The Child Development Agency (CDA) is appealing to persons to open their homes to children eight years and younger who need the care of foster families.

Making the call today during a church service at Ridgemount United Church in Mandeville Sunday to mark Foster Care Week, chief executive officer of the CDA, Alison Anderson, said foster parenting would make a marked difference in the lives of more than 350 children.

Sign up for training

"The agency needs to get more people to become familiar with foster care. Sign up for training and then take that important step of becoming involved," she said. "Simultaneously, we want to answer the many questions and correct the misconceptions that persons have about foster care."

Anderson added that if the CDA was to achieve its objective of significantly reducing the number of children in residential care, it was crucial that the programme attract more persons.

"Over the past two years, we have maintained our foster-care placements at 18 per cent or, more precisely, 1,148 children of the total number of children in care live in homes with foster families.

"Even though placements have been consistent over the last three years, settling at approximately 250 new placements per year, there has been no real growth in the programme, as each year that number is equalled by the number of children who mature out of State care," she said.

Foster Care Week is being observed from February 8-14. Persons aged 25-65 are eligible to become foster parents.