One Church, One Child seeks Manatee County foster care help

PALMETTO -- On any given day, 800 children in Florida's foster care system are waiting to be adopted. More than 50 percent of the waiting children are minorities.

To address the problem, One Church One Child will hold an education forum from 6-7 p.m. Thursday at St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2315 Fifth Ave. Drive E. Palmetto. Refreshments will be served.

One Church One Child was founded in 1980 to help the state of Illinois address the disproportionate number of African-American children lingering in the foster care system.

The program was implemented in Florida in March 1988 to address the state's over-representation problem.

One Church One Child partners with the Department of Children and Families, churches and community based care lead agencies.

The Rev. Beverly H. Lane serves as the State Board of Directors president and regional vice president.

One Church One Child of Florida recognizes the great need for adoptive parents to provide a loving, permanent home for children in care.

Black History month in February is also a time to find foster families who can provide a temporary home for foster children until permanency can be found as well as mentors who can offer guidance.

For more information regarding becoming an adoptive or foster parent, mentor, partner or volunteer, contact LaKay Fayson, recruitment coordinator for One Church One Child of Florida's SunCoast Region, at 813-740-0210 or lakay_fayson@ococfl.org.

The website for One Church One Child of Florida is ococfl.org.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "One Church, One Child seeks Manatee County foster care help ."