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Local foster care agency helps kids find a safe home

Many local children are in the foster care system as a result of suffering from some form of abuse.

MIDLAND, Texas — In Midland County, there are nearly 40 children who are in the foster care system. Most children are in this system after suffering from abuse while living with their families.

"I would say there is a lot of abuse in the area and I think people need to be aware of that and that's where child abuse awareness month comes from," said Jennifer Bernal with Buckner Foster Care and Adoption. "It's not just the physical abuse kids are enduring in their home life, sometimes it's multiple abuses. Sometimes it's just one but from what I've seen it's a variety of factors that a child is impacted on and they do unfortunately have lifelong issues for the abuse they suffer at home."

At Buckner Foster Care and Adoption, they are trying to find safe homes for local children. In the state of Texas, there's 3,000 children in foster care and so many of these children have been placed in numerous different homes. 

"There's between 20-50% kids who experience being removed between two to three different placements, which means they had three different homes just in their short amount of time they've been in care," Bernal said. 

While they wait for a home, most of these children are having to stay in temporary housing.

"There's so many kids sleeping in hotel rooms or child watch apartments so being able to help alleviate that for our kids and giving them a more permanent solution to their environment and what they're going through is a need," Bernal said. 

You can also help foster children in many ways besides just becoming a foster parent.

"The main message I want to get across is getting involved in anyway you can. It doesn't take a specific person or family to foster or adopt," Bernal said. "It takes one family to step up or one single person to step up and say I want to try, that's where it starts."

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