Need for Foster Homes at All-Time Critical High

November, as National Adoption Month, Underscores Urgent Need 
For Placement, Stability for Children 

November is National Adoption Month, which is designed to raise awareness about the critical need for adoptive families for children and youth in foster care. It’s also a time to consider the urgent need for foster homes for hundreds of children and youth in Connecticut. 

Click here to learn more about Wheeler's foster care program.

A Wheeler program serving youth and families in nine cities and towns in Greater Waterbury continues to actively and urgently recruit foster families who can provide stable, safe, caring environments for youth in foster care for shorter durations. Funded by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, the program serves children and youth, ages 6 to 17, right in their own communities.

“More than ever, we are seeing an urgent need for foster families, nationally and here in Connecticut, and observances like National Adoption Month are springboards for this necessary conversation,” said Sharon Pendleton-Ponzani, LCSW, director, Wheeler Foster Care. “The world is increasingly complicated, and people are preoccupied with social and economic concerns, which means that critical challenges like foster care have moved farther into the background.

“We need families, and we need them now,” added Pendleton-Ponzani. “Our team will work closely with all family members involved in this process, and we’ll provide incentives such as a monthly stipend.”

Pendleton-Ponzani said that additional support is provided to foster families, including training in the Functional Family Therapy-Foster Care (FFT-FC ) model so they can better understand how to successfully support youth who live in their homes. The FFT-FC model also provides support groups for foster parents using a framework developed by FFT Partners (the model developer).

Wheeler’s program includes a dedicated team of multidisciplinary professionals who provide weekly in-home sessions with youth and families as well as 24/7 on-call coverage support for the foster family. Support groups, ongoing training, and coordination of services for youth also are provided. Families are trained in trauma-informed care as well as in an evidence-based Functional Family Therapy Foster Care model.

Wheeler’s Foster Care program serves youth and families in: Beacon Falls, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oxford, Prospect, Southbury, Waterbury, Wolcott, and Woodbury. There is a great need for new foster homes in this region to help local children, particularly teenagers.

For more information, call 860.793.7277 or email: Fostercareprograms@wheelerclinic.org.