In a world where 428,000 children are currently in foster care awaiting a loving family, it’s good to know the facts about fostering. Although I've never personally been in contact with foster care, I know children who have and the kind people who foster them.

It takes a lot of preparation

Not only do you have to get fingerprinted, get background checks, and pass a home visit but you also must participate in a training to receive a foster care license. This varies from state to state, but I know in Alabama the home visit is very thorough and intensive. It’s easier to abort a child than adopting or fostering a child, which is ridiculous. I understand not wanting to put the child in an unsafe home, however, if someone comes up as immediate family, they do not get as extensive of a background check, which is one of the flaws in the system.

The foster parent must be patient

This isn’t true for all cases, but most of the time drug abuse or just plain neglect is involved. The children involved may have trust issues, anger issues, or any other number of psychological issues. Due to this, they’re going to need a lot of TLC, which means a lot of time spent with them.

The option to adopt isn’t always there

Adoptions can range up to $1,000 and more in some places. Money isn’t always the issue though, as I mentioned earlier a relative can step in. The belief that a child should always be placed with family is not always true, as it depends on the person, not just the relativeness. In 2014, statistics show that 51% of children left child care because of reunification with parents and only 21% because of adoption. Where are the statistics that show how many of those reunified with their parents went back into foster care?

Foster parents can be the child's only hope

Although some of the foster childs biological parents do get their parental rights back, sometimes they are terminated meaning that the child cannot go back to their parents whatsoever legally. Most of the children who stay in the foster system and eventually “age out” do not get the help they need resulting in statistics like 1 in 5 of them becoming homeless and only ½ of them will be employed by the time they turn 24. However, a child that ends up in a loving home can be less likely to end up in these adverse situations.

To put it into perspective, 1 in 184 children living in the U.S will end up in foster care. So if able, look into fostering a child or even donating to a foster home as you never know how many lives it could save.