There are babies without homes in Cherokee County. Department of Social Services (DSS) workers say foster homes are stretched so thin that infants are having to be put on a waiting list.

“I’ve never seen that before,” said Beth Hyatt, a DSS veteran who is working with a new Child Abuse Prevention Task Force for National Child Abuse Prevention Month. “Normally, everybody wants babies, but we just don’t have the homes. I want to stress that you don’t have to be June Cleaver to be a foster parent. You can work, be a single parent, these kids just need loving homes.”

Hyatt is joined on the task force by many throughout the community who want to help prevent child abuse.

“Our task force began meeting in December to get ready for National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April,” she said. “We have a wide variety of individuals in the group from various agencies and parts of the county. And helping to increase the awareness of child abuse and neglect in the county is one of our goals.”

Working with Hyatt and the others is Edward Freeman, vice-president of the Cherokee County Foster Parents Association.

“One of the main reasons there’s such a shortage of foster homes right now is that people just aren’t aware of the need,” Freeman said. “I talk to people about this all the time and they ask me if there’s really a need for it. I tell them ‘yes!’ If people knew we needed help, I feel sure they’d volunteer.”

Edward and his wife Robin recently added another foster child to their home.

“Edward and Robin were certified to have two children in their home,” Hyatt said. “We increased that certification to four and now they have three kids at home. They’re not the only family we’ve done that with recently, but we still have a backlog of kids waiting.”

Freeman and Hyatt both hope that the task force’s education will inspire new foster homes.

“We have 26 total foster families in the county right now,” Hyatt explained. “And I’m about to certify three more. But, there are already children lined up to move immediately with those three new families.”

Freeman feels the key to preventing that abuse and thus reducing the need for relocating children is a strong foundation for parents in how to best take care of their child.

“In many ways, the foster home is a place where that child can feel love and be provided for,” he said. “But over time, you can learn ways to work with their birth parents to hopefully strengthen that family.”

Hyatt added, “The dynamics of abuse and research have shown us that parents don’t just wake up one day and decide to abuse their child. It usually stems from something in their own past or home. Foster families can become important supports for birth families. These people aren’t monsters they’re just in need of services. They’re just in need of a little help.”