Delaware Has About 470 Children in Foster Care, With Teens Hardest to Place

About 470 children are in foster care across Delaware, and the state is struggling to find enough homes for them, particularly for teenagers and in Sussex County, according to the Division of Family Services and its partner agencies.

The Division of Family Services reports that the children in care include four Asian children, 39 Hispanic children, 168 white children and 298 Black children. Division Director Trenee Parker said placements vary widely. Many children live with traditional foster families who complete a training program, while others are placed in group care run by three contracted agencies or with relatives and nonrelatives who provide care.

Parker said the state's biggest need is for homes suited to children with particular circumstances, including medical conditions requiring specialized care, developmental or intellectual disabilities, and behavioral health challenges. The state is also seeking families willing to take in sibling groups so brothers and sisters can stay together.

Teenagers are the group for which families are scarcest. "Teenagers oftentimes have experienced more trauma before they enter the foster care system," Parker said. She added that the state wants children to remain in their home counties so they can keep attending their schools and extracurricular activities, and said it does not want children from New Castle County placed in Kent or Sussex County. Sussex is where homes are hardest to find, and Parker said the goal is to have foster families who reflect the communities the state serves.

Several organizations help fill the gaps, including Nemours Children's Hospital, Child Inc., Pressley Ridge, Children & Families First and West End Neighborhood House. Theresa Broome, a program manager at Children & Families First, said her agency has a little more than 50 children needing care, about 35 foster families available and 16 more in training. She said prospective parents often prefer younger children because they feel they can give them more years.

Pressley Ridge is seeing more infants, from newborns to about a year old, but its greatest need is for teens aged 13 to 17, said Cha Tanya Lankford, executive director for Maryland and Delaware treatment foster care. Both agencies cited trauma, behavioral challenges and sometimes court involvement as reasons teens need more intensive support. Lankford said Pressley Ridge parents complete 30 to 40 hours of training before certification, while Broome said Children & Families First requires more than 50 hours and offers an after-hours support line.

Teens who are never placed in a permanent home face a sudden change at 18, when they become legal adults. West End Neighborhood House's Lifeline program serves people aged 16 to 23 who are in or have left foster care. Program director Stacy Shamburger said it has about 56 such youth on its caseload and served about 234 unaccompanied youth last year, meaning young people who were homeless and never entered foster care.

Shamburger said housing and work are major hurdles. "There's not a lot of private landlords that are willing to rent to 18- and 19-year-olds," she said. West End has opened a new Lifeline home in Sussex County, where she said need is high and transportation is a steep barrier.

Delaware also offers a Tuition Waiver Program for the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical Community College. Parker said students at the first two schools can live on campus free and have year-round meal plans. State officials said about 40 students have received the waiver since 2022 and five have graduated. Adult education programs at Sussex Tech and Dawn Career Institute offer other career paths.

Parker said government cannot meet the need alone and suggested community members could sponsor a young person's travel baseball or drum lessons. "It does take a village," she said, "to make sure that our youth are going to be okay."