“We believe it is a big step in helping those families come together,” said Roger Stauffer, foster care manager for Agape for Youth. “This might help get those children into homes just a little bit quicker.”
Stauffer said Dayton’s heroin problem has made it difficult to place children in families.
“Many of our kids are coming from families who are struggling with addiction,” he said. “We see that a lot here in Montgomery County.”
There are approximately 23,000 children in foster care in the state, according to statistics provided by Ohio Guidestone, a social service organization in Columbus. Agape for Youth currently has 100 children in foster care and serves approximately 180 children each year.
Angela Booth-Jones, who lives in Cincinnati but works in Dayton, said Ohio has to fix the heroin issue in order to save more children.
“We have to address the problem head-on,” she said. “This problem is keeping the youth from reaching their full potential.”
One of the key challenges faced is finding available families for the children in foster care.
“There are often more children in foster care than there are available families,” Stauffer said. “We do our best to help children find a home.”
Agape for Youth has served youth in the area for 27 years. It moved to the Edwin C. Moses Boulevard location from Dryden road in August of last year.
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