Article by:
Stephanie Wheatley
Clark County is looking to expand the number of foster parents who are willing to open their home to children, teens, and sibling groups looking for a safe, loving, temporary home. The Clark County Department of Family Services is hosting a 2-week expedited foster care training program. There is still time to sign up for the classes this year to ensure all children are in a home for the holidays.
“Children, teens, and sibling groups are waiting at Child Haven for placement in foster homes. Our expedited classes are designed to fast-track new foster parents through the licensing process, and ultimately help children move from our shelter to stable and loving foster homes,” explains Jill Marano, Director of Clark County Department of Family Services.
The first step in the foster parent journey is to sign up for an information session. Once that’s completed, the team at Family Services will walk potential foster families through the next steps. Those include fingerprinting, a background check, submitting the application and documentation, preparing for the home safety inspection, and signing up for the expedited class.
There are 3,000 children, any given day, who are in Clark County foster care, from infants and toddlers to teenagers. Foster parenting is about believing and investing in the future of a child and their biological family. It’s crucial that children who are unable to reside with their biological families have a home to stay in with engaged and loving foster parents. The need for foster parents is critical.
For more information on Clark County’s foster care department, what it takes to get involved and more, click here.
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Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect, accountability, leadership and excellence. With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 11th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to 2.3 million citizens and 41 million visitors a year (2022). Included are the nation’s 8th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The County also provides municipal services that are traditionally provided by cities to 1 million residents in the unincorporated area. Those include fire protection, roads and other public works, parks and recreation, and planning and development.