News Release
May is nationally recognized as Foster Care Awareness Month and the Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children (TAPC) and the City of Tulsa have joined the Department of Human Services (DHS) to raise awareness about how the community can support foster care. Tulsa City Councilman, Ben Kimbro will present a proclamation at an event beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 16 at TAPC's Foster Family Resource Center, 3326 East 51st Street in Tulsa. A TAPC board member will discuss the agency’s important programs and how the community can join them in support of children who have experienced abuse or neglect in Tulsa and contiguous counties. Helen Lee, a foster parent of 49 years, will also share her inspirational story.
“We are thankful to TAPC and the City of Tulsa for their support of foster care and their continued efforts to rally community support for the children in DHS’ care and their biological and foster families,” said DHS Director Ed Lake. “Last year, TAPC provided over 1,300 Christmas gifts for children in state custody and hosted over 3,600 visits to their foster family resource center. We say time and again that we could not do this work alone and are thankful for our community partners’ support of our mission.”
“TAPC works to meet the basic needs of the children placed in DHS’ custody,” said Christina Siemens, TAPC Executive Director. “When a child is removed from his or her home, TAPC provides immediate and ongoing support by providing clothing, beds, shoes, toys, car seats and other essential items. We are very appreciative to the community for ongoing support to help make the transition into foster care a bit smoother for children who have experienced such tremendous loss.”
DHS has a goal of recruiting over 900 new foster families by the end of June. By the end of April, we had certified over 600 new foster families statewide, with 103 of those new homes in Tulsa. We need families in every community across the state to join us and our partners.
To learn more about how you can support foster care, call 1-800-376-9729 or visit https://okfosters.org/. To learn how you can support TAPC’s mission of improving the lives of abused and neglected children in Tulsa and contiguous counties by providing resources and building community, visit their website at http://www.tapchelps.org/.
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