Holiday season brings challenges for kids in need of foster home

Are finding this time particularly challenging.

Unfortunately, it's these times that kids need homes more than ever.

News 18's micah upshaw tells us how one lafayette-based foster care agency is working to help.

Ll intro: national youth advocate program lafayette- branch leaders are hoping to bring awareness to the importance of fostering.

While the number of kids needing homes stays consistent.

The number of homes available tend to decrease around the november-december months.

R: we don't want our children sleeping in dcs offices or juvenile detention centers just because we don't have enough foster families.

M: this is a concern for (ree-anne-un) rhyannon shuck and samantha o'neal.

They work as licensing coordinator and program manager for nyap's lafayette branch.

They say the holiday time can be tough.

R: families already have plans for the holidays and they don't want to make the commitmentf taking in a foster child when they're planning on leaving their homes for the holidays.

M: she says potential foster-parents also tend to worry about the added financial stress this holiday season can bring.

Nyap wants to break the misconceptions surrounding taking in foster kids during the holidays.

R: what a lot of people who consider being foster parents don't know is that we can help with those situations.

M: o'neal says sibling groups, teens and college-aged individuals still in the foster care-system are the hardest to place during the holiday season.

S: everyone thinks that teenagers are so scary but that's not the case at all.

There are kids that are 18 plus that are still within the system but they are receiving services through dsc and the state so that they can go to college but with covid and as college is coming to christmas break, fall break, thanksgiving break that we have more kiddos that don't necessarily have a place to call home.

M: nyap works with a goal of getting youth reunited with their parents and guardians while providing a safe place in the mean time.

S: holiday's can be very triggering for kids.

It brings up a lot of emotions, a lot of trauma so trying to get more homes is really big for us ll outro: nyap opened its facility in september.

You can find information on how to foster or financially support foster-families this season on our website wlfi.com.

Reporting in lafayette, micah upshaw news 18.

A longstanding