The number of foster children in need of homes in Fort Bend and Harris counties far outnumbers the number of foster families with rooms available between the same county lines, according to data from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

The most recent DFPS data available shows in the month of March, there were 2,332 children in need of homes in the Harris County foster care system and 119 children in need of homes in the Fort Bend foster care system.

Sameisha Adolph-Frazier, Houston director for Foster in Texas, said she believes the Katy area needs more foster families. Foster in Texas, a division of Austin-based Upbring that operates the Krause Children’s Center in Katy, seeks to find homes for foster and adopted children.

“We have about 65 families total [in Houston], and only five of them come from the Katy area,” Adolph-Frazier said. “That tells you there’s definitely a deficit in that area and [a need for] making sure we get [out] the word to find families and homes for the children. It’s a little bit slower than most areas for whatever reason.”

Capacity crisis

Of the 2,451 children who need homes in Harris and Fort Bend counties in March, 1,465 children were placed in homes within county lines and 709 were placed in other counties within Region 6—which encompasses 13 counties in southeast Texas. An additional 293 children had to be placed in foster homes outside the region due to a lack of internal resources, and five children did not receive a placement—all of which were from Harris County—according to DFPS data.

In addition to weakening family relationships, relocating a child outside his or her county hinders the normalcy of a child’s life, which is a top priority for foster care agencies, said Leshia Fisher, Child Protective Services regional director for DFPS.

“When children are not placed in their home areas, it impacts them in a multitude of ways—they are suffering losses in family connection, lost friendships, losses in educational outcomes, and most importantly, the negative impact it has on their overall emotional stability,” she said.

Officials said a surplus of foster-to-adopt families—or people whose motivation is to adopt and not foster short term—and a narrowness of foster preferences, such as which age groups, genders and ethnicities a family will accept, exacerbate the statewide crisis.

When children cannot be placed in foster homes within their own counties, they are placed in homes within that child’s respective region—if available—or anywhere in the state. If a home cannot be located, a child can be placed in a shelter for up to 30 days or in a residential care center, depending on the child’s behavior.

Room for improvement

Aside from fostering, officials listed other ways residents in Harris and Fort Bend counties can help: preparing meals for foster families, donating clothing and personal items for children, getting approved as a babysitter for foster children and volunteering with related organizations.

Between the two counties, there were more than 1,300 private agency foster homes in March, according to DFPS. More than 1,800 of the 2,007 children in Harris and Fort Bend counties needing homes in March were placed in private homes.

“We simply need more foster parents to help support the children who are removed from the county,” Fisher said. “Everyone has to realize this is a problem that affects all of us, and as such, we will need to have a community response.”