Teenagers too often overlooked in foster care, according to NECCO of Logan
- Robert Fields
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
LOGAN Currently, there are nearly 6,000 children in state custody in West Virginia. According to Becky Adams, program director for NECCO in Logan, many of those kids are teenagers, a demographic she says is often tragically overlooked.
On Monday, WVOW’s Josh Lawson sat down with team members at NECCO to discuss the urgent need for foster homes in local communities. Adams explained why the need for foster care has been so prevalent in Logan County, saying a major contributing factor is the region’s ongoing drug crisis.
“There is the obvious abuse and neglect situations that occur and children are removed from their homes and a lot of times, you know it’s not their fault. There’s the substance abuse problems that we have in our county and surrounding counties that lead to a lot of this as well,” she said. “When they’re removed from their home, the next step is a relative, and if a relative cannot be located, then it’s foster care. So that’s where we come into play and unfortunately, we just don’t have the homes that can take in the amount of teenagers we are receiving referrals for every single day.”
According to Stephanie Goble, a licensing associate with NECCO, one common reason a teenager might be overlooked in foster care is their age. Newer foster parents may go in with the thought of adopting an infant, so the idea of taking in and trying to build a parent-child relationship with a teenager can be intimidating. However, Goble said in many cases that it’s an opportunity to give the child experiences that they would otherwise never get to have.
“I think they’re basically just scared of the teens because they are older. Everybody wants this baby, we’re afraid of teenagers, but there’s a lot of teens that come into care – you can take them on their first vacation, their first birthday party,” she said. “They’re fifteen years old and they’ve never had family gatherings and things. There’s a lot of firsts with those teens as well.”
Moreover, for those who do take that step and adopt a teenager, Adams says NECCO doesn’t want to leave its foster parents unprepared.
“We provide training, first of all, for any foster parent who’s interested in fostering. It’s a pretty intensive training curriculum. We talk about trauma, crisis situations, we talk about rules and regulations, just what to expect,” she said. “The training, while intense, is not hard, but we want to prepare our parents for everything, so we go through all of that to provide examples. Then, once a family does welcome a child into their home, we provide home visits, support, we come out at least twice a month – in some cases, once a week. We provide crisis intervention. We’re there for you every step of the way.”
Find the full conversation pinned to our Facebook page.
May is National Foster Care Month, and the Mountain State is in desperate need of more foster parents. According to the Department of Human Services, nearly 500 West Virginia children are currently placed in out-of-state facilities. Census data from 2021 shows about 22,000 children in the state living with relatives instead of parents, and 16,757 grandparents were reportedly raising their grandchildren without a parent present in the children’s lives.
Anyone in the Logan area who may be considering adopting a child can visit NECCO’s Logan office or call 304-752-7830. You can also visit their website, necco.org.
PHOTO | Josh Lawson, MGN