes to take them,” Romine said. “These children are often placed in group homes or residential facilities needlessly simply because there are not enough homes.”

She believes the reason it’s so difficult to place teens is due to people’s fears about what fostering a teen is like.

”There is a stigma of the ‘troubled teen,’ and this is something we need to move past. So many of us can remember back when we were struggling as teens and one person made a difference for us,” Romine said. “These teens need that special someone in their lives, a hero that they can aspire to be like. Foster parents can be that guiding light for teens and show them that the world can be a bright place and that there are people who genuinely care about them.”

She said foster parents can share so many firsts with them.

“They can teach them independent living skills, like cooking and how to maintain a home, all those little things you need to learn to be a functional adult,” she said. “Foster parents get to experience prom with them, high school, their first date. Some of the most important memorable times in a youths life are in their teen years.”

As for who can be foster parents, Romine said single individuals and married couples can foster as well as co-habiting couples who have been together longer than a year.

Foster families have to complete background checks, have a stable income showing they can meet their needs and go through an interview process. It is a lengthy process but so worth it, Romine said.

With NYAP, she said people can be licensed in as little as 30 days, but most families are completed in 60 days.

Once qualified, it is possible for the family to have a youth in the home that same night if they are willing, as the need is so great.

Does it vary from youth to youth as to how long they stay with a family? It really depends on the youth’s case, but most will stay roughly six months or more, she said.

“Most often, the youth return to their families, as that is what is best for the youth,” Romine said. “But at times, they are adopted by their foster families.”

She said the number of foster homes needed varies from day to day.

“We have so many coming into care every day looking for homes. Some areas are now sending lists of youth looking for homes instead of individual referrals due to the great need,” Romine said.

Kids who need foster families sometimes wait in the DCS office while the family case managers are looking for a home for them. If a home is not located, then a youth must stay in a residential facility until a home is located, she said.

“We are committed to finding safe, caring homes for these youth,” Romine said. “This is a hard time of year to be without loved ones and especially in what is often held to be some of the most memorable times of their years.”

For information about fostering a youth or becoming foster parents, got to nyap.org or call 812-342-4220.