CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Decreases in the number of licensed foster families are making it more difficult to place children in foster care.


What You Need To Know

  • Licensed foster families have decreased 20% since the onset of the pandemic
  • 2,500 foster children in N.C. don't have a family to live in, according to Pinnacle Family Services
  • Mecklenburg County's next foster parent orientation is on July 25

Another Choice for Black Children launched 27 years ago, putting a special focus on Black children and children with disabilities. The agency says those demographics typically take longer to get adopted. 

Takesha Lewis has been an adoptive and foster parent through Another Choice for Black Children for nearly a decade. She says over the years she has fostered seven children and officially adopted her son this year.

“Dreshon was something that the family didn’t know we needed until he was here, and now six and a half years later he is my son. So, we just finalized that in March,” Lewis said.

Lewis is still a foster parent.

Ruth Amerson is the CEO of Another Choice for Black Children. She says since the onset of the pandemic, there has been about a 20% decrease in the number of licensed foster families in the Charlotte area. She credits that drop off to families adopting and then choosing to no longer foster, and the pandemic, which caused people to no longer go to group gatherings and large events. Those large events are where agencies like Another Choice can typically get the word out about their needs.

Amerson says children in foster care who are not with a family typically wait in group homes, shelters or psychiatric hospitals getting treatment. 

Pinnacle Family Services said in April there were around 12,000 foster children in North Carolina. Most of those children are in a foster home or staying with members of their biological family or friends. Pinnacle Family Services said 2,500 of those kids are left without a family to live with. 

“The need is great, especially for older children, older minority children,” Lewis said.

According to a 2023 report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 43% of foster children in North Carolina were emancipated or aged out of the foster care system in 2021. 

Lewis says besides fostering, she wants to offer solutions to those children.

“My long-term goal would be to open a transitional home for children who are aging out of foster care because they’re the ones that really need that help,” Lewis said.

Those interested in fostering can attend one of the Mecklenburg County's foster parent orientations. The next session is on July 25.