Gov. Mary Fallin visited Green Country Friday to promote her initiative to recruit 1,000 new foster homes by June.
"We all share a common goal: To not only protect the vulnerable children in our state and communities, but to see them thrive and give them a hopeful future," said Tom Bates, Fallin's special adviser for child welfare.
Dozens of foster families attended the Oklahoma Fosters event at the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. Nicole Merrick and her husband Jake got their first foster child within 27 hours of first being called. She said Oklahomans have a history of pulling together and caring for their own.
"And it's time for us to do that with our foster care children. We have to look at these children as ours, because they are ours. We have to make it personal, because it is personal," Merrick said. "Every single one of these children matter. Their life matters."
Department of Human Services Director Ed Lake said special-needs kids can’t be left out. Kristen Rooks’ first foster child was one. She said doctors told her the child would be on a feeding tube for life and would never walk or talk.
"Three days later, he started taking a bottle," Rooks said. "After two weeks, he learned how to sit up independently. After three months, we had dropped half his medications. After six months, he began eating food, and on his third birthday, he started walking."
Lake said DHS has seen more people express interest in foster care since Oklahoma Fosters launched in Oklahoma City in November.
Oklahoma Fosters began after the state failed to recruit 1,200 new foster homes by 2014 as required by a settlement known as the Pinnacle Plan.
There are currently around 10,500 children in state custody.
