The number of homes available to take in children in need of foster care has dropped slightly, and Foster Families NL is hoping to fill that gap by recruiting more people willing to provide care and support to children.

Today marks the official launch of Foster Families Month, with a proclamation signing and flag raising this morning at Confederation Building.

Executive Director of Foster Families NL, Kelli Hodder says they’re looking for anyone who has space in their homes, and in their hearts, for children in foster care.

She says they currently have about 580 foster homes in the province, “which is still not bad” according to Hodder, but they still have situations where children who come into foster care, don’t have a foster home to go into. In those cases, the children end up in a group home arrangement, “which we don’t want to see happen. Of course we know from the research that children do best in family-based environments.” She says they’d love to get to a point where “we have a home for every child that needs one.”