The nonprofit Children’s Home of Reading (CHOR) has deep roots in the community, first opened by a group of concerned citizens as a day nursery in 1884 to house just 12 children. Jill Troutman, vice president of advancement, marketing and communications, says, “We’re not just The Children’s Home of Reading, we’re everybody’s children’s home throughout Pennsylvania. There are between 17,000 and 20,000 kids each year that enter foster care.”

Today, CHOR supports 3,300 at-risk kids annually through more than 40 residential, educational, community and foster care programs throughout Berks and Lancaster counties, eastern Pennsylvania and as far away as Pittsburgh. Troutman affirms there is currently a great need for foster care’s safe, temporary living arrangements and support for children that have been removed from their families due to abuse, neglect, lack of safety or behavioral issues.

May is National Foster Care month, and CHOR has events planned to celebrate their families and engage the community, including a recruitment and “thank-you” retention and an outing to a “Fightins” baseball game on May 14, 2023.

Jennifer Horrocks, the foster family recruiter for CHOR, finds families for kids referred to them by social workers and Child Protective Services in 26 Pennsylvania counties. Horrocks herself is currently a foster parent to five teenage boys. Since 2016, she and her husband Wayne have fostered 27 teenage boys and maintain contact with many of them.

CHOR operates both specialized and traditional foster care, plus adoption services. “We have a diverse program as far as the children we serve, which include kids that are harder to place due to age or behavioral issues,” says Horrocks. “Our staff is hands-on and collaborative. Our foster parents are part of a team.”

Some people believe it’s hard to foster because the kids eventually leave, Horrocks observes. She notes, “I tell them from personal experience that they never really leave. When kids return to their families, they often realize the connections you’ve made with them and how you’ve impacted them.”

Horrocks shares that many of teens she has fostered lacked the direction and plans to attend college or trade school, or they may be confused by living with different families. Foster parents have the ability to influence kids in positive ways; one teen that her family fostered will graduate from Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in May. “There are times fostering can be difficult, but when things like that happen, it makes those difficult times worth it,” she says.

Horrocks relates that many potential foster families are looking for younger children or babies, saying, “The majority of our referrals are for homes for adolescents and teens. I understand why people would want younger children, but there are so many positives to having older kiddos in your life. They keep you young because they keep you in the know about trends.”

Children can become interested in hobbies or activities enjoyed by foster parents that may also inspire and support teens to play sports or get involved in extracurricular activities they couldn’t do before due to lack of support or financial constraints of their biological family.

Horrocks has seen many success stories while fostering, but to her, the ultimate success is seeing children reunited with their birth families. “Ultimately, kids should be with their families if it’s possible and it’s safe. Success doesn’t always involve the kids living with foster families until they age out or get adopted. Success is seeing a kiddo that maybe had some behavioral issues correcting what he had to do or the parents working through their own obstacles, and they’re able to become a family again.”

The child’s biological parents are involved in the foster process as much as possible, Horrocks advises. “We build a whole team of people that love and support this kiddo. You can never have too many people that love and care about you.”

Troutman emphasizes that the organization is always in search of foster care parents throughout Pennsylvania, particularly for older adolescents. There are also options available for respite foster parents to relieve other foster parents when they need a break or for emergencies. Horrocks adds that respite parenting is good way to break into foster parenting and try different age groups.